The latest step in the electric strategy:
“The battery cell is the combustion chamber of the future. As a new
On the political side, Winfried Kretschmann, Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, Thomas Bareiß, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and Boris Palmer, Mayor of the City of Tübingen, accompanied the official start of the company foundation. On the part of the companies involved, Oliver Blume, CEO of
“We founded Customcells with the aim of developing customer-specific battery cells for the most demanding of applications, and this is exactly what we can now realise together with
Minister President Winfried Kretschmann says: “With the founding of Cellforce today,
Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Thomas Bareiß: “I am delighted that the founding of the Cellforce Group joint venture has taken the decisive step towards this ambitious battery project. The project is a prime example of what we wanted to achieve with the IPCEI battery cell production initiative. We are pleased that we, as the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, can provide the necessary boost with this contribution to get another battery cell production started in Germany. Baden-Württemberg is increasingly becoming a battery hotspot and is securing qualified workers at a highly innovative location. I wish all employees of the company all the best."
Mayor Boris Palmer: “In Tübingen, excellent research has always been ideally complemented by economic implementation and market readiness. We are pleased that another building block for more environmentally friendly mobility is to be built in our city in the future. The high-performance battery cells also fit perfectly with our ambitious climate protection programme to become CO₂-neutral by 2030. This is the only way it can work: economic growth combined with ecological progress.”
“That is why it is only logical for us to develop and build the key technology of the future – the battery cell – ourselves. It is just as logical that we first test this new high-tech in the most competitive of environments – motorsport. Our electric sports car, the
Higher power density compared to current good series batteries
The chemistry of the new high-performance cells relies on silicon as the anode material. With this material, it now seems possible to significantly boost the power density compared to current good series batteries. The battery can offer the same energy content with a smaller size. The new chemistry reduces the battery’s internal resistance. This allows it to absorb more energy during energy recuperation and at the same time it offers improved performance for fast charging. Another special feature of the Cellforce battery cell is the fact that it is better able to withstand high temperatures. These are all qualities that are highly valued in motorsport. In addition, use on the race track does not necessarily require the battery to function in sub-zero temperatures nor remain stable for years over many charging cycles – goals which have yet to be achieved with this new cell technology.
The world-leading chemical company BASF has been chosen as a cell development partner for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. As a part of the collaboration, BASF is exclusively providing high-energy HEDTM NCM cathode materials for high-performance cells that enable fast charging and high energy densities. At BASF’s manufacturing facilities for primary products of cathode materials in Harjavalta, Finland, and for cathode materials in Schwarzheide, Brandenburg, Germany, BASF will be able to produce battery materials with an industry-leading low carbon footprint from 2022.
The road to the joint venture and the partners
The idea for a manufacturing plant for high-performance battery cells came from an initiative of the P3 Group. The Stuttgart-based management consultancy developed the concept and submitted in 2019 a funding application with Customcells as part of the European IPCEI project EuBatIn (Important Project of Common European Interest – European Battery Innovation), which aims to build up a competitive European value chain for lithium ion batteries, based on innovative and sustainable technologies. From the automotive industry
The contracts between
Customcells is one of the world’s leading companies in the development of special lithium-ion battery cells. At the company’s locations in Itzehoe (Schleswig-Holstein) and in Tübingen (Baden-Württemberg), Customcells develops and produces application-specific battery cells ranging from prototypes to small and medium series – made in Germany. Since it was founded in 2012, Customcells has acquired important know-how in the field of cell development with diverse materials (cathodes, anodes, separators, electrolytes) and coating technology. Customcells manufactures small series of special lithium-ion battery cells, for example for the aviation and shipping industries, based on agile manufacturing concepts and state-of-the-art research and production facilities.
Dr. Ing. h.c. F.
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