Porsche is setting up a new factory designed to produce battery cells. Known as Cellforce, the battery cells will be built in the southwest German city of Tübingen. Here’s what we know about this exciting announcement.
A Joint Venture
As a subsidiary of Porsche, the plant is a joint venture with Customcells. Porsche is investing a multi-million euro sum in CustomCells. The car maker will enjoy an 84% stake in the venture. This innovative venture will involve 60 engineers in the development process. It will also house up to 20 engineers in the production phase. Its main aim is to invest in the development of performance battery cells. Production will begin in 2024 with a 60 million Euro injection coming from the German state.
High-Performance Focus
The new subsidiary will be involved in three key areas. These being the development, production, and marketing of high-performance cells. The growing Porsche electric line-up requires ongoing innovation and improvement. This includes longer driving ranges, better performance, and faster charging times. Battery cells need to be able to managehigh temperatures. They also need to enable adequate energy recuperation at the same time. Both of these requirements will be addressed in the battery cell development.
Stellar Charging Times
The new cells aim to allow for a charging time under 15 minutes. The Porsche Taycan has a current charging requirement of 22 ½ minutes for an 80% charge. The new cells will chop off at least 30% of the charging time. This will be an impressive achievement. Porsche will also make use of silicon anode material to create a higher energy density. The more sustainable silicon anodes will also result in a more compact battery. The development partner is believed to be BASF SE. And if proved to be accurate, will be supplying cathode materials.
Hotter Running Batteries
Porsche is aiming to produce cells that can run hotter than current lithium-ion. Lithium-ion batteries power up the current Taycan generation. These batteries operate at around 122˚ F. Cellforce battery cells will be designed to run at temperatures above 158˚ F. This will make them a more dependable high-performance solution. One downside of this new chemistry is that these batteries don’t operate well under freezing. This luckily isn’t a big problem for the high-performance end of the market, which is where much of this market will be aimed at. Porsche can’t yet tell us which race car will house these new Cellforce cells. But they do plan to have their hybrid endurance racing program up and running by 2024. Porsche will need to overcome an obstacle when it comes to racing involvement. Racing regulations currently don’t allow for competitors to develop their own batteries. Time will tell how Porsche decide to overcome this hurdle.
Promising Production Volumes
Porsche’s factory will boast an initial annual capacity of over 100 megawatt-hours. This is enough battery cells to power up to 1,000 sports cars every year. These are small numbers in comparison to some gigafactories. But it must be noted that Porsche’s new factory is producing specialized performance battery cells. Every Electric Porsche requires the best in battery innovation and performance. Over time, the aim is to scale up battery production, which will also lower the cost.
Securing The Future For Porsche
Electric cars are only poised to grow in popularity and demand. This is inevitable with the reality of global warming and limited fossil fuels. The minister-president of Baden-Württemburg holds to the future of energy in transport. He believes that electrification is a central pillar of the transport industry. He also believes that whoever masters storage technology will secure a prosperous future. A belief that we can’t argue with. Porsche is on its way to becoming an electric car leader. It has a clear pathway ahead when it comes to energy storage. Be sure to check out Porsche Hangout on Facebook for more Porsche news.