Charging Ahead – Future Battery Technology

Ahead of her presentation at this year’s Battery Show Europe, Stuttgart, (June 3rd-5th) Dr Bahareh Yazdani Damavandi, Ricardo’s Technical Authority Head – Batteries, shares her insights into what is shaping battery innovation and the challenges and opportunities that exist within the industry.  

Although electric, battery-powered vehicles date back to the early 19th century, their original design and performance bear little resemblance to the advanced, cost-efficient technologies driving today’s shift toward sustainable mobility. 
Integration, capacity and vehicle range are just three of the driving forces leading innovation in the battery sector.

Manufacturers are consistently reviewing how they can enhance levels of battery integration to vehicle structure and, in doing so, achieve higher battery capacities and space utilisation. This process usually involves the removal of elements of the battery housing and connecting the cells or modules directly to the vehicle body structure, but in doing so this can create further challenges. It’s a fine balance.

Innovation drivers

With over 15 years’ experience in the development of battery technology across a wide range of applications, experts at Ricardo are supporting customers on this journey.  

In one particular case study, we explored the differences between a Generation Two module to pack battery design and a Generation Three cell/module to vehicle body/chassis design.

In Generation Three designs, the battery’s bottom cover is sealed directly to the Body-in-White (BIW) surface. The battery housing is eliminated, and cells or modules are mounted directly onto the vehicle structure. This offers various benefits:  

• Higher space utilisation and battery capacity and range (up to 15% improvement)
• Overall vehicle range  
• Reduced housing cost (up to 27%) and housing weight (up to 37%)
• Improved battery access, for service and repair
• Improved noise, vibration and harshness (modal Hz)
• Increase body stiffness 

However, there are also risks and challenges associated with the cell/module to vehicle body/chassis design. They include:

• More complex requirements for system integration, in particular with the body structure and chassis 
• Battery crash and impact protection  
• Mounting assembly and manufacture
• Battery venting and cooling systems, including thermal runaway
• Sealing, packaging and transportation
• Noise, vibration and harshness (high frequency)
• Base vehicle source data for design

Worldautosteel – Steel E-Motive

Ricardo worked alongside our customer, Worldautosteel, on the Steel E-Motive project to develop an innovative design for a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) vehicle for 2030.

The project involved the clean sheet design of the vehicle, made with a steel frame and ground-breaking packaging, including a battery structure resulting in 33% lighter package than current conventional structures on the market today, as well as being 20% cheaper.  

For integration purposes, the structural carrier provides primary mounting for cooling plates, busbars, battery modules and the power distribution unit. This sub-assembly can be made off-line and in isolation from body and vehicle assembly.  

The battery frame sub-assembly is connected to BIW floor and cross members, with the BIW floor assuming the role of the battery cover in this instance. Three structural bottom covers work to seal the battery pack unit to the BIW around its perimeter, which also provides damage protection for external impacts such as road debris or from misuse operation, and incorrect vehicle jacking or lifting.  

Some of the main benefits of this type of design are that heavy battery modules are supported in the vehicle by the dedicated frame structure. Like the previously mentioned Generation Three, this design also supports improved stiffness and NVH (increased modal frequency). An air gap between the bottom cover and modules further enhances debris/strike protection and the battery pack and carrier frame is lower mass (and cost) then a conventional full sealed pack.  

The future 

Whilst incremental steps have been taken to improve battery design and packaging, the industry has a way to go before it achieves the same kind of optimisation as other areas, such as operating systems.

Advancements in solid state technology, as an alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries, has the potential to make batteries safer and more efficient, whilst also improving performance, overall vehicle durability and driving experience. This option also offers higher energy density than conventional batteries, which means they store more energy, resulting in a longer range. However, the biggest hurdle to more widespread adoption is production costs and scalability – how to meet market demand at a reasonable cost.  

Global R&D is being undertaken to explore alternative options, they include batteries that use alternative materials to cobalt, in an attempt to reduce harmful mining activities.  

As the automotive industry accelerates toward electrification, the role of advanced battery technologies becomes increasingly central to delivering sustainable, high-performance mobility solutions. By pushing the boundaries of integration, materials and design, innovators like Ricardo are helping shape a future where electric vehicles are not only cleaner but also smarter, lighter, and more efficient than ever before.