FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contacts

Hywel Jarman, Director of Communications (International Lead Association) +44 (0)20 7833 8090; [email protected]

July 9, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contacts

Jill Ledger (Ledger and Woolf) +33 6 63 74 84 44; [email protected]
Gerry Woolf (Ledger and Woolf) +44 7950 848 774; [email protected]
Hywel Jarman, Director of Communications (International Lead Association) +44 (0)20 7833 8090; [email protected]

February 6, 2018

Lead set to be ‘king of the road’ in automotive electrification for decades

London, 6th February 2018. Lead batteries will remain the dominant battery technology on the world’s roads for the foreseeable future, experts at Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in Germany indicated last week.

Electric vehicle and advanced battery market experts dismissed the bullish predictions of several global auto OEMs who claim that pure electric vehicle market penetration will hit 20% by 2025.

The mild hybrid market is largely expected to dominate in Europe and outside of China there is no path to a full electric vehicle market of any size according to experts of electrified vehicles gathered in Germany last week.

This has direct consequences on the battery technologies used. “Developments in electric vehicle technology are moving quickly but improvements in lead battery technology speeded up faster than anyone could have expected”, according to Dr Boris Monahov, speaking at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in Mainz Germany. “If the EV market even reaches 25% that means the key energy storage system used to electrify cars in 2025 will be the advanced lead battery technology,” said Dr Monahov of ALABC (Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium), the pre-competitive research organisation representing the lead battery industry.

The lead battery industry has moved quickly to meet automotive manufacturers’ requirements for the huge micro-hybrid and start-stop segments of the electrified vehicle market. The main criteria for choosing an advanced lead battery remain its unique combination of cost, safety, reliability, excellent performance and high recyclability advantages, compared to newer battery technologies, but on top of this the industry is now confident they are close to meeting car manufacturers’ targets for other key technical criteria.

“ALABC is in the process of deploying a new technical roadmap that will take into account new OEM requirements in terms of performance and environmental targets. These include reduced tailpipe emissions,” said Dr Monahov, “which is closely linked to a critical factor known as dynamic charge acceptance—a battery’s ability to accept electrical energy produced when an electrified car is braking.”

The ALABC’s technical programme includes further investigation into the fundamental science of the effect of carbon additives, which are already used to transform lead battery performance. Carbon additives are known to enhance dynamic charge acceptance but a detailed model of why this happens and how it can be improved further is not yet developed. The better this factor is, the more fuel-efficient the vehicle becomes.

ALABC is also working on increasing the specific energy and weight reduction and the end of life cost estimation, to show that the new carbons keep the end of life cost low.

Real world benefits

The results coming from current ALABC projects indicate very encouraging advancements in the DCA of lead batteries, however it is vital that current tests and standards appropriately reflect the improved performance.

This is why ALABC and its members are developing new tests to measure dynamic charge acceptance (DCA) in batteries more effectively and more quickly, with the objective of reducing them from the current 16 to only two weeks.

The evolution of DCA of advanced lead batteries is really encouraging. Starting from 0.1 - 0.2 amperes per ampere hour (A/Ah) it increased rapidly as a result of optimizing cell design to 0.6 A/Ah. Today the most promising battery designs offer as much as 1.6 A/Ah. Improving DCA further is a high priority goal for ALABC.

The overall feeling about lead batteries today is one of confidence. They have the lowest costs, highest recycling rate (over 99% of lead batteries are collected and recycled in Europe and North America) and highest reliability of all automotive batteries currently in use. Building on these well-known benefits, the industry is now also on track to shoot for even more ambitious energy density targets creating a real challenge to more expensive technologies.

About ALABC

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications. A program of the International Lead Association, ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity. For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org

International Lead Association (ILA)

ILA is the trusted and authoritative global trade association for the lead industry. Its member companies are at the forefront of lead mining, smelting and recycling and through ILA are working towards a vision of a sustainable global lead industry that is recognised for the positive contribution it makes to society. www.ila-lead.org

Notes for editors

Definitions of electric and hybrid vehicles
The electrified vehicle market falls into the following segments:

Stop-start, mild or micro hybrid
HEV or strong/full hybrid
PHEV or plug-in hybrid
EV, BEV or full electric vehicle

Stop-start, mild, micro hybrid
The mild family includes cars with so-called start stop functionality, where the combustion engine stops when the car is at traffic lights etc. and then the engine is cranked again when the vehicle moves off.

As many as 70% of new cars have this functionality and it comes as a standard feature.

These vehicles all use the lead battery technology.

 
Next up in the family of mild vehicles are those which can recover the energy which would be normally wasted in braking and turn it back to electricity and move a short distance on electric power only. The now 20 year-old Toyota Prius used this design initially.

HEV, strong or full hybrids
So-called strong or full hybrids are able to use electric assist to boost acceleration on the highway but are still very dependent on the internal combustion engine.

Hybrid electric vehicles are powered by an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, which uses energy stored in batteries. The extra power provided by the electric motor may allow for a smaller engine. Full hybrids have more powerful electric motors and larger batteries, which can drive the vehicle on only electric power for short distances and at low speeds.

These vehicles have a lead battery for SLI and safety functions and another technology battery for electric traction.

PHEV or plug-in hybrid
The plug-in hybrid carries much bigger batteries than the former classes and the drive train can be structured in various ways. It can run for as many as 50 miles on full electric power or it can run as a conventional car. Some run entirely on electric power delivered from a home charger while others have a small IC engine to recharge the main battery when the vehicle is on the road.

These vehicles all use lead technology batteries for the SLI and safety functions and Li-ion batteries for electric traction.

EV, BEV or full-electric vehicles
Entirely independent from IC engines are pure battery electric vehicles, and these vary in driving range and performance based on the size of the battery and therefore price.

These vehicles all use lead technology batteries for the SLI and safety functions and Li-ion batteries for electric traction.

Which battery technology for which vehicle?
The key issues surrounding the development and indeed the justification of electric vehicles are emissions and C02 reduction.  Electric motors are at least three times as efficient at delivering power to the wheels with minimum heat. To match the performance of IC powered vehicles, on board energy storage must deliver sufficient driving range—this is known as energy density. This can be measured in volume terms - the amount of space batteries take up - (Watt hour per litre) or weight terms (Watt hour per kg).

Press Contacts:
Jill Ledger (Ledger and Woolf) +33 6 63 74 84 44; [email protected]
Gerry Woolf (Ledger and Woolf) +44 7950 848 774; [email protected]
Hywel Jarman, Director of Communications (International Lead Association) +44 (0)20 7833 8090; [email protected]

January 30, 2018

Unrivalled recycling rates ensure lead batteries have surprisingly low environmental footprint

Mainz, Germany, 29^th January 2018. The use of lead batteries in advanced hybrid and electric vehicles is likely to contribute significantly to carbon footprint reduction, according to Alistair Davidson of the International Lead Association.

Speaking at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in Mainz Germany today, Dr Davidson, Director of Products and Sustainability at ILA explained that life cycle assessment of use of lead batteries gave a doubled benefit to the environment in terms of 99% collection and recycling rate, coupled with reduced automobile emissions from technologies such as start-stop and micro-hybrid applications.

Start-stop and micro-hybrids account for more than 80% of cars operating in Europe, virtually all of which utilise a lead battery.  These applications have been shown to reduce CO₂ emission by up to 10%.  In addition, work of the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) has demonstrated that advanced designs of lead batteries such as 48V applications can deliver savings of up to 16%.

Work carried out by Linda Gaines for the US Argonne National Laboratory has already shown that lead batteries have the lowest environmental impact during manufacture of  all battery chemistries, said Davidson (publication Sullivan & Gaines 2010).

This coming year, the International Lead Association will be carrying out further assessments which will be published in 2019.

“The combination of lead batteries having a significantly higher recycling rate than other battery technologies, a less energy-demanding manufacturing process and being widely used in start-stop and micro-hybrids means they have a much lower environmental footprint than many imagine” said Dr Davidson. “We expect the work we are currently conducting to highlight this fact.”

Ends

About ALABC

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications.  A program of the International Lead Association, ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity.  For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org

International Lead Association (ILA)

ILA is the trusted and authoritative global trade association for the lead industry. Its member companies are at the forefront of lead mining, smelting and recycling and through ILA are working towards a vision of a sustainable global lead industry that is recognised for the positive contribution it makes to society. www.ila-lead.org

FOR RELEASE

Press Contacts:
Jill Ledger (Ledger and Woolf) +33 6 63 74 84 44
Gerry Woolf (Ledger and Woolf) +44 7950 848 774

International Lead Association (ILA):
Dr. Alistair Davidson, Director, Products and Sustainability [email protected]; +44 (0) 2078338090
Dr. Geoffrey May, [email protected]; +44 (0) 7720696321

Advances in lead battery technology make it ideally suited to seize the huge opportunities in utility and renewable energy storage sector

London, UK (30 November 2017). The lead battery industry is redoubling its efforts to show investors and utility operators that lead batteries are a readily-available and cost-effective means of providing grid-scale energy storage today.

This was the message from industry leaders during a seminar on Friday, organised by the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC), held at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in London.

Representatives of the lead battery industry were encouraged by the unanimously positive response from end-users in the utility and renewable energy storage markets following presentations made at the seminar, which highlighted the considerable technical progress made by the technology in the past 20 years.

The speakers stressed that lead battery technology solutions meet all the requirements for energy storage installations, whilst also providing the most affordable option.

In addition, lead battery systems match and better rival technologies in lifetime and operational costs and are considered the safest technology because they are not subject to the same inherent safety issues which beset more recent systems. The huge installed base in utility projects, telecom and UPS installations worldwide has made them the most reliable, tried and tested technology in the world.  Furthermore, more than 99% of lead batteries are collected and recycled at end of life in Europe and North America.  This is far higher than any other battery technology.

“There are five essential reasons for utility operators to consider lead batteries in new energy storage systems they commission.” said Dr Geoffrey May of ALABC, “the new generation of this technology meets all the technical requirements of energy storage applications, it is the most cost-effective, safest, most reliable and most recycled, sustainable technology available today.”

Dr May explained that lead batteries are available which will provide up to 5000 deep cycles. This has a major impact on the total cost of ownership of a lead battery for energy storage and is more than a match for other battery energy storage technologies. In addition, research work carried out by ALABC has improved lead battery performance in the special conditions that are seen with renewable energy sources, particularly solar photovoltaic sources, where the battery is not fully charged at all times. This has focussed on the addition of special carbons to the battery electrodes and has now been widely adopted by many major battery suppliers.

Dr Andy Bush, President of the ALABC, which has co -ordinated and funded research and development to improve lead battery technology for the past 25 years said: “Lead battery technology has a great opportunity today to meet the needs of the energy storage industry. We are confident that the affordability, technical benefits and economically-driven recycling of these new-generation lead battery systems will result in widespread adoption in these developing markets.”

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications.  A program of the International Lead Association, ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity.  For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org

ILA is the trusted and authoritative global trade association for the lead industry. Its member companies are at the forefront of lead mining, smelting and recycling and through ILA are working towards a vision of a sustainable global lead industry that is recognised for the positive contribution it makes to society. www.ila-lead.org

FOR RELEASE  

European contact: Bob Tolliday +44 (0)20 7833 8090 [email protected]

May 26, 2017 

ALABC teams up with Crown Battery for battery science project

A new fundamental science project to examine positive plate samples at various states of charge in lead batteries is underway. The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium, together with project partners Crown Battery, AllPoints Consulting and Steele Consulting will use a range of analytical techniques to examine the positive plate samples. This will provide valuable pre-competitive data helping to understand the mechanism of the lead oxide transformations in the plates.

At the project kick-off meeting this month, Boris Monahov, ALABC program manager, said: "The results of this project are expected to be particularly useful for renewable energy storage applications such as solar and wind energy."

Analytical techniques that will be used in the project include X-ray diffraction, field emission SEM, micro and synchrotron imaging using X-ray fluorescence, electron microprobe, Electron Backscatter Diffraction orientation determination and transmission electron microscopy.

The project team (pictured left to right): Dr. Ian Steele, Steele Consulting, consultant to the contract; Dr. David Boden, All Points Consulting, project coordinator; Michael Fraley, technical director of Crown and project supervisor; Samira Farahani, Crown Battery: Dr. Boris Monahov, ALABC program manager; Matt Govinsky, Crown Battery; Jaime Navarrete, Crown, project manager.

About the ALABC

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications and various other energy storage systems.  A program of the International Lead Association, the ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity.  For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org.

ALABC member NorthStar has won a prestigious innovation award for its Advanced Connected Energy (ACE) product, which enables customers to assess the state of health of VRLA batteries before they are installed and to monitor them post installation.

NorthStar received The Sally Miksiewicz Innovation Award at the Battery Council International annual convention in Jacksonville this week.

The technology, NorthStar ACE, utilises Bluetooth technology and a smartphone app.

Commenting, NorthStar’s CEO Hans Liden said: “Sally believed innovation was a vital part of moving both technology and customer satisfaction forward. The award for ACE innovation is the result of a focused team effort, where our battery design experts have cooperated with our creative application engineers to come up with a solution that allows our battery technology to add so much more value than just energy to the customer.”

This is the second company to be honoured by the award which was established following the tragic death of Sally, the former CEO and Vice chairman of East Penn manufacturing in 2014.

Last week NorthStar announced that it will partner City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri, US, in a pilot project to install its Blue+ thin plate lead batteries as a back-up power system during peak usage for the utility’s 111,000 customers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

European contact: Bob Tolliday +44 (0)20 7833 8090 [email protected]

February 10,  2017

Car makers and ALABC give boost to advanced automotive batteries

Automotive OEMS and lead-acid battery makers are accelerating a new collaborative work programme to ensure the next generation of energy storage systems meet car market needs in a two-year time frame.

The trade-off between charging performance and high-temperature durability in lead batteries was thoroughly discussed during a technical workshop in Kolster, Eberbach, Germany, with over 70 participants, organised by the European standardization committee CENELEC, Aachen University battery chair (Professor Sauer), and Ford's European research center.

As a result, car makers will now work closely on this topic with the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC), a global product driven pre-competitive research organisation focused on improving the performance of lead batteries for both automotive and energy storage applications.

Dr Eckhard Karden, of Ford, Aachen said: “This was a highly successful meeting. A lot of good information was shared.  Lead-acid has a lot of advantages in terms of robustness, maturity and cost. I’m pleased developments are speeding up.

“Many companies have different testing standards for the next generation 12-volt automotive batteries and we should harmonise on these. Agreed standards result in more efficient development processes, faster product innovation and reduced costs all round.”

Dr Alistair Davidson of ALABC said: “The Consortium is happy to work even more closely with the car industry to accelerate the development of the technology for the micro hybrid market. I am convinced that the advanced lead–acid battery consortium has a vital role to play in furthering the science that underpins this work.

“The test standardization includes harmonizing methods for determining water loss, dynamic charge acceptance, and start-stop cycle durability — the key feature which has made micro hybrids the most successful electrified cars, accounting for more than 60 % of the European car fleet.”

END
 

About the ALABC

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications and various other energy storage systems.  A program of the International Lead Association, the ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity.  For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org.

European contact: Bob Tolliday +44 (0)20 7833 8090 [email protected]

North American contact: Chip Bremer +1 919-287-1873 (office) +1 919-810-1353 (mobile) [email protected] 

DURHAM, NC (30 June, 2016) – The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) has worked, alongside other partners in the ADEPT program, to produce a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) system with a 48-volt advanced lead carbon battery that is on track to meet stringent air quality and ultra-low emission requirements for the next generation of road vehicles.

These results follow almost three years of intensive testing, development and validation of advanced mild hybrid technologies with 48V ‘intelligent electrification’ applied to a Ford Focus project demonstration vehicle.

The final results will be presented September 14-15 at the UK’s premier Low Carbon Vehicle event, LCV2016, where industry executives, government officials and the media will have an opportunity to drive the vehicle.  

ALABC, with important contributions from Provector (battery pack design and construction) and the University of  Sheffield (battery evaluation and dynamic charge acceptance studies), is part of the ADEPT (Advanced Diesel-Electric Powertrain) research consortium led by Ricardo together with Controlled Power Technologies (CPT), Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies UK Ltd, Ford Motor Company and the University of Nottingham. 

The consortium aims to demonstrate the advanced 48V mild hybrid powertrain architecture fitted with an advanced lead carbon battery is capable of delivering near full hybrid-scale diesel fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions, through a highly cost-effective package, without compromising increasingly stringent European exhaust emission regulations, which currently require cars to meet Euro 6b air quality standards in terms of NOx, PM and CO.

In addition, the integration of hybrid and emissions control systems has the potential to deliver up to a 10-12 percent reduction in fuel consumption, equivalent to sub-80g/km of CO2 emissions (NEDC). Crucially, the technology can be delivered at lower costs than a more traditional approach of optimizing each system separately. Initial analysis shows that costs (based on Ricardo’s estimation) of less than €80 per gram of CO2 reduction for every kilometre travelled is feasible through ADEPT technology. Ricardo believes the above package is very competitive with other fuel economy solutions such as full hybridization.

“This clearly demonstrates that lead-carbon batteries are the most cost-efficient way of meeting stringent future CO2 emission targets,” said Alistair Davidson of ALABC.

The concept of intelligent electrification enables highly aggressive engine downsizing and down-speeding beyond what might normally be possible other than through more expensive hybridization approaches. This is achieved through the use of torque assist from electrically harvested energy, temporarily stored in a 48V advanced lead-carbon UltraBattery® pack (battery modules provided by ALABC member East Penn Manufacturing) with a high rate partial state-of-charge capability similar to a supercapacitor, in combination with 48V electrified ancillaries. 

With sophisticated electronic control of the powertrain systems, torque assist can be used to ensure that performance is maintained – or improved upon – throughout the duty cycle while also reducing fuel consumption. By basing the system on a 48V electrical architecture, the ADEPT project aims to achieve a highly optimal cost and performance trade-off, including ultra-low emissions, while also delivering significant fuel savings.  

Completion of development – testing ongoing

Following the announcement of the ADEPT project in September 2013, initial integration and development tests were carried out by the ADEPT team on an early ‘functional integration’ prototype, which was revealed at the LCV2014 show. This enabled the project to carry out de-risking of components and systems, and also provided a platform for evaluating control concepts. 

The final ADEPT demonstrator vehicle, which has now been completed, provides the fullest implementation of systems to be carried out by the team.  At the LCV2016 show, the final results of ongoing vehicle road and laboratory tests will be revealed for the first time. The project partners also intend to make the vehicle available for ride-and-drive demonstrations at LCV2016.  

“We are really pleased to have achieved this important milestone of completion of the ADEPT demonstrator prototype,” commented Ricardo Innovations MD Thomas Gutwald. “While much development attention is currently focused on full hybrids and battery electric vehicles – including by Ricardo and its customers – I firmly believe that the concept of ‘intelligent electrification’ will have an extremely high level of mass market appeal, providing arguably a greater overall fuel and carbon emissions saving in the near to medium term due to its highly cost-effective focus on the combination of near-market, available technologies. We look forward to sharing the results of the road and laboratory testing that is currently ongoing with the ADEPT vehicle, at the LCV2016 show in September.”

The ADEPT research project is jointly funded by the UK Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), implemented through the UK innovation agency, Innovate UK, with matching contributions from the participating partners.

ADEPT powertrain architecture

The baseline vehicle for the ADEPT research and development program is based on an already downsized and competitively fuel-efficient diesel Ford Focus ECOnetic 1.5TDCi, homologated with carbon dioxide emissions of 88g/km. 

Key features of the vehicle systems include CPT’s water-cooled SpeedStart switched reluctance belt starter generator (BSG), capable of delivering in excess of 12kW of regenerative braking, as well as near instantaneous and near continuous torque assist levels of over 7kW – sufficient to enable significant engine down-speeding in addition to a highly capable start-stop functionality. 

Further energy recovery is achieved from CPT’s exhaust-mounted 48V Turbine Integrated exhaust Gas Energy Recovery System, known as TIGERS.  Rated at 2.4kW, TIGERS is capable of providing further power recuperated from the exhaust downstream of the turbocharger.  The exhaust gas is diverted to the TIGERS unit via two bespoke emissions control valves developed by Faurecia Emissions Controls technologies for the ADEPT project.  Again, the recovered energy is stored in the advanced lead-carbon battery pack, providing a high-power, high-endurance, easily recyclable, lithium-free energy storage solution at a competitive cost.  

The ADEPT powertrain includes a range of electrical ancillaries powered from the 48V system rather than directly from the engine, including for example, the vehicle air conditioning compressor. In addition to powering these ancillaries and facilitating a significantly improved start-stop functionality, ADEPT’s 48V architecture also provides significant levels of torque assist from the BSG to offset fuelling to the engine for improved fuel economy, and to increase overall powertrain torque capability for enhanced vehicle performance.

The control strategies deployed have been developed based on extensive vehicle systems simulation work. This has enabled the core powertrain and aftertreatment system, as well as the 48V BSG, ancillaries, battery pack and exhaust energy recovery system, to be operated in a seamless manner, while also providing a valuable computer-aided engineering (CAE) capability to explore further potential avenues of development and optimization opened up through intelligent 48V electrification.  

END

About ALABC

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications.  A program of the International Lead Association, ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity.  For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org.

European contact: 
Bob Tolliday +44 (0)20 7833 8090 [email protected]

North American contact: 
Chip Bremer +1 919-287-1873 (office) +1 919-810-1353 (mobile) [email protected] 

DETROIT, MI (June 15, 2016) – Current mild-hybrid vehicle projects, in partnership with Ford and Hyundai/Kia, that utilize an advanced 48V lead-carbon battery, look set to play an important role in meeting US fuel efficiency standards ahead of their target introductory date in 2021 and reduce CO2 emissions by 15-20%, according to the latest data from the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC).

This week the ALABC exhibition stand at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (June 14-17 in Detroit) is presenting these impressive results of its demonstration vehicle program.

The T-Hybrid (based on a Kia Optima) and the ADEPT (based on a Ford Focus) both utilize an advanced 48V lead-carbon battery system with bolt-on electrical components that allow for significant engine-downsizing without loss in performance. This engine downsizing means less fuel usage and subsequently much lower CO2 emissions compared to the base vehicle – including a 16% reduction in the Kia Optima.

“The low additional cost of introducing 48V mild-hybrid powertrains utilizing the significant benefits of advanced lead-carbon batteries is continuing to attract automakers because it is the most cost-effective means of complying with CAFE fuel economy standards  and stringent CO2 regulations over the next 10 years,” said Alistair Davidson, representing ALABC.

A previous ALABC demonstration vehicle (the LC SuperHybrid based on a 1.4 liter VW Passat) fitted with advanced lead carbon batteries, has already provided the basis for a revolutionary propulsion system that can achieve 44.2 MPG and a 15-20% reduction in CO2 emissions while increasing the performance to that of a larger engine size model – all at a minimal cost to the manufacturer.

As like all lead batteries, advanced lead batteries have excellent sustainability credentials and are recycled in a closed loop, with 99% of them being collected and recycled in Europe and North America. Furthermore, advanced lead batteries are significantly cheaper than alternative automotive battery technologies, providing an affordable cost-to-benefit ratio – one that can allow car manufacturers to seamlessly incorporate the systems into future models. 

According to Allan Cooper, who has been coordinating ALABC’s demonstration projects, these 48V demonstration vehicles also address some of the issues with making low-emission hybrid vehicles  appealing to the general consumer.

 “By downsizing and down-speeding the engine to reduce CO2 emissions, you significantly reduce the vehicle’s performance, making it less ‘fun to drive’,” he said. 

“But by adding electrical components like the Valeo supercharger and the CPT SpeedStart ISG, you can give a 1.4-literengine the performance of a 1.8-literengine or better, and still provide the same enhanced emission benefits.  In essence, this system allows you to reduce fuel consumption with additional electrical components, but increase performance while still maintaining a low production cost because of the use of lead-carbon batteries.”

 [1]

Current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards require that vehicles offered for sale in the US attain an average fuel economy of 40.3 to 41 mpg by 2021 and 48.7 to 49.7 mpg by 2025 – basically doubling the expected fuel economy of the new vehicle fleet over the next 10 years.

END

Notes to editors

About the 48V Kia Optima T-Hybrid

Project Partners: ALABC, Hyundai Motor Group, AVL Schrick, Valeo, and East Penn Manufacturing

This concept vehicle is powered by the Optima’s existing 1.7 litre CRDi turbo-diesel engine, paired with a Valeo 10 kW electric starter generator and electric supercharger powered by a 48V version of East Penn’s lead-carbon UltraBattery® system. 

The diesel-electric powertrain concept enables the T-Hybrid (turbo-hybrid) to be driven in electric-only mode at low speeds and when cruising, with deceleration serving to recharge the battery pack.  It includes start-stop functionality and regenerative braking, but also provides the enhanced power and torque at low speeds that have made it so popular in test drives.

Note: Some of the support for the Kia Project was obtained through special funding from ALABC members like the RSR Corporation, the Doe Run Company, Teck Metals, Acumuladores Moura, Britannia Refined Metals.

About the ADEPT 48V

Project Partners: ALABC, Ford Motor Company, Ricardo, CPT, Provector, Faurecia, the University of Nottingham, and the University of Sheffield

The ADEPT (Advanced Diesel Electric Powertrain) combines low-cost, micro/mild hybrid technologies similar to those in the LCSH with a high degree of synergy to reduce current class-leading C-segment CO₂ emissions by an additional 15-20%.  Based on a Ford Focus, this vehicle is projected to cut CO₂ levels to 75g/km while indicating a pathway to 70g/km at a cost/emissions reduction ratio superior to a full-hybrid solution.  

The system includes regenerative braking and other efficiency improvements for optimized oil flow and pressure control, as well as a 48V electric turbine that captures exhaust waste heat for conversion to additional recovered electrical energy. However, unlike the T-Hybrid, it does not have an electric supercharger but will rely solely on the starter/generator for initial torque assist on the engine.

About the ALABC

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications and various other energy storage systems.  A program of the International Lead Association, the ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity.  For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org.

European contact: 
Bob Tolliday +44 (0)20 7833 8090 [email protected]

North American contact: 
Chip Bremer +1 919-287-1873 (office) +1 919-810-1353 (mobile) [email protected] 

MAINZ, GERMANY (January 27, 2016) – Current mild-hybrid vehicle projects, in partnership with Ford and Hyundai/Kia, that utilize advanced 48V lead-carbon batteries, can reduce CO₂ emissions by 15-20%, according to the latest data from the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC).

This week the ALABC exhibition stand at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (25-28 January, Mainz) is publicizing these impressive results of its demonstration vehicle program.

The T-Hybrid (based on a Kia Optima) and the ADEPT (based on a Ford Focus) both utilize an advanced 48V lead-carbon battery system with bolt-on electrical components that allow for significant engine-downsizing without loss in performance. This engine downsizing means less fuel usage and subsequently much lower CO₂ emissions compared to the base vehicle – including a 16% reduction in the Kia Optima.

“The low additional cost of introducing 48V mild-hybrid powertrains is continuing to attract automakers because it is the most cost-effective means of complying with stringent CO₂ regulations over the next 10 years,” said Alistair Davidson, representing ALABC.

The ADEPT vehicle has undergone early testing, and is targeted to cut CO₂ emissions levels to 75g CO₂/km – far below the EU requirements for CO₂ levels. New automotive designs in the EU are currently required to emit no more than 130 grams of CO₂ per kilometre (g CO₂/km), and by 2021, automakers will need to reduce that by an additional 28% to meet the requirement of 95g CO₂/km.

Advanced lead batteries are 99% recyclable, and are significantly cheaper than alternative battery technologies used in HEVs while providing an affordable cost-to-benefit ratio – one that can allow car manufacturers to seamlessly incorporate the systems into future models.

The 48V vehicles also solve some of the problems with making 48V low-emission systems appealing to the general consumer.

Allan Cooper, who has been coordinating demonstration projects for ALABC, said:  “By downsizing and down-speeding the engine to reduce CO₂ emissions, you significantly reduce the vehicle’s performance, making it less ‘fun to drive’,” he said. 

“But by adding electrical components like the Valeo supercharger and the CPT SpeedStart ISG, you can give a 1.4 litre engine the performance of a 1.8 litre engine or better, and still provide the same enhanced emission benefits.  In essence, this system allows you to reduce fuel consumption with additional electrical components, but increase performance while still maintaining a low production cost because of the use of lead-carbon batteries.”

END

Notes to editors

About the 48V Kia Optima T-Hybrid

Project Partners: ALABC, Hyundai Motor Group, AVL Schrick, Valeo, and East Penn Manufacturing

This concept vehicle is powered by the Optima’s existing 1.7 litre CRDi turbo-diesel engine, paired with a Valeo 10 kW electric starter generator and electric supercharger powered by a 48V version of East Penn’s lead-carbon UltraBattery® system. 

The diesel-electric powertrain concept enables the T-Hybrid (turbo-hybrid) to be driven in electric-only mode at low speeds and when cruising, with deceleration serving to recharge the battery pack.  It includes start-stop functionality and regenerative braking, but also provides the enhanced power and torque at low speeds that have made it so popular in test drives.

Note: Some of the support for the Kia Project was obtained through special funding from ALABC members like the RSR Corporation, the Doe Run Company, Teck Metals, Acumuladores Moura, Britannia Refined Metals.

About the ADEPT 48V

Project Partners: ALABC, Ford Motor Company, Ricardo, CPT, Provector, Faurecia, the University of Nottingham, and the University of Sheffield

The ADEPT (Advanced Diesel Electric Powertrain) combines low-cost, micro/mild hybrid technologies similar to those in the LCSH with a high degree of synergy to reduce current class-leading C-segment CO₂ emissions by an additional 15-20%.  Based on a Ford Focus, this vehicle is projected to cut CO₂ levels to 75g/km while indicating a pathway to 70g/km at a cost/emissions reduction ratio superior to a full-hybrid solution.  

The system includes regenerative braking and other efficiency improvements for optimized oil flow and pressure control, as well as a 48V electric turbine that captures exhaust waste heat for conversion to additional recovered electrical energy. However, unlike the T-Hybrid, it does not have an electric supercharger but will rely solely on the starter/generator for initial torque assist on the engine.

About the ALABC

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium is an international research co-operative comprised of lead producers, battery manufacturers, equipment suppliers, application developers, and research facilities organized to enhance the performance of lead batteries for a variety of markets, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications and various other energy storage systems.  A program of the International Lead Association, the ALABC pools the resources of its global membership in order to perform specific research on advanced lead batteries that otherwise would not be possible by any single entity.  For more information about the ALABC, visit www.alabc.org.