Bosch announces "groundbreaking" battery technology for electric vehicles
The Bosch Group announced yesterday at the Frankfurt Motor Show that it is debuting a new battery technology for electric cars that could be production-ready in as little as five years. &ldquo;Bosch is using its knowledge and considerable financial resources to achieve a breakthrough for electromobility,&rdquo; said Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbHDenner.Furthermore, Dr. Denner stated that Bosch's mobility business is growing considerably faster than the global automotive market. &ldquo;Bosch is assuming a leading role in the transformation that is about to sweep through the automotive sector. Automation, electrification, and connectivity &ndash; Bosch is already enjoying success in all three areas,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
With the new solid-state cells, Bosch sees the potential to more than double energy density by 2020, and at the same time reduce the costs considerably further. A comparable electric car that has a driving range today of 150 kilometers (93 miles) would be able to travel more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) without recharging—and at a lower cost.

At the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA), Bosch is highlighting its solid-state Li-ion battery technology, saying that the technology for electric cars could be production-ready in as little as five years. The acquisition of the US start-up Seeo Inc. ( earlier post ) will help make this possible, Bosch said. In addition to its own development in the area of battery technology, Bosch now has crucial know-how in innovative solid-state cells for lithium batteries as well as exclusive patents.



One of the reasons energy capacity is limited in current LIBs is because the anode consists to a large degree of graphite. Using solid-state technology, Bosch can manufacture the anode out of lithium metal, which considerably increases storage capacity. In addition, the new cells function without ionic liquid, which means they are not flammable. Click to enlarge.

Bosch is using its knowledge and considerable financial resources to achieve a breakthrough for electromobility. Solid-state cells could be a breakthrough technology. Disruptive start-up technology is meeting the broad systems knowledge and financial resources of a multinational company. —Dr. Volkmar Denner, the chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH

So far, Bosch has realized 30 production projects related to electromobility. At the same time, engineers are working on further refining the technology, and in doing so, making electromobility a more practical proposition.

The company forecasts that by 2025, roughly 15% of all new cars built worldwide to have at least a hybrid powertrain. In Europe, more than a third of all new cars will be electrically powered—the majority as plug-in hybrids. To this end, in 2014 Bosch joined GS Yuasa and Mitsubishi Corporation in establishing the joint venture Lithium Energy and Power GmbH & Co. KG, the objective of which is to develop a more powerful generation of lithium-ion batteries.

Bosch sad that Seeo’s technology complements the work done thus far with Bosch’s Japanese partners. The result will be a combination of start-up technology with Bosch’s systems and technology know-how, GS Yuasa’s cell competence, and Mitsubishi Corporation’s broad industrial base.

Due to its acquisition of Seeo Inc., Bosch now possesses the first sample cells which have the potential to meet the high standards of the automotive industry where durability and safety are concerned.