Every car battery and every emergency power system today relies on lead-and-acid battery technology. With the transition to cleaner energy and the trend towards more electric cars, however, demands on battery performance are also increasing. More than 200,000 t of these traditional lead-acid batteries are produced each year, but researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC) in Würzburg and partners from the industrial sector are currently exploring a sustainable alternative – one which is intended to be more resource-friendly in production and charge more quickly, with increased energy density and a longer life. Exide Technologies is coordinating the project.

The work is focused on electrochemical studies and model-based analysis, with the project to be documented against a traditional 30 kWh battery. Batteries of this type currently have a range of around 200 km in an electric car. The collaborative project, named AddESun , will continue until the end of August 2020 and has a budget of 3.41 million euros funded 60% by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.