Hyperdrive Innovation Ltd. (Washington, UK) and OXIS Energy Ltd (Abingdon, UK) are working on an Ultra-Low Temperature Battery (ULTB) whose high energy density battery chemistry, packaging and control electronics will be capable of operating in one of the harshest environments in the world: Antarctica. Such a battery would allow the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to significantly increase autonomous scientific measurements made in the Antarctic without increasing transport costs or emissions.
OXIS Energy will develop a low temperature electrolyte for the Lithium Sulfur (Li-S) rechargeable battery and Hyperdrive Innovation will create a chemistry-agnostic battery management system and packaging that will withstand frigid conditions and the resiulting battery system will outperform current lead-acid battery solutions.
BAS will be the first customer. The initial effort is expected to lead to a follow-on mid-stage program to develop a high energy density rechargeable battery that will operate at -80 degrees C.
The use of Lithium Sulfur chemistry is innovative because it is a next-generation battery technology that has a theoretical energy density much higher than any Li-ion solution. OXIS has been developing Li-S cells for over ten years, and has already managed to build pouch cells that are 300Wh/kg, which is more than any Li-ion chemistry can practically achieve. Li-ion as a technology is already on the market, while Li-S is only just beginning to enter the market now.
Hyperdrive’s Battery Management System (BMS) automatically manages balancing between cells to optimize energy consumption and range, controls the charge and discharge of the individual cells, and monitors cell heath. It communicates with other systems via the controller area network (CAN) and, including any other CAN BMS modules, enables up to 255 cells to be daisy-chained together for use on large series battery installations.