Stellantis Aims To Halve EV Battery Weight And Match ICE and EV Weights

Presently, the bulk of EVs - including those made by Stellantis - are bogged down by their heavy batteries. The firm now seeks to halve the weights of said batteries.

In a recent interview with UK’s Autocar title, Stellantis engineering head has stated the firm's aim to reduce the weight of its EV batteries by half and make EV cars more comparable to combustion-powered (ICE) cars. To achieve this, the group is working with several batterymakers to explore suitable chemistries.

Speaking with Autocar, Stellantis head of engineering Ned Curic admitted batteries today are too heavy, as that lightweight batteries and efficient cell packaging are vital for forward progress. Presently, lithium-ion batteries are amongst the heaviest components in an EV, which can adversely affect performance, efficiency, and safety. 

Earlier this year, Stellantis had invested California-based battery firm Lyten who are developing lightweight lithium-sulfur type batteries. The latter firm claims that this composition cheaper, boast resistance against thermal runaway, and, crucially, up to 60% lighter in weight too.

The firm had also previously noted the need to eliminate nickel, manganese, cobalt, and graphite. Due to cobalt’s well-documented negative human and environmental impacts, several firms are moving away from said element.

CATL has developed sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries that boasts high energy densities, lower costs and, crucially, lighter weights.

Besides that, Stellantis also notes sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries as a possible alternative. CATL has already developed a first-generation sodium-ion battery, boasting high energy density, fast charging capability, and improved thermal stability. Chinese marque Chery is reportedly the first to adopt this CATL-made tech too.

Such chemistries is being looked into by Stellantis via its newly established Mirafiori Battery Technology Centre situated in Turin, Italy. It has an 8,000 square metre footprint altogether, and stands as one of Europe’s largest battery testing and development hubs.

Stellantis' new Mirafiori Battery Technology Centre in Turin, Italy.

Key activities by workers at this hub include overseeing stress and durability tests, battery thermal management system software development and calibration, as well as teardowns, amongst many others. 

Stellantis is also collaborating with France’s National Centre For Scientific Research (CNRS) and TotalEnergies-owned battery solutions company Saft. Together, both firms seek to jointly develop integrated inverter and charger functions within the module. This frees up space and improves range, whilst also coming in at lower costs too.

This apparent solution is called Intelligent Battery Integrated System (IBIS), and Stellantis has filed several patents for it. A wide range of experiments are underway in battery tech across the globe, all striving for the common goals of reducing costs, improving energy density, and increasing driving range.

Though all these sounds promising, we’ll have to wait for a few years to see if one or more solutions can solve the persistent issue of range anxiety.