Driving growth in automotive lithium-ion battery pack production

Electric vehicles (EVs), with their low or zero emissions, are definitely becoming a highly strategic part of many OEM business strategies. 

This continued growth in demand for electric vehicles brings with it the need for a huge supply of the lithium-ion batteries required to produce the power
packs. In keeping with the automotive sector’s philosophy of automating manufacturing processes, battery production also needs to be automated, not only to keep pace with demand, but also to ensure the high standards of quality and safety required.

In this article, Simon Jenkins, Sales Manager for Stäubli Robotics,
expands on the different areas where the company’s robots are playing a role in the manufacture of lithium-Ion battery packs.

Re-chargeable batteries have been with us for some time and are present in many of our everyday home items. The technology within these items is very similar to that
now being used in many electric and hybrid cars, where the batteries are of the lithium-ion type. However, the battery packs in vehicles contain significantly higher numbers of individual cells to produce the power and deliver the longevity needed to make electric vehicles viable.

With the compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) for electric and hybrid vehicles alone estimated at around 35 percent, not to mention the increase in the manufacture of energy storage facilities (which also use similar technology), it is clear that there is a high demand for lithium-ion battery technology.

Read the full article in the June issue of DPA.