Volvo Cars has partnered up with Breathe Battery Technologies (Breathe), turning into the primary automobile firm to get entry to the newest model of its patented, algorithm-enabled charging software program to be used on our new-generation totally electrical vehicles.
By integrating Breathe’s software program in Volvo Cars in-house-developed battery administration platform to optimise and enhance the efficiency of our charging know-how, we are able to present Volvo clients with even sooner charging occasions and an enhanced general driving and charging expertise.
We will implement the brand new know-how in our new-generation totally electrical vehicles, the place we anticipate it is going to scale back the time it takes to cost your totally electrical Volvo from 10 to 80 per cent charging state by as a lot as 30 per cent*, whereas sustaining the identical vitality density and vary. Even higher: the charging time enhancements will final throughout the total battery life cycle with out impacting its well being standing.
The collaboration with Breathe is the results of a sourcing settlement for its flagship product, Breathe Charge, and represents the newest funding by the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, our company enterprise capital arm. It displays our ambition to steer the event of premium electrical vehicles and change into a totally electrical automobile maker by 2030.
Sharing our ardour for electrical mobility and pleasant driver experiences, Breathe is a London-based start-up that develops battery administration software program with the intention of contributing to sooner, higher and extra sustainable electrification.
“The investment and commercial partnership with Breathe helps us address a familiar pain point for electric car customers and makes our charging performance even more competitive,” says Ann-Sofie Ekberg, CEO of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund. “Faster charging times, in the range where customers typically fast charge, represent a major step in the right direction as we continue to boost electric mobility and make it available to more people.”
Software-defined batteries
Unlike conventional stepped charging, which depends on pre-determined guidelines, Breathe’s software program makes use of adaptive charging to dynamically management the battery in actual time, leading to considerably shorter charging occasions.
Using algorithms, the software program manages the charging course of in keeping with the battery’s well being to ship the perfect driver expertise whereas avoiding the danger of lithium plating, which may hurt the battery’s efficiency and lifespan.
Our funding in Breathe helps place us for an all-electric future, but it surely additionally suits with our ambitions of reaching web zero greenhouse fuel emissions and turning into a round enterprise by 2040. While lowering charging occasions for our vehicles, the know-how achieves this with out the necessity to change battery pack design or mine additional supplies, with out extra environmental impacts.
Also, since it’s totally suitable with the {hardware} utilized in our new-generation totally electrical vehicles, scaling will likely be straightforward as a result of we anticipate our electrical gross sales to extend considerably within the coming years.
“We’re very pleased with this investment and sourcing agreement with Volvo Cars, and support their exciting journey towards full electrification,” says Dr Ian Campbell, CEO of Breathe Battery Technologies. “Deploying our technology at scale on Volvo’s next-generation EV platform opens doors to innovative car designs and performance improvements. We share a profound passion for electric mobility, and convenient, fast charging is one of the cornerstone enablers for the future we strive towards.”
The Volvo Cars Tech Fund was established in 2018 to put money into firms and know-how areas that remodel the automotive trade, akin to electrification, AI, autonomous driving, sustainability and digital commerce. The Tech Fund makes strategic investments to assist start-ups thrive and collectively speed up the transformation of the worldwide mobility trade.
*Different battery packs will end in various charging occasions. Testing indicated cost time enhancements starting from 15-30%.