Advances in Automotive Battery Applications

This talk shares Renault experience in developing and launching Europe's first automotive LFP pouch cell manufactured in Europe and deployed within a Cell-to-Pack architecture. The talk will highlight the technical challenges and trade-offs associated with introducing new chemistry and battery architecture into a high-volume automotive application. Attention will be given to long-term durability performance, and abuse tolerance. The talk will also review the energy integration achieved on the Renault 5 platform and the role of LFP technology in making electric vehicles more accessible while maintaining demanding safety and quality standards. Finally, an update will be provided on Renault next generation of high-energy, cobalt-free battery chemistries, aimed at combining the energy density required for future electric vehicles with the advantages of LFP.

USABC unites automakers, government, national laboratories, and technology developers to advance pre-competitive battery technologies. This presentation highlights how USABC sets targets, selects projects, and validates performance, with examples in fast-charging lithium-ion cells, silicon and lithium-metal anodes, advanced cathodes, solid-state batteries, manufacturing, and recycling. The portfolio addresses cost, performance, safety, manufacturability, supply chain resilience, and sustainability.

Solid state batteries garner a large amount of attention as the future of next-generation battery chemistries and as a result it can be difficult to separate hype from reality in this important technology. This talk will discuss the status of solid state battery commercialization, important challenges remaining, and technology needs from an automotive OEM perspective.

Gas detection during thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries offers a promising method for early detection and safety assessment. Although heat-generating reactions have been extensively studied using techniques like accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), correlating these reactions with gas emissions remains challenging. This talk will focus on real-time analysis of gas species generated within battery cells leading up to thermal runaway.

This presentation will provide an overview of the development of sustainable layered Mn-rich cathodes (HLM) materials for the high-performance and low-cost segment of the electric vehicle market.

This talk shows how engineers make use of AI agents in conjunction with established and trusted software tools to accelerate the development of battery systems. After an introduction to using agents in the MathWorks ecosystem, we show examples of creation and modification of complex battery models. We finish with best practices for prompt writing that mitigate the non-deterministic nature of the AI responses and minimize token usage.

Autonomous mobility changes the economics of the battery. Today’s batteries were built around human driving patterns, with rest between trips. Autonomous fleets cannot afford that downtime, as it undermines fleet economics. This talk explores the demands of 24/7 operation, battery limitations, and the technologies needed to enable the next generation of mobility, from autonomous EVs and electric trucks to physical AI and space.

As the transit and commercial-vehicle markets accelerate toward electrification, American Battery Solutions (ABS) is launching its next-generation high-voltage battery platform with expanded chemistry options—including LFP alongside proven NMC solutions. This session examines the advanced technologies integrated into ABS's new platform, the engineering priorities driving next-gen design, and the commercial realities of bringing new battery systems to market in demanding heavy-duty applications.

This presentation describes a full transient CFD methodology for predicting the thermal performance of intumescent coatings under EV battery thermal runaway-like heating conditions. The model incorporates conjugate heat transfer, radiative heat exchange, and coating expansion effects through an equivalent thermal conductivity approach. Baseline model credibility is established using uncoated steel backside temperature measurements, and the CFD workflow is then applied to assess how coating thickness, effective conductivity, and expansion behavior influence thermal protection performance.

The revised battery portions of the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods—Model Regulations and Manual of Tests and Criteria will publish in early 2027 and become effective January 1, 2029. Changes to both documents and implications on transportation in all modes for batteries and battery-containing devices will be reviewed.