KULR to bring high-performance battery solutions to EV motorsports
Carbon fiber company KULR becomes official thermal management and battery safety technical partner for Andretti Technologies to transfer technical knowledge from aerospace to the racetrack.
KULR Technology Group Inc. (San Diego, Calif., U.S.), a developer of next-generation lithium-ion battery safety and thermal management technologies, and a carbon fiber company, announced on March 17 a long-term technology and developmental partnership with Andretti Technologies (ATEC), the advanced technology arm of Andretti Autosport (Indianapolis, Ind., U.S.), founded by Michael Andretti. As part of the alliance, KULR says it will establish a thermal management testing and design platform for high-performance battery solutions adapted to the rigorous technical requirements of Andretti’s global racing enterprise. Both partners will also focus on co-developing and co-marketing motorsports’ battery and safety technologies to automotive partners for mass-market electric vehicle (EV) applications. Composite usage will most likely be incorporated into these developments.
The aim of the KULR and Andretti Technologies partnership is a transfer of technical knowledge from aerospace to the racetrack through ATEC-affiliated programs. Drawing upon KULR’s technical expertise building lightweight, high-performance thermal management solutions for space exploration, including the NICER instrument on the International Space Station, the Mercury Messenger and the SHERLOC instrument on the Mars Perseverance rover, ATEC plans to implement new cooling technology, battery cell architecture and testing methodologies for its high-performance and high-power applications within the global EV motorsports marketplace.
“We are in the early innings of the EV revolution,” says Michael Mo, CEO of KULR. “ATEC is a perfect partner for KULR to showcase our space-proven technology in the world of high-performance motorsports. From here, we will deliver the pinnacle in performance and the safest battery products for the mass EV markets.”
KULR also emphasized its ambitions for its passive propagation-resistant (PPR) solutions within the Andretti Technologies battery storage and transportation safety roadmap. KULR’s passive propagation-resistant packaging solutions for lithium batteries are said to be critical at preventing cell-to-cell thermal runaway propagation which inhibits the fire and ejecta of a single battery cell from exiting the battery enclosure. The PPR architecture is also designed to absorb and mitigate rapid temperature changes in battery systems and keeps sensitive components within desired temperature ranges for their required specification. Avoiding any efficiency loss and/or serious damage to any system components, KULR says, results in a more sustainable, and environmentally sound, battery management system. This demand for sustainability played a major part in the new partnership with ATEC.
“The alliance with KULR provides ATEC additional technical resources to accelerate engineering and scale battery system development in a sustainable way,” says Roger Griffiths, CTO of Andretti Technologies, “while also allowing us access to KULR’s hardware expertise to help compete with the largest OEMs in the most competitive motorsport races on the planet.”
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