Saft to Provide Li-ion Batteries for General Dynamics' Advanced Ground Mobility Vehicle Demonstrator
15 March 2007 17:27
Cockeysville, MD – Saft, a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-tech batteries, will provide a Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery for General Dynamics Land Systems' Advanced Ground Mobility Vehicle (AGMV). The AGMV is an advanced technology demonstration vehicle housing innovative technologies that could be used to meet the requirements for the next generation of tactical wheeled vehicles. This demonstrator will be introduced at the Association of the United States Army's Winter Symposium and Exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The custom battery was designed to use stored energy to provide supplemental power to the electric drive system and enable operation of the vehicle with the engine turned off. Saft supplied a 220V Li-ion battery for the hybrid electric drive system, supporting vehicle acceleration and regenerative braking. Additionally, the battery provides power for on-board electronic systems for Silent Watch, exported power and mobile applications.
General Dynamics stated that Saft has a strong reputation for providing high-quality and durable batteries for defence applications. To remain competitive, every component in military vehicles is chose through the process of a strong systems engineering trade analysis to meet customer needs.
"Saft is proud to participate with an industry leader in light armoured vehicles on the AGMV project," said Jim Miller, general manager for Saft's space and defence division. "We look forward to more collaboration with GDLS serving the growing hybrid market and providing advanced battery solutions."
Saft's recent advances in combining high-power cell technology with enhanced control electronics have allowed development of an integrated battery system in a sealed, water tight enclosure. The combination of Saft's very-low cell impedance and innovative passive cooling technology allows the battery to provide a continuous discharge power of 30kW. The high power 7.2kWh battery is capable of pulse discharges up to 85kW.
The Saft battery pack is configured with five modules and a high voltage control unit. Each of the five modules has 12 VL34P cells and a CanPROBE® board for voltage monitoring. CANProbe boards provide telemetry, protection, and balancing for each cell, while a central BPC manages the main contactors, monitoring pre-charge, ground fault, and battery current. Communication to the vehicle is handled by a separate CAN bus interface.
Saft's high-power Li-ion batteries are currently used to power several of the military's hybrid electric armoured demonstrator vehicles, including BAE Systems (formerly United Defence's) Non Line of Sight Cannon (NLOS-C), Carnegie Mellon National Robotics Engineering Centre's crusher robotic vehicle, General Dynamic Land Systems' Reconnaissance Surveillance Targeting Vehicle (RST-V and 8x8 AHED vehicle), and TACOM's XM-1124 hybrid electric version of the High-Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV).
For more information on this company:
Saft - Lithium Cells and Battery Packs
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