Spanish plastics firm AIMPLAS is working on structural battery casings for a battery swap system intended for lightweight EVs.

The casings are made of recyclable, long-fiber thermoplastic composites that are flame-retardant and designed to protect the battery from electromagnetic interference (EMI).

“Thermoplastic matrix composites could play a key role in industry in the 21st century due to their many advantages, including weight reduction, high rigidity and specific strength comparable to metal materials,” says Begoña Galindo, a Sustainable Mobility Researcher at AIMPLAS. “The new generation of electric car manufacturers is starting to use these plastic materials, which enable free design and make cars around 40% lighter.”

According to the company, the casings will house batteries for the SMART5G project, an effort aimed at “developing a system that allows dead batteries to be quickly swapped for batteries charged with solar energy.”

ITERA Mobility Engineering, ELIX Polymers and the Universitat de València are also collaborating on the project. Funding comes from Spain’s Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Ministry for Science and Innovation) and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (State Research Agency) as well as the European Union’s Next Generation funds.

Source: AIMPLAS