“The batteries produced today and installed in various applications from laptops to electric vehicles leave a lot of capacity that is not utilised. New control and maintenance strategies should be applied to modern batteries to secure proper functions and improved durability,” said Dr Ian Campbell, CEO and one of three founders of the British battery optimisation company Breathe Battery Technologies, in this exclusive interview with BEST.
Swedish-Chinese automotive company Volvo Cars recently announced a partnership with the start-up, founded in 2019 as a spin-off from Imperial College, London. Volvo and Breathe met at an automotive conference.
“Volvo Cars is continuously scouting for new technology, and they very quickly understood our philosophy – to build a set of products enhancing battery performance without hardware changes. One example is that our easy-to-adopt solutions offer up to 30% faster battery charging, from 10 to 80% of the capacity. Volvo has ambitious plans for the future EVs and our technology is based on over a century of battery experience – the deal with Volvo is only the tip of an iceberg,” Campbell said.
“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,” said Ann-Sofie Ekberg, CEO of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund.
Breathe employs 36 people, 14 of them with Ph.Ds. The knowledge background covers a very good understanding of battery technology, from single cells to complete EV systems, from battery chemistry to software engineering. In the past two years, Breathe has been scaling up the capabilities and the investment from Volvo Cars Tech Fund will give Breathe a unique opportunity to grow.
“When we talk about battery management our solution is integrated seamlessly in the existing infrastructure of the car, in the main processor. The information is provided directly from the battery and no extra sensors are required. The software interacts 100% with the vehicle platform developed by Volvo,” Campbell said.
Breathe Charge is compatible with all mainstream chemistries including LCO, NMC, NCA, LFP, C and C-Si systems and it is developed for use on all cell form factors including pouch, coin, cylindrical and prismatic.
Global expansion in focus
The co-operation with Volvo is only one step in Breathe’s global expansion. Campbell said that in the near future, the company will announce more customers in Europe, North America and Asia.
“Battery technology has so far been focusing on two factors, cell performance and chemistry, including sustainability. Now the third phase begins, when the management systems for a vast majority of batteries will be more software controlled. What is possible will become evident towards the end of this decade. Our ambition is to supply the entire world with our embedded products, to make them affordable, to extend the lifetime of batteries and to reduce waste for a more sustainable future,” he said.
Breathe is headquartered in London, where the company management and the battery laboratory is situated. The partnership with Volvo will mean frequent contacts with the Volvo EV development team in Gothenburg.
Dr Björn Fridholm, Technical expert of battery management at Volvo Cars, said the partnership means adaptive charging, enabled through an embedded and real-time physics-based battery model, is now the new standard.
“Simply, it enables us to continue our march to ‘optimal’, while ensuring the safety and reliability that Volvo is renowned for. With Breathe, we are accessing that future immediately, delivering a better end-user experience for Volvo customers. We selected Breathe Charge because of its maturity, and we’re delighted to take advantage of the opportunity to lead the transition to adaptive charging.”
Photo: Dr Ian Campbell, CEO, Breathe Battery Technologies
