Swiss technology company Ecovolta said it will start operations at a new lithium-ion battery pack manufacturing and R&D plant in the country in September.
Ecovolta, a subsidiary of ‘smart energy’ systems firm Ecocoach, said the 7,500 square metre site in Schwyz, about 55 kilometres south of Zürich, will have an annual production capacity of 200 megawatt-hours and “be one of the largest operations of its kind in Europe”.
According to Ecovolta, the design of its battery packs provide for “mass producing battery storage systems that are capable of handling high current, without the need for any active cooling”.
The company said in a statement its battery systems manufactured “in line with Ecovolta’s design principle and equipped with the Ecovolta battery management system are already being used in e-mobility applications and in agriculture”. But the company did not give details and did not respond to BBB’s inquiries.
According to Ecovolta, its production plant will provide for “flexible mass production of square and round battery types in a fully automated process”. At voltage levels of 12-600 volts, capacities from 10 watt-hours (Wh) to several hundred kilowatt-hours can be achieved, while the energy density reaches 480Wh per litre, the company said.
Ecovolta said that in combination with its battery management system, batteries can discharge at a rate of 8°C and charge at 2C “without any need for cooling”.
Chief technical officer Paul Hauser said: “The members of our R&D team have been developing battery, electronics and drive solutions for over 15 years. They test battery systems and build full drive prototypes, including power electronics, right next to the production facility. The motor test bench can then be used to measure torque, load curves and power peaks.”
