Interview: Colin Arnold, Project Manager, Axeon
By: AWPresenter.com, Thursday, June 23, 2011, AutomotiveWorld.com
Axeon is Europe's largest privately-owned independent lithium-ion battery systems supplier, processing over 70 million cells annually. The company designs and manufactures advanced lithium-ion battery systems for a variety of applications, including automotive (electric and hybrid vehicles), energy storage, cordless power tools and mobile products.
Wholly-owned by AG Holding Ltd, Axeon is headquartered in Dundee, Scotland, and has manufacturing and engineering facilities in the UK and Poland. It also has operations in Germany (European business development and strategic purchasing), Switzerland (small pack engineering), Italy (sales), the US (Detroit sales office) and Asia (strategic purchasing).
In terms of activities, the design and manufacture of large-scale high voltage automotive grade battery systems for electric and hybrid electric vehicles is carried out by Axeon's UK operation, as is the design and production of mobile power product batteries. The company's European operations design and produce high-performance battery packs for cordless power tools and mobile devices.
Colin Arnold is Project Manager at Axeon. In this role, in addition to heading up the bids and quotations team for new business, he says he is involved in proof of concept. Where the company has a brand new battery or a conversion from an existing application, Arnold is involved in ensuring that the concept is valid.
In an interview conducted by AWPresenter.com, the online conferencing division of AutomotiveWorld.com, to tie in with a recent webinar presentation, Arnold explained how Axeon is fast becoming a first tier supplier, and is working increasingly closely with passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers.
AWPresenter.com: How would you describe Axeon? Is it an R&D business, or are you a manufacturer with an R&D capability?
Colin Arnold: We primarily consider ourselves manufacturers, but with an expertise and R&D involvement with battery chemistry. We do not do it all ourselves, we have numerous partners. For example, Ricardo and St. Andrews University are two of our partners on cell chemistry and next-generation battery management systems.
AWPresenter.com: What kind of projects are you involved in? Is it the premium segments of lower volume and higher value that are your prime market, or is there a future for Axeon in the mass application segments?
CA: We are winning work on all fronts, but our ambition is certainly to be a volume manufacturer. We have to date been involved in numerous high performance, high specification electric and hybrid vehicles. However, we also have medium and longer-term intentions to be in the volume market.
AWPresenter.com: Are you involved in pure EV and HEV applications?
CA: Yes, we are involved in both, and tackle both with equal vigour. Probably our most famous EV battery system is in the Rolls-Royce 102EX Phantom Experimental Electric. It is the biggest EV battery produced by anybody so far. Later this year we are involved in two very high-profile hybrids.
AWPresenter.com: What is the value to a company like Axeon of a programme like the Rolls-Royce programme?
CA: Clearly there was enormous prestige in being associated with Rolls-Royce and with working on a vehicle of that size - the PR impact was great. It was a lot of work in a short time, but so far it is performing very well.
AWPresenter.com: Do you also supply battery systems for commercial vehicle applications?
CA: Yes, we manufacture in volume for Allied Vehicles, which converts a range of vehicles, including people movers, delivery vans and taxis. Some of these vehicles have been procured by the Scottish government. We are also involved in several industrial applications, such as mining equipment. The underground equipment sector has an obvious need for emission-free vehicles, so we have several prototypes in this area. A year ago, energy storage was barely on our radar, but now it has come right up the agenda.
AWPresenter.com: Do you find that OEMs are increasingly bringing you into the vehicle design process early?
CA: Yes, this is increasingly the case. There is one example that we are just starting on where there is an existing body, but the whole of the powertrain has been designed from scratch, so we have been brought in early. Previously we tended to be brought in very late, and OEMs would effectively develop the vehicle and then think about the battery, leaving us with a strange space in which to fit the battery, usually formerly occupied by the fuel tank. It is becoming increasingly accepted that it is beneficial for OEMs to engage with a battery system supplier like Axeon early in the process.
AWPresenter.com: Is legislation the key driver for industry-wide changes to electric vehicles?
CA: Yes, very much, and there is a lot of effort being put into this across all OEMs.
AWPresenter.com: To what extent do you feel OEMs have the internal capability and capacity for battery system development?
CA: OEMs are developing expertise and knowledge very rapidly, though there is still a lack of understanding of what goes on inside a battery, particularly in terms of cell chemistry. There is a lot more to battery development than many OEMs initially suppose, for example in choice of cells or how the battery integrates with the total system.
AWPresenter.com: Is the current wide range of possible solutions for vehicle electrification likely to remain in the future?
CA: It would be beneficial if there were more standardisation, and not just in the cell chemistry or cell design but across the whole system. It would help if there were set standard components, but we still will be faced with a variety of options depending on the application, such as for a high-performance hybrid or a city EV. As far as the associated parts are concerned, we are looking for greater standardisation.
AWPresenter.com: Will consumers be confused by such a wide range of choice in electrification technology?
CA: Standardisation in terms of community charge points is likely to come, but even with battery swap systems being mooted, it seems unlikely that batteries will be standardised; there will be a need for a wide range of choice.
AWPresenter.com: Will these choices become unintelligible apart from to an expert?
CA: It is not even clear yet what is the best choice for a hybrid. There are many unknowns; industry is not sure what is best for what sort of application. Hopefully after these programmes have been running for a few years, and there is information coming back from vehicles in use, it will become less baffling to the end-customer.
AWPresenter.com: There seem to be some synergies for Axeon being headquartered in Scotland, linking to local universities and initiatives. What is the importance of your relationship with the Scottish government, and this local network an important element of your business?
CA: Yes. The Scottish government has provided funding to support the public procurement of electric vehicles. We are also involved in TSB (Technology Strategy Board projects funded by the UK government regarding specific vehicle development projects, including one for Jaguar Land Rover. We are also involved in advanced R&D programmes with several universities. We are very keen to get involved with this sort of programme - it accelerates our learning curve and involves us with potential customers.
AWPresenter.com:Given your role in these projects, is there a perception that, on the whole, “UK plc” is doing quite well in the electric vehicle space?
CA: I think in some respects the UK is leading the way on this, especially with our R&D into advanced technologies. Some OEMs are pushing the way forward, and I hope that we can maintain that.
AWPresenter.com: Can the UK participate in the mass EV industry?
CA: We are definitely pushing forward on the R&D side, and this will demonstrate the UK's strength in pushing the boundaries forward on high-performance applications. However, high volume is the biggest challenge and we would all like to see a lot of this based in the UK.
AWPresenter.com: In terms of volume forecasting, how far do you take on board other forecasts for battery electric and hybrid vehicles? How far forward into the future are you thinking?
CA: The customer comes to us with their predictions of how they see a particular project going, but we cannot look too far forward. Maybe five or seven years in terms of technologies, but it can change very quickly. In terms of cell chemistries, there are some exciting prospects for maybe 2020 or 2025 and in many cases there is considerable effort going in. If these technologies develop into commercial versions more quickly, then the situation can change dramatically.
AWPresenter.com: Do you see the emerging markets, like China, becoming key drivers in the future or will the novel and interesting applications remain in Japan, Europe or the US?
CA: We would not constrain ourselves in this sense. Partly we are in China to connect with suppliers - numerous cell suppliers are based out there - but also these emerging markets will take a slice of the market action. We can develop these markets with our whole battery system technology, if not for mass applications of battery production.
AWPresenter.com: It seems that the whole battery system design is critical for aggressive cost reductions. Are these reductions achievable?
CA: It is getting to be more important now that we are only a few years from volume production. As far as cells go we are doing well, but it is arguable that other parts of the system are lagging behind. To make the EV and hybrid truly viable, total costs have to come down with mass production, and so it is important to look at driving down the cost of the harness, the materials, the electronics, connectors and the external shells. Many of these things are still being developed so costs are high. Depending on the cell chemistry chosen, you could find that rather than the cells being the biggest cost, it is the rest of the system. So it is critical that these costs are driven down.
AWPresenter.com: We see the cost of key materials going up again now that the global economy is picking up again. How vulnerable are you to material cost inflation?
CA: Those costs are vital, as of course is the country from which we source the materials, due to exchange rate movements.
AWPresenter.com: How significant are materials to the total cost?
CA: Right now materials are important but there is still little very in the way of standardisation.
AWPresenter.com: Will there be a time when the battery electric or hybrid vehicle is cost-comparable with the equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle?
CA: We hope so. The biggest factor is of course economies of scale. If the take-up results in a cross-over in terms of volume and you are talking about millions rather than 20,000 units at a time, then it will make a big difference.
AWPresenter.com is the online conferencing division of AutomotiveWorld.com. For more information, go to http://awpresenter.com/
Published on Thursday, June 23, 2011
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