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EV battery assembly production cycle time reduced by 70%

3rd December 2024 | 2 min read

Orange EV car with charging lead plugged in

The Challenge

Hyperbat, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of high-performance EV battery packs and supplier of batteries for the world’s most powerful production car, needed to increase EV battery assembly speed whilst maintaining precision.

Electric vehicles feature multiple battery modules, each comprising approximately 6,000 Li-Ion cells that all require the perfect weld. It is critical that every weld is precise, consistent and safe – any failure can be catastrophic.

Welding electric vehicle battery cells to busbars presents several challenges due to the unique characteristics of Li-ion batteries and the stringent safety and performance requirements in the automotive industry.

Cells and associated busbars need to be clamped accurately to enable precision welding of the busbars to the positive and negative terminals of all individual cells to achieve effective electrical conductivity. This time-consuming process results in long lead times and operational inefficiencies.

The Solution

MetLase, a Unipart company delivering optimised engineering, smart manufacturing and assembly solutions for safety and mission critical industries, developed a unique solution to this complex engineering challenge by designing, developing and building a new set of EV battery assembly fixtures.

Created using precision laser cutting and patented joining technologies, these fixtures support multiple busbar configurations and automate cell assembly for the first time using deflected beam-welding technology.

The fixtures consist of a lower element to hold a battery module’s frame and the array of cylindrical cells, and an upper element that holds the appropriate busbar. When assembled, tabs in the busbar are precisely positioned over the terminals of each cell, closing the gap between the busbar and the cells. This precise positioning allows for automatic welding.

Automotive vehicles on a production line

70%

Reduction in production cycle time

The Impact

MetLase’s bespoke solution allowed Hyperbat to transition from manual EV battery assembly to automated assembly for the first time, increasing volume and maintaining precision quality in the process.

The fixtures enabled accurate, repeatable component assembly, delivering:

  • 70% reduction in production cycle time
  • 300% increase in through-put
  • Significant reduction in missed welds
  • Full project completion in just 10 weeks

"The fixtures worked for the first time without issue. There was no visible beam clipping at the extremities of the PFO deflection, and there was good clamping force – these are world-class fixtures and a step forward. The production cycle time has been significantly reduced, leading to a 300% increase in throughput.” "It’s very rare that manufacturing processes can be improved to this extent; this simply would not have been possible without MetLase."

Dr Nicholas Longfield, Welding Engineering Manager, Hyperbat

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By Daniel Earp

Published on: December 3, 2024 at 4:43 PM