VTC6 Sony/Murata Li-ion Battery Module

Battery module from 1s1p to 1s20p with 18650 size cells.

Description

Battery Module from Enepaq combine the best of two worlds – Low Weight, High Power, Quality, Safety and Ease of Use.

Enepaq Battery Modules are a unique blend of latest battery technology, safety and ease of use. Each Battery Module is made of several 3.6V 18650 Li-ion cells connected in parallel. Several such blocks may be connected in parallel and series to form high voltage Battery Packs of various shapes and sizes.

Even though a cylinder may seem as not effective use of space at a first glance, the internal conductors are very tightly rolled and often offer higher energy density per volume and weight than competition, even per whole pack, counting in the air gaps among cylinders. No need for compression plates gives yet another way to save some space and weight. Resulting air gaps also offer an opportunity of easy and effective thermal management solution, either by liquid or air.

SAFETY

18650s are housed in a self-contained metal shell, which requires no special treatment, like mechanical compression used for pouch cells, or swell compensation used for pouch and prismatic cells, which complicates overall design and construction of Battery Pack.

Each cell is also equipped with a bimetallic fuse and a pressure release valve to manage critical events such as short circuit or mechanical damage, on top of already robust metal shell.

In addition to internal protection techniques, the module includes two fuses for each cell. These act as a second level protection devices in case of cell failure. In case of cell venting, released gas is travelled through dedicated channels to avoid pressure buildup.

QUALITY

Due to long history and well established manufacturing techniques, these cells offer very high quality and almost unbelievably low fail rates of only 0.01 per million, which becomes very important when battery pack is built from thousands of cells.

Stable manufacturing process leads to high tolerances and low parameter deviation. Typically cells measure below 3mV of voltage difference even after years in storage, which means very little maintenance and balancing is needed. This allows the use of cost-effective and reliable battery management systems with low balancing current: 5mA bleeder on a 200Ah pack is often acceptable. This also means that all Battery Modules made by are in perfect balance once delivered. In contrary, initial balancing of poor quality cells may take weeks or even months, usually asking for special equipment for initial conditioning of battery pack.

FLEXIBILITY

Due to simple nature of these building blocks, desired battery pack configuration can be built in minutes, connecting them in series and parallel using bolt connections. Even MWh-scale batteries can be assembled with ease.

• Small size: 237-411 Wh per liter
• Low weight: 183-193 Wh per kg
• Individually fuse-protected cells
• Ultra low and equal self-discharge
• Rapid prototyping of battery pack
• Convenient thermal control
• Built-in temperature sensors
• UL94-V0 rated, fire-retardant plastics
• UN38.3 certified

Each Battery Module comes with various options:

  • Single row or double row
  • Cell count up to 10 per row
  • Optional multi-point temperature sensor
  • Various 18650 cell models

APPLICATIONS

  • Electric Formula SAE Student
  • Performance electric vehicles
  • Autonomous Robotics
  • Electric Bikes
  • Electric Bicycles
  • Electric Scooters
  • Special purpose machines
  • Golf Carts
  • Go Carts
  • Backup energy storage

About Our Batteries On YouTube from Hacksmith Industries

A Li-Ion Battery Module was developed with simplicity and safety in mind. Using 18650 lithium-ion technology, such Battery Modules offer the most modern and energy-dense solution in easy to use package. 18650 is a very well established and time-tested battery cell standard, especially common in consumer devices. These cells are designed to withstand consumer’s abuse, while offering the best in class energy density.

Cylindric form factor is arguably the best Li-ion battery cell solution today, as it offers unrivaled quality, safety and latest developments in battery technology. However, these cells come with several drawbacks due to their shape and small size: cylindric shape is asking for special trays, non-tabbed contacts require complicated busbar welding techniques, and small size is very labor-intensive to build a large Battery Pack with thousands of cells.

On top of this, there are plenty of safety-related issues that need to be taken care of and usually this must be done by very skilled engineers, with many years of experience in the field. All of this can be managed by large automotive companies, however smaller ones are typically overwhelmed by these difficulties and opt for different solutions, like pouch and prismatic cells. Even large automotive companies don’t get it right the first time, or often look for an easier option straight away. Due to these reasons very few electric car models use cylindric battery cells, even though they offer clear benefits.

Additional notes: This product is made to order and is non- cancelable and non-returnable (NCNR) and once the order is placed with the factory no changes may be made.

3D Model

Product characteristics

VTC6 Sony-Murata Li-ion Battery Module Product Characteristics, Electric Formula Student Battery Pack, Formula SAE electric, Battery Module For Autonomous Robots

Dimensions and Weight

Sony-Murata VTC6 Li-ion Battery Module, Electric Formula Student Battery Pack, Formula SAE electric Dimensions and Weight

Temperature Sensor

The module has a temperature sensor built in, which meets and exceeds safety requirements of FSAE 2017 regulations. Each one of the sensors is in physical contact with negative pole of two adjacent cells and provides very fast temperature measurement response. Such construction provides inexpensive monitoring of all 100 % of cells (  30 % is required by FSAE).

Innovative analogue signal OR’ing technique allows all sensor signals to be read with two-wire acquisition system: output acts as a hot spot detector and reports only the maximum temperature. When battery is operating within safe limits, all sensors report similar temperatures and such measurement accurately represents overall temperature of the module. However, in case of failure event, hot spot is very quickly noticed.

Sony-Murata VTC6 Li-ion Battery Module With Temperature Sensor, Electric Formula Student Battery Pack, Formula SAE electric
Sony-Murata VTC6 Li-ion Battery Module With Temperature Sensor, Electric Formula Student Battery Pack, Formula SAE electric

The sensor is a special-made temperature-variable voltage shunt reference. In simple words, it acts as a zener diode, whose voltage drop depends on temperature. It requires a pull-up resistor ( 680 ) to operate at cell voltage level. For convenience, the module can be used to power the sensor as given in test circuit in Figure 4 (see in datasheet).

The signal is non-linear, as given in Figure 5 (see in datasheet). It is compensated internally to provide flattest possible curve in operating range of –40…+120°C. For convenience, conversion values are given in Table 2. Linear interpolation can be used to calculate more values with reasonable accuracy.

VIDEOS

(from 1:10 and 5:55 min about our batteries)

 

(from 4:20 min about our batteries)

 

(from 5:25 min about our batteries)

Downloads

Sony-Murata VTC6 Li-ion Battery Module With Temperature Sensor Datasheet

VTC6, VTC5A, LG HG2, LG HE2, Sanyo GA, Samsung 30Q, Samsung 25R cells discharge characteristics comparison at 1C and 5C rates

UN 38.3 Certificate

RoHS Declaration

REACH Letter of Confirmation