Volvo testing new EV batteries with Ricardo
Volvo Cars of Sweden has turned to Britain’s Ricardo for a new partnership. Volvo wants the engineering firm to test and asses battery cells for upcoming electric cars. The project has been described as “large-scale”.
For Ricardo it is indeed a big contract as they signed up to “assist Volvo Cars with the provision of a large-scale test programme” to assess a range of new lithium-ion cells.
Volvo is particularly interested in the life cycle characteristics of the new cells to determine their suitability for various electrified vehicle applications in future.
Ricardo director for the passenger car & motorcycle market, Martin Tolliday describes the extent of their cooperation as reaching “from the concept design phase through to production sign-off, and from identifying application appropriate cells and developing control systems to the design and manufacture of the pack”.
Volvo is operating under an ambitious electrification strategy. Beginning by 2019, each new model will be either offered as an EV or at least PHEV variant. As of 2025, Volvo wants to make 50% of their global sales from electric and hybrid cars.
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