Forsee Power, Blue Solutions and Bluebus cooperate on new battery system
Forsee Power, Blue Solutions and Bluebus, both subsidiaries of the Bolloré Group, join forces. Together, they want to develop a solid-state battery made in France, which should be ready to launch in 2026.
Specifically, the deal concerns a new generation of battery cells (GEN4) to be developed by Blue Solutions and integrated by Forsee Power into its battery systems. Bus manufacturer Bluebus will use the new lithium-ion NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery system for its 6-metre and 12-metre buses, which it currently offers with LMP battery systems.
The smaller system, Zen Slim, will be used for the 6-metre buses and is available with 11, 16 or 21 kWh. The Zen Plus, already launched in 2022, consists of 28 to 32 modules delivering 74 to 84 kWh and will be used for the larger bus models. At the time of the launch, Forsee said that the modules are designed so that they can be installed both in the rear of the vehicle and – in the case of electric buses, for example – on the roof. And the battery packs are said to be able to power both 650-volt and 800-volt systems.
The companies did not provide any further details on the cells. Only that they are NMC lithium-ion cells that, “combined with efficient liquid thermal management and addressing all climate zones, offer a lifetime of 5,000 cycles.”
Last year, Forsee Power opened its production site in Poitiers, France, which is said to have an annual production capacity of one GWh. By 2027, the site could even manufacture batteries with a total annual capacity of 4 GWh.
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