Forsee Power presents batteries for medium trucks and small buses

French battery manufacturer Forsee Power has introduced a new high-voltage system for electric vehicles at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in California. The new Zen Lite battery system with NMC cells is primarily targeted at 350-volt vehicles such as light and medium-sized electric trucks, minibuses and off-highway vehicles.

The Zen Lite comes in at a volumetric energy density of 258 Wh/l, according to the manufacturer, and will be available in two package options of 47 kWh and 54 kWh capacity. The ability to connect two of the 350-volt packs in series makes Zen Lite suitable for large 650- and 800-volt e-vehicles where available installation space is limited, the company says. The focus, however, appears to be on the 350-volt commercial vehicle market, which Forsee says in the release is a rapidly growing battery market.

The Zen Lite system uses the same electrical and mechanical platform as Forsee’s well-known Zen Plus system. The differences mainly relate to the new NMC cell technology, which is said to increase charging flexibility in addition to energy density. In addition to slow charging overnight, the system should also be able to charge to 50 per cent in 20 minutes. This intermediate charging solution is “particularly suitable for companies whose fleets operate with limited break time at the depot”.

Zen Lite is to be offered worldwide, despite its premiere at the trade fair in the USA. Nevertheless, Forsee is placing a focus on North America: Forsee Power announced a production facility in the USA last year. The plant in Ohio is expected to reach a production capacity of 3 GWh by 2027. It is part of the company’s strategy to locate its assembly plants close to customers – in order to reduce CO2 emissions associated with transport and limit delivery costs and times.

forseepower.com (announcement), forseepower.com (product page)