A symbol of resilience, peace, solidarity and unity. The “horse” that rode through Paris on the occasion of the opening ceremony embodies the values at the heart of the partnership between PowerTech Systems, Atelier BLAM, MM Process, Transfluid and Paris 2024.
As well as being a powerful symbol, Zeus ride is also the result of the know-how and spirit of scientific and artistic innovation of a group of French companies.
The prototype is powered by a 130kW 384V motor, assembled inside the hull.
Zeus ride is a true technical challenge and a scene forever engraved in the eyes of the whole world. This is undoubtedly one of the most memorable creations of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
It’s a pretty baby, 9m long and weighing over 11 tons, that silently roams the French Alps to groom the ski slopes.
This snow groomer’s diesel engine (almost 13L in displacement) has been replaced by electric motors. These are more reliable and far more efficient than the original combustion engine. The result is a 100% electric machine, consuming four times less energy and with a range of 6 to 7 hours, the equivalent of a night’s work on the slopes.
Romain Dupon is heading the eponymous company based in Pontcharra (France). Romain is proud of his teams who, after several years’ hard work, have developed the world’s first 100% electric snow groomer.
Regarding the battery, PowerTech Systems collaborated with CM Dupon to provide the energy storage solution needed to power the vehicle. The ultimate objective was to get a 100% electric groomer powered by PowerModule.
Indeed, The PowerModule product range met all the project’s requirements. This means high energy density, extreme modularity to integrate the packs into the bodywork, ease of installation, and real-time monitoring of the installation.
For this project, 77 PowerModules are integrated on board the retrofitted “Alpine 510” snow groomer, constituting a 415 kWh, 600VDC Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack.
The first snow groomers will go into operation this winter 2023 in various Alpine resorts (Tignes, La Plagne, …). This project is managed under the aegis of Compagnie des Alpes (CDA).
PowerTech Systems is pleased to announce that it is equipping the “Ducasse sur Seine”, 100% electric boat with its PowerRack® modular lithium battery system.
This 100% electric boat (propulsion, on-board equipment, kitchens, etc.) is powered entirely by our Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, representing a stored energy of 720 kWh divided into two totally independent PowerRack banks.
The PowerRack battery system, certified by Bureau Veritas in early 2018, consists of 24 cabinets of 30kWh in 700V DC, connected in parallel. These batteries represent a weight of about 9 tons on board. This cabinet system limits floor space and allows energy to be stacked over the entire height of the hull, making the installation compact and integrated into the boat.
The official inauguration of the new vessel took place on 25 September 2018 in the presence of Mrs Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, and other personalities.
PowerTech and Shark Robotics partnership to fight COVID
We are pleased to announce our partnership with the French Start Up Shark Robotics, which specialises in the manufacture of multi-role robots and whose vocation is to keep man away from risk.
Within this framework, PowerTech develops and supplies the batteries (PowerModule and PowerBrick) embedded in these autonomous robots, which are very robust and designed to replace man in delicate situations.
For example, the Colossus robot, a cute 500 kg baby, helped save Notre-Dame de Paris from flames in 2019
by manoeuvring the fire hose as close to the fire as possible, where the firefighters could not get to without risk to their lives.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, Shark Robotics has designed a new robot called “RHYNO PROTECT” whose mission is to spray disinfectant solutions over 20 000 m² in less than 3 hours, i.e. 2m² per second, without exposing humans to the risk of contamination.
Modular, this robot can also purify the air in confined environments, such as hospitals. An air purification option allows up to 99.99% of suspended pathogenic micro-organisms to be eliminated, thanks to a UV-C lamp.
These innovations are being exported, so much so that the prestigious American company Boston Robotics” is going to equip its “SPOT” robots with this decontamination add-on developed by Shark Robotics.
PowerTech Systems would like to honour all the medical personnel for their admirable mobilisation in this crisis, and is happy to participate indirectly in the war effort to combat the scourge that is COVID-19.
PowerTech and Shark Robotics partnership to fight COVID
In the recent presentation of Tesla’s 2nd quarter results, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla migrates batteries to Lithium Iron Phosphate Technology (often referred to as LFP) will play a key role in powering the company’s larger vehicles, starting with the Shanghai Model 3 :
Total vehicle efficiency has gotten good enough — with Model 3 for example — that we actually are comfortable having an iron phosphate battery pack in Model 3 in China. That will be in volume production later this year. So we think that getting a range that is in the high 200s — almost 300 miles — with an iron phosphate pack taking into account a whole bunch of of powertrain and other vehicle efficiencies.
And that that frees up a lot of capacity for things like the Tesla Semi and other projects that require higher energy density [batteries]. So you have two supply chains that you can tap into: iron phosphate or nickel-based chemistries.
The fundamental advantage of LFP is that, compared to the nickel-based cathodes traditionally used, its main constituent minerals – iron, phosphates and, more recently, traces of manganese – are very abundant and relatively inexpensive. Iron ore, for example, is mined at a volume of nearly 3 billion metric tons each year, a thousand times more than the approximately 2.5 million tons of nickel that are mined annually.
Then there are the well-known problems surrounding cobalt, with ethically complex supply chains, limited quantities mined (most of which are already claimed for battery manufacturing), and high prices.
Tesla uses at least two varieties of nickel-cobalt batteries, from Panasonic (NCA) and LG Chem (NCM), and has tried to minimize the amount of cobalt needed, but there is always some exposure to cobalt, and exposure to nickel is obviously unavoidable, it is the key ingredient in this class of battery chemistry.
Overall, therefore, key minerals for LFP batteries are much more abundant, and prices are cheaper (and more stable) than those for nickel-based battery minerals. This translates into the fact that LFP batteries are already slightly cheaper than nickel-based batteries per kWh. Because the constituent minerals are so inexpensive, and the energy density of LFP cells is constantly improving, this price per kWh could drop even further in the coming years.
