“无论是电动汽车还是储能技术都将迎来飞速增长，而我们正处于这一过程的起始阶段。SAE International 希望制定出适当的技术标准，促进这一趋势的发展，” SAE电池标准指导委员会主席Robert Galyen表示。

Galyen负责领导22个地面车辆电池技术分委员会的工作。在密歇根州诺维举办的2016美国新型电池、电动车科技及储备电源展览会（2016 Battery Show）的开幕式上，Galyen接受了《汽车工程杂志》的采访，介绍了他对电池发展趋势、技术、电网储能和标准等问题的看法。

随着锂电池在电动汽车中的应用越来越普遍，电池标准也在不断发展。早在20年前，当SAE的J1797电动汽车电池封装标准发布时，就已经开始对汽车电气化设定标准了。

Gaylen介绍道：“在过去2个月内，我们将J1797标准修改为‘暂缓执行’模式，因为它已经不再适用于当今的时代了。” J1797标准于1996年开始制定，并于1998年成为行业标准。 “当时汽车使用的是镍氢电池和铅酸电池。”

而专门为锂离子电池制定的标准将涵盖更多方面，包括材料、标识和安全性等内容。

“众多工程师正在参与锂离子电池标准的制定，我们还成立了一个针对下一代电池的标准委员会，希望赶在下一代电池上市之前推出相应标准，” Galyen表示。

下一代封装系统

SAE的先进电池概念委员会将于今年内发布第一份技术信息报告。

“我们的主要工作是制定推荐做法，引导整个行业采用统一的方法，朝着一致的方向发展，” Galyen解释道，“但委员会的核心任务还是向公众介绍目前的技术发展状况。”

此外，SAE的地面车辆与航空航天相关标准工作组也相互分享锂离子电池运输安全方面的信息。

“目前有众多人员正致力于制造用于汽车和公交车的锂电池产品，只有让航空航天专家共同参与标准的制定才能更好的服务于全行业。”Galyen特别提到，电池封装的运输安全标准，是由航空航天工作组的G27委员会负责制定的。

美国和其他许多国家都明文禁止使用民航货舱运输锂离子电池，因为在飞行过程中，没有人可以进入客机的货舱照管电池，并保证其安全。

 “我们必须设计出一种能够防止火势蔓延的锂电池封装方法，因为我们不希望出现电池着火，然后再灭火的局面，”Gaylen说。

自动驾驶电动汽车

Galyen预计，SAE电池标准委员会最近将会非常忙碌，因为电动汽车在全球各大市场中都在飞速发展，在中国尤其如此。他相信“能源革命”必将从汽车行业开始。

促进电动汽车发展的另一大驱动因素，是SAE所定义的 4级和5级自动驾驶汽车的面世。LG 旗下的子公司LG Chem Power CEO兼总裁Denise Gray在大会上提到，她认为自动驾驶汽车和电动汽车的发展将会齐头并进，并指出先进电池技术将成为这一进程的关键支柱。

“We’re just at the beginning of a steep growth curve for both electric vehicles and energy storage, and SAE International is going to play a huge role in that by setting the standards that are necessary to move it all forward,” said Robert Galyen, chairman of SAE's Battery Standards Steering Committee.

Galyen oversees 22 ground vehicle SAE battery committees. He spoke with Automotive Engineering about battery trends, technology, grid storage and standards, on the opening day of the 2016 Battery Show in Novi, MI.

As lithium batteries become commonplace in electrified vehicles, battery standards are evolving. SAE’s J1797 standard for electric vehicle battery packaging set the stage 20 years ago for vehicle electrification.

“We put J1797 in ‘stabilized mode’ within the last two months because it’s antiquated for what’s happening today,” said Galyen, noting J1797 was written in 1996 and became an industry standard in 1998. “That was at a time when nickel metal-hydride and lead-acid batteries were being used,” he explained.

Specific Li-ion battery standards address a variety of aspects, including materials, labeling, and safety.

“We have a cadre of engineers working on all the standards specific to today’s Li-ion batteries, and we have a committee specific to next-generation batteries as we want standards to be ahead of when next-generation battery technology reaches the market,” Galyen said.

Packaging system needed

SAE's Advanced Battery Concepts Committee will release their first technical information report this year.

“We typically write recommended practices, which are put in place to drive the industry to a common footprint or a common methodology of application," Galyen explained. "But this committee’s core role is to inform the general public about what’s going on.”

SAE’s Ground Vehicle and Aerospace groups share information related to the safe shipping and transport of Li-ion batteries.

“Because we have such a large group of people working on Li-ion batteries for products that go on vehicle applications and bus applications, it only makes sense to have these experts involved,” said Galyen, noting the aerospace group’s G27 is responsible for writing this battery packaging shipment safety standard.

The U.S. and many other countries have outlawed the shipping and transport of Li-ion batteries in the cargo bay of passenger aircraft, an area that’s unattended and inaccessible during flight.

“We need to create a packaging system that will contain these Li-ion batteries in such a way that fire cannot propagate," he asserted. "We don’t want the fire extinguishing system to be needed in the first place."

Autonomous EVs 

Galyen expects all SAE Battery Standards committees will stay busy for some time, given the brisk growth rate of electrified vehicles in various global markets, particularly China. He believes the automotive sector is on the cusp of an "energy revolution."

An additional boon for electrified powertrains will come from the advent of SAE Level 4 and 5 autonomous vehicles. According to Denise Gray, CEO/President of LG Chem Power Inc., who spoke at the conference, autonomous vehicles and electrified powertrains go hand in hand. She noted that key support technologies include advanced batteries.

Author: Kami Buchholz
Source: SAE Automotive Engineering Magazine