Aston Martin’s next hybrid supercar will carry a lighter, more powerful battery pack that combines lithium-ion cells with supercapacitors in a single, intelligently managed system. Today’s hybrid electric vehicles typically rely on one type of battery, which forces a trade-off between delivering a burst of power for acceleration and storing enough energy for longer trips. The Hybrid Battery Optimisation project tackles this by screening all commercially available batteries and supercapacitors, then selecting the best combination for both high power and high energy. A new holistic modelling approach—from individual cell to full vehicle—will simulate performance without building multiple physical prototypes, speeding up development. A novel battery management system from Oxford University spin-out Brill Power will then integrate the chosen devices, maximising performance and cycle life. If successful, the result will be a smaller, lighter energy storage system tailored for high-performance vehicles like those from project partner Aston Martin. The consortium will then develop a commercialisation plan, with potential applications extending beyond sports cars to off-highway vehicles, marine vessels, and aerospace—anywhere weight and power density matter.
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"The Hybrid Battery Optimisation (HBO) project will develop a novel type of high-performance hybrid energy storage system (HESS) with higher power and energy storage capability per weight than existing alternatives. Existing energy storage systems for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) are typically based on a single type of electrochemical energy storage device (typically lithium ion batteries) which is designed for either high power or high energy but not for both. The HBO project will screen all commercially available high-quality devices, such as lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors, and select a combination of devices to optimise for both energy and power capability. The result will be a smaller and lighter energy storage system, which will be particularly well suited for high-performance HEVs, such as those developed by Aston Martin, one of the project partners. The HESS will be designed through a new method of optimal system design, which involves a wholistic modelling approach -- from cell to vehicle. This modelling approach will be developed in collaboration between Imperial College London, Delta Motorsport and Aston Martin. By simulating the performance of the different energy storage devices, the most suitable devices can be chosen, which avoids additional hardware tests and accelerates the product development process. Once the optimal combination of energy storage devices is chosen, the HESS is designed and built by Delta Motorsport, a specialist provider of high-performance automotive electrical energy storage systems. To combine the different energy storage devices into a single system, a novel battery management system (BMS) will be developed by Brill Power, a spin-out of Oxford University. Brill Power's BMS can combine any type of lithium-ion battery or supercapacitor while maximising performance and cycle life. Two HESS will be built -- one for lab tests in a controlled environment and one for tests in an Aston Martin vehicle. The tests will confirm the compliance of the HESS with the high performance requirements defined by Aston Martin. Once the performance of the new HESS is confirmed, the consortium will develop a plan for commercialising the technology. The first target market will be high-performance vehicles, such as those developed by Aston Martin but the technology is expected to find many more applications, including off-highway vehicles, marine and aerospace."
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