U.S. Army Enlists K2 Energy for Battery Upgrade
The United States Army recently enlisted K2 Energy Solutions for the purpose of developing a more advanced rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The contract, which is said to be worth $119,000, calls for an upgrade of the current BB-2590 that is used in devices such as portable electronics, military communication systems, robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles, and unmanned underwater vehicles.
“Our contract with the Army is to develop a high rate battery that will be capable of delivering high power for relatively short periods of time. K2 already has a great deal of experience producing such high rate batteries and our current production cells are being used in applications ranging from power tools to high performance, all-electric sports cars. For the Army’s needs, we have modified our production cells to produce even higher power levels. Currently, the Army’s NLOS system needs 18 BB-2590 batteries in parallel to meet the system’s short-term power requirements. Based on development work done so far, we believe that our redesigned cells can reduce this to 3, resulting in a very significant reduction in both the size and weight of the battery array needed to power this system…..Not only will this new generation of battery provide the Army with a more powerful form of portable energy, but it will be at a much lower cost than hi-grade batteries currently being deployed” -K2 CTO Jim Hodge
The current lithium-ion batteries being used are capable of 300-500 charge cycles, whereas the upgraded BB-2590 is said to be durable for at least 1,000 cycles with the potential, under the right control, to last up to 2,300 charge cycles.
Category: Battery News
