From July 28-30, 2022, 150 exhibitors were represented across the 10,000m² exhibition area of the European Battery Show in Messe Stuttgart.
The Battery Show targeted professionals working in the battery sector and those curious and interested to witness the quickly evolving developments in battery technology.
In this blog post, we share:
Some highlights and observations about the European Battery Show, looking at the exciting innovations undertaken by battery suppliers
Opinions gathered from BatteryMBA alumni present at the show
Technology featured
Companies from various industries are transforming their solutions to help battery manufacturers to improve their production quality. Our team took particular interest in digital twin manufacturing technology updates.
Various battery manufacturing solutions understand the need for effective data to drive advanced manufacturing solutions.
During the Battery Show, we could see most of the battery manufacturing solutions providing integrated advanced in situ quality monitoring systems in their manufacturing process. They also develop these solutions with a standard data output that output can be fed into any other processes done by some other solution provider without any issue.
Suppliers present represented the entire battery value chain
Exhibitors represented included principally battery suppliers who brought models, scale machinery, sample products, as well as, in certain cases, electric vehicles, but none could be tested as it was the case in the 2022 IAA Mobility Fair.
Several talks and panels were also held in a conference room that opened a day before the start of the Battery Show. One of our team members attended an interesting panel on Na-Ion technology featuring AMTE Power, Tiamat Energy, and Altris.
Battery experts present at the fair included:
Machinery for power and slurry and calendering working in the pharmaceutical sector such as Poppe+Potthoff and laser cutting and welding from Trumpf.
Battery testing equipment, with machinery performing tests to obtain the necessary certifications, as well as suppliers like Arvin, Digatron, Ivium, and PEC showcasing battery cyclers used in training and testing.
Layout Integrators such as the Chinese company Lead, which Volswagen recently chose for its numerous plants.
Raw materials and chemical companies such as Posco Chemical, highlighting their recent agreement with Britishvolt and its association with GM.
Binder manufacturers for the slurry such as the Japanese Zeon, presenting improved cell characteristics.
Cooling solutions for thermal diffusion of Aspen Aerogel and diffusion protectors of spontaneous combustion by coating provided by chemical specialists like PPG and Dow.
Battery Pack casing suppliers, featuring new plastic casings that are lighter than metal ones, with protection solutions around the battery pack like Sabic.
Recycling industrial specialists capable of dismantling, extracting, separating, and producing material production processes linked to recycling, such as Botree Cycling and Umicore.
Battery manufacturers such as Britishvolt who readily discussed their latest agreements with Glencore for recycling, as well as Cobra who showcased their development of LNMO.
Traceability supply chain experts like Circulor, who formally announced their Series B funding of USD $25 million for their US expansion.
Other suppliers showcasing their solutions for online quality control, robots for flexible manufacturing, BMS for balances cells, and Battery Data experts.
Insights from BatteryMBA Alumni
Battery Associates also took the opportunity to hold a meet-up for BatteryMBA alumni (battery.mba) and Battery Associates Ambassadors. Among the insights and opinions collected, the following impressions were gathered:
Tim Aanhane, Business Developer at LeydenJar Technologies
“The event amazed me in how it brings together all parties in the battery industry. From the raw materials up to system-level optimization, everyone was at The Battery Show. This enabled a lot of easy meet-ups and learnings across the complete battery value chain. In general, the presentations were interesting to follow, you could also choose which presentation to follow out of the full program, as the program embraced the entire industry. And as always, it is great to meet physically with all the people we work with so often through online channels.”
Fergal Harrington-Beatty Head of Sales at AMTE Power
“ The Battery Show was a great event as a cell supplier for both upstream (e.g. raw material, CAM and AAM suppliers) and downstream conversations and leads. The talks and panels were informative and aimed at the industry rather than consumers, so were informative in most cases. There was a lack of OEM representation, i.e. major automotive suppliers, in the exhibitors, these companies seemed to be mainly roaming the halls”
Nemanja Mikac, CEO at ElevenEs
“The Battery Show was instrumental as a unique place in Europe where we can meet with most of the equipment and raw material value chain. I didn't attend the conference. For my taste, there was a bit too much stuff for modules and not that many raw material suppliers from Asia. All in all, one of the best if not the best gathering for the battery value chain in Europe”
About the Authors
Mariano Rubio
Project Manager at Battery Associates
Mariano is an experienced electro-mechanical engineer and executive MBA from IESE with 20 years of experience working in OEM. Lead Case Study track BattetyMBA and Co.Lead Ethical Battery Rating. Battery expert, specialized in lean manufacturing, operations and blockchain. He has a passion for sustainability applied to the battery value chain, he has worked for industrial recycling and top chemical companies. He won second prize at the UPC for his work on recycling.
Barath Venkatesan
Analyst & Junior Consultant at Battery Associates
Barath has a bachelor’s degree in Nanoscience and Technology and is doing his master's currently in Material Engineering and Nanotechnology at Politecnico di Milano university in Milan, Italy. He is passionate about the circular energy economy and he currently works with various stakeholders in the battery ecosystem to create a sustainable world through the power of batteries.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and not of Battery Associates.