To improve deployment of electrical vehicles in Europe, large scale production processes for Rack, cells and electrical components need to be developed. The OPERA4FEV project aims to develop a cost effective innovative thermoplastic battery rack, able to integrate any type of cylindrical cells. The solution proposed by OPERA4FEV project, adaptable to any Full Electric Vehicle model, will indeed integrate electrical, hydraulic connections and component housing to reduce cost assembly. In order to show the relevance of the solution and meet strong industrial benefits, the rack will be integrated on two functional demonstrators.
The whole value chain will be addressed, including the eco-design (dismantling and recycling of critical materials), assembly/integration and production of cells and electrical components. As safety of the on-board battery in electric, hybrid, and plug-in vehicles is of paramount importance to the international automakers, OPERA4FEV will pay particular attention to the evaluate the effects of the rack characteristics regarding vehicle crash safety, and will focus on the potential risks for the vehicle and its occupants in case of failure of one or more batteries. To sum up, the main innovations of the OPERA4FEV project are : Thermoplastic rack integrating the electrical and hydraulic connections ; use of thermoplastic pultruded reinforcements, infrared welding for plastic part assembly ; improved regulation and heat transfer ; use of recycled material ; recycling and End of Life ; weight reduction ; Life Cycle Assesment ; reduction of number of components ; maintain the cells in the rack reversibly and lighter with robust tightness ; establish fast connections.