Petalite Limited Public Funding

FFLIP (Future Flight and Land Infrastructure Programme) will develop the outputs from a successful Future Flight Phase 2 (FFP2) project (76052). FFP2 demonstrated a viable charging infrastructure for urban air mobility (UAM), including a 1/10th scale version of a 600kW system. Petalite successfully met all its technology milestones to develop the SDC Technology (TRL 5-6). The SDC modular power core design has begun pre-compliance testing at an external EMC laboratory. The team worked with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sandbox to assist in creating charging infrastructure regulations for eVTOLs and created a Smart Core system to reduce peak loading to solve the challenges of high-power consumption in high-density urban environments (HDUE). Petalite has invented a patent-pending charging platform for an innovative new supercharger "SDC"**.** **A** **true single-stage** **charging platform**, with **100x** **higher reliability (a key requirement for fleets),** **3x** **longer** **operating** **lifetime (up 17 years) compared to all existing chargers in the market (Full-Bridge).** SDC will be a transformative platform technology enabling electrification of mobility in demanding applications such as eVTOL. FFLIP will deliver a full-scale multi-modal demonstration at a site in Oxfordshire, including a 600kW eVTOL charger infrastructure with multiple power configurations (600kW+) to support 24-hour rapid charging of electric ground vehicles, trucks, drones, and eVTOL aircraft. Without the right charging infrastructure in place, eVTOLs cannot become a feasible form of transportation. This consortium led by Petalite includes aerospace contract manufacturer Custom Interconnect Limited (CIL), Oxfordshire County Council (OCC), specialist aerospace technologists at Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA), systems integrator Vanti (trading name RTS Technology Solutions Limited), and eVTOL manufacturer, Samad Aerospace Limited (SAL). All existing chargers (which use full-bridge topology) require power factor correction circuits and high side driving components. Introducing significant failure modes a multi-staged switching system. These installations have high CAPex, are expensive to install (due to peak loading) and have short operating lives (2-5 years). The traditional business case becomes difficult to justify without significant government subsidies. Petalite has partnered with CIL to utilise its aerospace design knowledge for manufacturing. A cyclical verification and testing phase conducted in collaboration with OCC and SAL will ensure the prototypes meet the design performance targets, sustainability, and end-user needs. SAL will provide its eVTOL prototypes for demonstration purposes and implementation of the flight trials. The MAA will apply its aerospace experience to ensure that the new technology is architected and designed in accordance with aerospace safety and process requirements.

The concern in the industry is a mix of V2X platforms that have varied security robustness, relying on software encryption and not hardware cryptographic solutions; leading to holes in cyber security and avenues to large scale attacks on not only the chargers but the energy infrastructure that powers our country. Smart buildings manage their power consumption during the day to take advantage of low rate / off-peak electricity rates and can move peak loads over time. They also provide long-stay carparks which will become increasingly populated with V2X vehicles over the next 5 years. This project aims to securely integrate the power management systems in smart buildings with the growing number of V2X of vehicles, combining outputs from a previous innovate UK project (Petalites SDC AC Vehicle chargers). This capability allows for: * peaks in grid-provided electricity demand to be shifted further in time than is currently practicable * car parks to supplement a neighbouring building's power needs during high transient energy demands from the building's occupants or systems The project will address the barriers to widescale adoption of V2B as follows: 1) Break a V2X technology adoption deadlock by accelerating the rollout of highly secure, beyond PAS1878/PAS1879 ISO15118-20 compliant SDC AC chargers. This will be achieved by 1\. 1\. Petalite's hardware cryptographic solutions PAS 1878/PAS 1879 compliant smart AC chargers to include bi-directional V2X power transfer capabilities 1.2\. Petalite's site-level charging station monitoring systems to participate in bi-directional V2B power activities with third party energy management systems using SmartCore. 1.3\. Vanti SmartCore building management and monitoring system to take advantage of the aggregated power storage provided by V2B capable long-stay car parks. 2) Widening the economic viability of V2X * Extending V2X participation by securely aggregating V2X capabilities around multi-tenanted residential or commercial that have a V2X on-site. * Community V2X gain-share models can emerge. 3) Improving energy forecasting and V2X reconciliation 3.1 Develop data collection systems to 3.1.1 support modelling how the EV (Electric Vehicle) battery presence and storage capabilities change over hours and days 3.1.2 gather sub-second resolution data regarding the amount of power being stored in or retrieved from EV batteries over time. This data will * facilitate energy market participation so building operators and EV owners are compensated and encouraged to participate in V2B / DSR services * help to build AI models giving decision support around load scheduling and power management through V2B flexibility options at the local site

The ULTRA project targets next-generation battery improvement at the cell level with the development, scale-up and commercialisation of AMTE Power's innovative power-dense Ultra-High Power (UHP) and energy-dense Ultra Energy (UE) cells to pre-production variants, using precision metals expertise (Avocet) and efficiency focussed commercial BEV (Magtec) platforms, with the charger technology (Petalite) required to ensure they can all be fast-charged. * Avocet Precision Metals will supply the metallic raw materials for the UHP and UE cells, and their participation will allow them to progress from a distributor of precision metals to a UK based manufacturer * Magtec will design and integrate new battery packs and management systems, utilising the UE cells * Petalite's patented Ultra SDC charger for BEVs has the potential to address market trends and needs for shorter charge time (higher power charge), improved modularity and lower lifetime cost, and will allow for the fast charging of all four vehicles considered by Magtec. The SCOPE of the project remains as the above on a general project level. However, Avocet has requested the removal of a work package as it no longer aligns with their business plan, is not integral to the project as it was an early feasibility study and does not affect any of the partners deliverables.

The aim of this industrial research project, named Retroflight-Alpha is to develop the physical and digital infrastructure to support future flight objectives. This includes both a highly reliable 600kW charging capability utilising Petalite's 3-Phase SDC patent and Vanti's smart building operating system (Smart Core(tm)), required to serve electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in high density urban environments (HDUE). Ultimately reducing the associated high cost of ground works due to "peak loads" and traditional hardware reliability issues which would make these landing sites financially unviable. Without the right charging infrastructure in place eVTOLs cannot become a feasible form of transportation. Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft power demands create unique charging challenges: due to frequent short trips and limited time to charge between them. They will endure hundreds of charging cycles in their lifetime located in high density urban environments (HDUE) and require huge amounts of power and high reliability for vertical take-off and landing. Petalite have addressed the integration challenge of new air vehicles by partnering with Vanti, a Systems Integrator with deep experience in integrating proprietary technologies into wider building systems landscapes. At the anticipated power loads of eVTOL charging, wider building automation and systems orchestration are essential to ensure existing electrical supplies can be utilised but are simultaneously monitored to eliminate the risk of them being overloaded and users of buildings being disrupted. As well as commercial buildings other locations for this essential infrastructure will include repurposing the tops of car parks, existing helipads and even EV charging stations. To meet these unique charging demands, Petalite have invented a patent pending charging platform for an innovative new way of charging "3-Phase SDC" Supercharging, with_ a true single stage topology, with 30-50% less components, higher reliability, longer working lifetime (up to 4x MTBF) compared to existing Full-Bridge topologies._ Petalite's Charging as a Service (CAS) business model offers 4 x ROI potential. Petalite's current system meets the battery charging standards for train, tram and buses, further development of the switching algorithm is needed to fully comply and communicate with eVTOLs. This is an evolution of a successful 1-phase SDC Innovate UK (IUK) project (2019) in the rail industry which will invent SDC systems in a laboratory environment and develop them (TRL4-6) to comply with eVTOL CCS standards. The modular design of the 3-Phase SDC will enable rapid growth and unlimited scalability across the eVTOL charging network nationally, while Vanti's open source and open protocol smart building operating system will enable site operators to manage peak energy consumption and minimise impact on existing electrical infrastructure, which is a crucial element of the eVTOL charging requirement.

**Answer** The SDC Power Core project will impact the ZEV industry by enabling faster roll-out of efficient, affordable and reliable charging infrastructure. Thus, increasing the speed of adoption of EVs which catalyses widespread benefits from reduced greenhouse gas and exhaust pollutant emissions. This solution will help increase availability of charging mobility across the population and improve quality of life. Electric vehicles (EVs) are central to UK Government plans to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero by 2050\. The UK government will ban the sale of new petrol, diesel or hybrid cars in 2035\. In the UK, the EV market stood at $2.4bn in 2018 and is projected to grow at a robust CAGR \>14% to reach $5.4bn by 2024 (TechSci Research, 2019). The Department for Transport (2018) state that to meet EV rapid charging requirements, the number of rapid chargers located near major roads network needs to expand to 1,170 (from 460) and 27,000 (from 2,700) around towns and local areas by 2030\. To achieve this, it is essential that viable commercial models are in place to ensure continued maintenance and improvements to the network and charging infrastructure is affordable, efficient and reliable. All existing EV Charging Manufacturers will struggle to achieve this, as they all utilise the traditional Full-Bridge topology as the basis for their chargers, resulting in short product lifetime warranties (5 years), with inherently high upfront and on-going costs. These factors limit Return on Investment (ROI) for the customer (Charging Service Providers), thus slowing charging station deployment by up to 2x. Petalites Charging as a Service (CAS) business model reduces associated costs and simplifies operations and maintenance. To address this problem Petalite has invented a patent pending charging platform for an innovative new way of charging EVs, "SDC". **A true single stage topology, which has 50% less components_,_** **higher reliability**, **longer working lifetime (up to 4**x**MTBF**) compared to existing Full-Bridge topologies. **AIM** This industrial research project will develop the outputs from a successful 1-phase SDC Innovate UK (IUK) project (2019) in the rail industry. With existing rail industry tenders and timelines rail product roll-out is forecast for 2024/25\. This project will prototype the SDC Power Core in a laboratory environment and develop (TRL4-6) to comply with IEC 61851-23:2014 power standards and charge the 120m EVs produced over the next 10 years (McKinsey, 2018).

Viva rail has produced a proof of concept hybrid train which has been shown to be reliable, energy efficient and cost effective. This work was self-funded and delivered in a very timely and effective way. The TRAIN project will be delivered in a similar way with close cooperation between the partners. Vivarail and our partners Petalite and Valence, provide lightweight versatile cost-effective rail solutions including units that can run as DMU (diesel multiple unit), EMU (electric multiple unit), battery, or battery hybrid depending on power supplies available. Battery technology will incorporate advances from other sectors. The TRAIN project will develop innovative rapid charging technology and static energy storage to exploit low-rate cheap energy for high-rate charging. Two battery modules hang under each carriage and operate independently or in conjunction with other energy sources (electric). The solution provides significant operational savings, CO2 and noise reductions, and reduces maintenance demands to minimise out-of-service time. This project will fully develop innovative designs and validate them for production. Outputs include: Modular battery pack to suit specific applications; Rapid charging unit operating at approximately 600V; Integration of hardware/software; Static charging evaluation; Test train with prototype technologies: Duty cycle demonstrations and performance assessment.

Electric vehicles are central to the UK target of zero tailpipe emissions by 2050. However, incremental improvements to battery capacity cannot address power requirements (>1.2kWh/km) in demanding applications such as logistics, mass transport and aviation. Electrification of mobility in demanding applications is therefore critically dependent on capability to safely and rapidly supercharge high energy (>40kWh) batteries to full capacity in <15 minutes. Existing charging technologies cannot meet this need and are fundamentally limited by the continuous rate at which current can be forced into a battery against the internal electrochemical impedance of each cell.In response, Petalite Limited have developed and patented a new technology platform – Sinusoidal DC Supercharging – which radically reduces cell impedance and temperature using a time-varying current to the battery, synchronised with the AC grid. PL now seek to realise a scalable solution enabling adaptive supercharging of high power multi-cell Li-ion battery packs in less than 15-minutes, targeting electric mobility and EV applications with a step change in function, performance, safety, complexity, reliability and cost. Sinusoidal DC Supercharging can therefore be a transformative platform technology enabling electrification of mobility in demanding applications.

Petalite Flux is the World’s Fastest Charging external battery for mobile phones that can be recharged to 100% (2,600mAh) in just 15 minutes.