Harbinger has gone for a modular design that uses 2170 cylindrical cells, packed in increments of 35 kWh, each adding about 40 miles (64 km) of range. Instead of stamping the pack casing out of steel, it’s using a giant casting press to make a single-piece aluminum enclosure. “No welds, no sealer, no multi material joint. Tesla famously uses gigacasting to replace other stamp steel components in the body in white, but we’re applying that technology to battery packs instead,” Harris said.
Like Porsche and Hyundai, Harbinger has opted for 800 V for its battery packs. The benefit here isn’t really for faster fast-charging; fleets of delivery trucks that rarely drive as much as 100 miles (160 km) a day will recharge slowly—but more importantly, much more cheaply—overnight. (The platform does have a capability for fast charging in up to an hour, however.)
“It’s positive mass and then efficiency by extension,” Harris said. The higher voltage means a lower current, which in turn means less weight; Harris said they can use a quarter of the amount of copper a 400 V architecture would require. “The other piece that makes a big difference is in drivetrains because when you look at the torque that you can get out of an electric motor, in many cases, it’s proportional to the voltage. So if you want a 400-volt motor, it’s way bigger.”
Harbinger is building its electric motors in-house, too, integrated into an eAxle drive unit that also combines a gearbox and inverter. Like the battery packs, it’s compact enough to fit between the chassis frame rails, which keeps the center of gravity low.
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