A new Australian battery casing company called Vaulta has announced that it is working with Quickstep, Australia’s largest independent aerospace advanced composites manufacturer, to develop smarter technology for renewables, manned and unmanned drones and electric flight.
The two Australian companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to pair Vaulta’s innovative graphene-enhanced cell casing technology with Quickstep’s manufacturing capability and market reach as it looks to move further into the high-growth market of electric-powered land and air vehicles. The two companies will be actively working together on a joint proposal for Australian Defense.
Vaulta founder Dominic Spooner set out to create a shift in battery casing technology that reduces the number of parts needed to house the batteries used in electric vehicles from about 20 down to just a few.
The work Quickstep is doing in aerospace is all about lighter and better vehicles and we are looking forward to matching our innovative casing system with their new projects, he said. We love designing and building the new casings that will help fulfil the visions of those forging into a new space, particularly in defense.
The work we are doing at Vaulta will help meet the needs of Quickstep with specially-created batteries that are significantly lighter and stronger, Spooner said. Our casings are also designed to reduce waste and contain more reusable parts.
The new designs, made to fit customers’ requirements, use a unique blend of graphene and polymer. These ingredients, along with other composites, are said to allow for dramatic improvements in weight, strength and thermal and electrical conductivity. A reduction in the number of parts and the size also delivers a greatly reduced cost to market as well as greater opportunity for reuse and recycling of parts.