Aerospace giant Airbus has partnered with the Renault Group in a move expected to accelerate both companies’ battery research and development efforts.
The collaboration will initially concentrate on improving energy management and reducing weight to hasten the development of Airbus’s hybrid aircraft.
In the long term, the partnership will develop solid-state batteries – claimed to have double the energy density of current lithium ion cells – with a view to introducing this technology in both cars and aeroplanes around 2030.
Currently, the largest battery offered by Renault is the 60kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt pack in the Mégane E-Tech Electric, which gives the crossover a 280-mile range.
