Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2021 - 15

ELECTRIFICATION FEATURE

Atlis plans a proprietary ultra-highcapacity charging network (its coupler
is shown here), but its platform will
accept any charging system using a
standard J1772 coupler.
machinery required to form Atlis' limited-run prototype battery pack assembly line.
Hanchett notes it was crucial to develop a proprietary
battery chemistry suited to the Atlis duty cycle. " You own
that - it's something that is yours, " he said. " We also
needed to ensure that it would meet our requirements
with regards to fast charging, high energy output. " To
that end, Atlis is jointly developing its lithium-ion chemistry with the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute (CNI) under a three-year master research agreement.
" We found a university that really wanted to work
with us, that has expertise in this space, that has the
facilities and capabilities. That'll help Atlis get to a solution much faster, " Hanchett said. " To put it in perspective, we're going to finalize our chemistry solution
by the end of this quarter versus the end of [2021]. "
Atlis' battery packs are intended to be scalable. While
Hanchett wasn't ready to reveal pack-capacity specifics,
the Atlis website said sizing starts at 125 kWh and there
is expected to be three pack sizes. The closest description of its form factor, he said, is prismatic.
The form factor is specifically tailored not only for
manufacturability, but to assist with precise thermal
management, said Hanchett: " We are a little over four
times more efficient in transferring heat in and out of
the cell than anything else that's on the market today,
or anything that we see coming on the market, including Tesla. The cooling channels, the busbars, the battery pack structure itself, all are designed with thermal
management in mind. " The goal of the system design
is to minimize complexity, with fewer heat exchangers
and valves than the traditional approach.
That thermal management, he added, is one of the
operative factors in achieving the planned high charging rates of up to 1600V DC, according to reports.
Hanchett said the company intends to set up its own
network to support the high-capacity DC charging.
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

Atlis intends to make the XP chassis available for a variety of potential customer
applications, such as this flatbed configuration.

Pickup users likely will find the XT's front " frunk " open cargo area particularly useful.
Unlike the strategy for light-duty charging, which is focused on hightravel corridors, he said Atlis charging locations would be more oriented to commercial-activity hubs its vehicles would support.
Conveniently, though, the XP platform can be recharged from any existing network using the industry-standard SAE J1772 charge coupler.
As with many vehicle-production schedules, timing for the XT
pickup has slipped, Hanchett admits. " We're hoping to get that first
prototype built this year, but given current schedules, sometime in
2022 is a much better guess, " he said. " We'll push as hard as we can
to do it as fast as we can, and then start ramping up production in
2022. We have enough reservations today - a little bit less than
40,000 - to cover us through 2024. "
April 2021 15

Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2021

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