The high-tech company Trumpf and the manufacturer of high-performance battery cells for electromobility Cellforce, entered into a strategic partnership. “Our goal is to produce one of the most powerful battery cells in the world,” says Dr Markus Gräf COO of Cellforce, a joint venture between Porsche and Customcells. “We will bring our experience in the production of battery cells to this partnership. Cellforce should benefit from our new application solutions at an early stage and can test our latest laser technology,” says Trumpf laser technology CEO Dr Christian Schmitz.

Trumpf is already supplying laser systems to Cellforce, for the production of the high-performance battery cells. These will be used in a pilot plant. “We want to raise the energy density, performance and fast-charging capability of the battery cell to a new level,” says Gräf. Cellforce’s production facility, which is currently under construction near Reutlingen, Southern Germany, is scheduled to go into operation in 2024 with an initial capacity of at least 100 MWh per year. That is equivalent to high-performance battery cells for around one thousand vehicles.

Laser crucial for battery cell production

“The laser is the decisive tool for efficient production of battery cells, without which e-mobility would really not be possible,” says Schmitz. There are currently more than thirty different laser applications in the production of the cells.

Trumpf has been involved in electromobility from the very beginning and works with all major cell manufacturers. Last year alone, the high-tech company sold more than a thousand lasers to be used in the production of electric vehicles. In addition to the production of battery cells, automotive manufacturers and suppliers can use Trumpf lasers to serve other applications in the process chain, such as in the battery pack or in the electric motor.