Tongji cuts new-energy R&D costs
A service platform for intelligent new-energy vehicles has been established in Jiading to help automobile manufacturers reduce research and development costs.
It has been launched by Tongji University’s National Science and Technology Park and Clean Energy Automotive Engineering Center.
China is still in its infancy in terms of fundamental research into new-energy vehicles, particularly in key parts and materials. Although more industry insiders plan to invest in R&D, they face a lack of professionals and funding.
The new platform will integrate the resources of Tongji University and provide access to these resources. Through the platform, science and technology enterprises in the Jiading Industrial Zone will be able to use the university’s experimental facilities, not only saving costs but also promoting interaction with the university.
The platform has 39 sets of equipment for the research and development of new-energy vehicle battery technology, which includes battery charge and discharge test systems for battery load tests, electrochemical test equipment for battery characteristic tests and analysis and thermostats to simulate environmental temperatures for battery tests.
Jiang Bo, a research fellow with the Clean Energy Automotive Engineering Center, said a thermostat provides a suitable environmental temperature for batteries. “The characteristics of a battery are greatly affected by temperature. Therefore, a large number of experiments should be carried out to prove the service life of battery at different temperatures.”
Sun Hongyan, deputy general manager of Tongji Jiading Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Management Co, said that many small and medium-sized enterprises could not afford experimental equipment, while enterprises developing new-energy vehicles also worried about the high cost in research and development.
“We set up such a platform to put the advanced scientific research equipment of Tongji University in the park and open it up to enterprises to reduce their R&D costs,” Sun added.