KARIYA, Japan – DENSO Corp. has developed a lithium-ion battery pack that the company says further increases the fuel efficiency of vehicles with stop/start systems.
 
DENSO’s new battery pack allows the stop/start system to use more regenerative power than current conventional systems that use a single lead-acid battery. The battery pack consists of a battery management unit and power supply control switch, as well as battery cells that are provided by a third-party source.
 
DENSO’s new lithium-ion battery pack stores regenerated power and then supplies the stored regenerated power to the electrical and electronic components, such as the car navigation and audio systems. This reduces the power generation required by the alternator, which results in an overall load reduction on the engine and improves the vehicle’s fuel economy, according to DENSO.
 
The new battery pack is naturally air-cooled and therefore does not require a dedicated cooling system, the company explains. Because there is no need for auxiliary cooling components, this allows the battery to be lighter and more compact. This enables automakers more packaging design flexibility, which is important for vehicles with limited space, DENSO says.
 
DENSO has developed different types of starters to meet the specific needs of its customers for their stop/start systems, including the Advanced Engagement (AE) Starter, Permanently Engaged (PE) Starter, and Tandem Solenoid (TS) Starter. Also, DENSO developed a Cold Storage (CS) Evaporator, which increases the effectiveness of idle-stop, particularly at high temperatures.
 
DENSO supplies the lithium ion battery pack, the TS starter and Cold Storage Evaporator on the Suzuki Wagon R, which Suzuki Motor Corporation launched to market earlier this month. DENSO says it will continue its efforts to expand these technologies to other automakers and other regions in the world.