Can you introduce Keysight Technologies?
Keysight provides design, emulation, and test solutions that enable engineers to design new technologies in industrial and communications, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, semiconductor, and general electronics ecosystems.
With over 80 years of experience, Keysight is the world’s leading provider of test and measurement. We have more than 32,000 customers in more than 100 countries and generate $5.4 billion in revenue for our fiscal 2022 year.
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 2014, Keysight Technologies is a branch of Agilent Technologies, which itself was created in 1999 as a spin-off from HP.
Do you see a major change in the automotive industry?
Yes, many: we can cite changes linked to national or European sovereignty, with reindustrialization, changes linked to global warming… But there is an industry that will change completely in the coming years, that of the automobile! After more than a century of cars with heat engines, the electric age is coming. This change has been accelerating since the European Union declared the end of combustion engines by 2035. Previously, electric vehicles accounted for around 1% of sales. Now they are between 15% and 20%, and the big car manufacturers are drawing up plans to reach 100% sales in due course.
This transformation implies a very strong change in the market, starting with constructors : opening of new factories or conversion of existing factories, recruitment, training, establishment of new associations… One of the biggest challenges is in the field of batteries.
For now, the vast majority of batteries are of Chinese origin. Prayed, by 2030 or 2035 around 90% will have to be European. Hence the creation of these gigafactories (European battery factories), at a rate of two or three per European country.
In France, they are located in the north, with research centers in Grenoble and Bordeaux. In addition to their number, our batteries will have to stand out for their quality: cheaper, greener, safer… They must also allow to travel more than 400 kilometers, charge in less than half an hour and avoid the supply of metals from foreign countries. The question of its recycling must also be solved quickly and efficiently.
Added to this challenge is that of chargers: currently, 10 times more chargers should be deployed in Europe, so thousands of interoperable and fast models must be produced every day. Without forgetting the electrical network that will have to adapt to thousands of simultaneous requests throughout Europe…
How do you support all these changes?
Keysight Technologies is a partner of choice. We empower designers and manufacturers in the automotive industry with the latest design innovations and test solutions to help create high-quality, high-performance products while mitigating safety risks throughout the automotive lifecycle. This includes battery test systems for cell, module and pack level testing, charging function and interoperability testing, and renewable energy testing.
Our experience allows us to test the charger with your battery, at all levels, to make sure that everything meets European standards. These tests of the charging station and the battery (with its cells, modules and packs) are necessary to guarantee maximum safety, and above all:
● Avoid the risk of electric shock, fire or explosion;
● Please make sure the charger connectors fit all cars;
● Make sure the battery can be recharged in a few minutes. In other words, benefit from considerable upstream power, while maintaining safety standards.
Among our customers we have the Swedish company Scania, one of the world leaders in trucks. The German manufacturer BMW also uses our solutions to test electric batteries, their autonomy and ensure their compliance with European standards and their interoperability.
What do you think are your biggest challenges right now?
All test and measurement providers face the same problem: have considerable financial capacity to increase production capacity. The other challenge is developing new test products to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. Therefore, our equipment must be modular, so as not to become obsolete. In addition, reducing the charging time of the batteries is a major challenge, and it is only possible with a strong investment in R&D.
These technological challenges are also outweighed by energy challenges. In fact, the cost of energy is exploding. The Megawatt-hour has multiplied by 10 in one year. Hence the development of new products that offer maximum energy efficiency.
On the other hand, electrical tests must be accompanied by thermal tests to ensure the operation of the batteries, whatever the weather conditions. Keysight has established close links with the leading manufacturers of climate chambers in Europe to enable us to serve our joint customers in the best possible conditions.
Do you have a last word?
As in any technological revolution, there is a high probability that the electrical test market will consolidate, with players about to disappear or be acquired. To stand out from the competition, it will be necessary to innovate and present rapidly growing productive capacities, to satisfy a massive and above all unprecedented need.
This innovation will be at the service of our customers, so that they can develop and test their batteries in order to meet market expectations: not paying more than for a thermal vehicle, not having to recharge the battery every 300 or 400 km, not Don’t wait too long while it loads… The areas of concern are vast and we are only at the beginning of this change.
This content was produced with SCRIBEO. The BFMBUSINESS editorial team was not involved in the production of this content.
Source: BFM TV
