About:Energy, innovators in battery development software, have formed a partnership with EFT Mobility, an engineering company specialising in drone battery system development and part of Quantum Systems Group, developers of unmanned aerial vehicles for defence, security, and commercial use
The collaboration enables About:Energy's modelling platform to facilitate faster and more reliable battery cell comparison and selection during the early design phase for EFT Mobility. This is a crucial development as choosing the best-performing cell is a decision that impacts drone flight time, longevity and the programme's overall success.
EFT Mobility utilises simulation to accelerate cell evaluation, moving away from relying on manufacturer data and internal test capabilities, which enables quicker assessments of various high-performance cells, including advanced Amprius variants, to optimise performance for individual drone applications.
Through the implementation of About:Energy's platform, EFT Mobility has minimised cell shortlisting time by six months due to faster side-by-side comparisons of cells across flight time, power, payload, and thermal trade-offs. In addition, pack development was accelerated by three months by using scalable simulations to validate designs before physical testing, and thermal issue detection saw a 20% improvement.
Dr Gavin White, co-founder and CEO of About:Energy, said, “Drones face intense pressure to maximise flight time, safety and reliability, yet cell selection and validation are often slow, data-limited and costly. EFT Mobility has been an outstanding partner to showcase how simulation changes this reality. Together we are proving that high-quality battery data and virtual prototyping cut guesswork, speed up design timelines and enable right-first-time decisions, transforming drone battery development.”
Tobias Kahnert, CEO of EFT Mobility, said, “We want to deliver the best drone battery solutions across multiple cell types and platforms, while giving our customers a rapid route to market. Achieving this means thinking differently from the way things are typically done in our industry. About:Energy’s platform provides access to high-quality cell data that accelerates our selection and design processes, helping us quickly find optimal configurations for weight, flight-time and thermal trade-offs.”
In About:Energy's London facility, new cells are characterised and added to their database within four weeks, providing engineering teams with the latest insights into emerging technologies essential to maximising performance and programme economics- vital in drone-related industries where geopolitical and supply chain changes need companies to assess suppliers to ensure they can launch successful programmes constantly.
The platform is also capable of providing answers that would typically require multi-year testing in drones, meaning companies can predict and mitigate degradation issues, such as swelling in common pouch cells, before they impact designs.
