Battery supplier to Indy, NASCAR completes testing for drones

The lithium ion battery supplier of choice to Indy car and Nascar operations has completed research and testing that will help bring it’s technology to the drone world. Braille Energy Systems Inc. announced this week that it has completed tests designed to show the effectiveness of its technology and its retrofit capabilities for existing drone platforms.

Batteries designed by Braille can fit directly into orginal equipment applications, according to the company. In the racing industry, a car that uses a lithium product can change a battery from depleted to full charge in less than 30 minutes, save over 70 percent on battery weight and have three times the average life cycle. Racing teams from Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette Racing, Ferrari and Ford use Braille batteries.

“We’re seeing businesses across a wide gamut of industries embracing the commercial appeal of UAVs to positively impact their bottom line,” said Lindsay Weatherdon, president of the company. “From companies such as Amazon exploring product delivery, to innovative applications in both media coverage and filmmaking, we’re witnessing a paradigm shift in how industries are evolving their respective processes by implementing UAVs into their workflow.”

Research from Braille Battery indicates the commercial drone market is projected to surpass $12 billion in 2021 up from $8.5 billion in 2016. The company said its testing showed that its lithium products provided longer discharge cycles with significantly less weight than other batteries. And, according to the company, Braille has already received requests valued at $500,000 to perform retrofits on existing platforms to enable the use of its lithium batteries.