Battery safety and abuse testing

TÜV SÜD offers an array of different battery safety and battery abuse testing services. We support our customers to design and manufacture products that meet the highest levels of safety and quality, in line with global industry and regulatory requirements and standards like SAE J2464, SAE J2929, SANDIA, FreedomCar, UN 38.3 and ISO 12405. With our advanced, fully equipped facilities, we are able to simulate extreme conditions and scenarios to test your battery beyond its limits.

WHAT IS BATTERY SAFETY TESTING?

How does a battery perform when it is suddenly exposed to extreme conditions? Will it catch fire if suddenly confronted with extremely high outside temperatures? Will it remain safe and functioning even under extreme mechanical loads? These and similar questions are the base for safety tests. As batteries must be safe and must not pose any dangers for people, not even under extreme conditions, battery safety tests expose batteries to loads higher than those in regular use. Depending on the specific requirements, batteries are crushed, dropped from great heights, short-circuited or tested for their fire resistance, to name just a few.

WHY IS BATTERY SAFETY TESTING IMPORTANT?

Battery safety tests play an important role as they deliberately expose batteries to conditions that exceed the requirements of regular use. For this reason, battery safety tests are also referred to as abuse tests. The tests ensure that batteries fulfil legal, industry and manufacturer requirements. By going beyond these requirements in our specifically designed test environments battery abuse testing thus ensures additional safety for manufacturers and users and can contribute effectively to product improvement to deliver significant competitive edge.

By testing the safety of your batteries with TUV SUD you gain the following benefits:

• Stay ahead of developments by working together with global experts who are at the forefront of the electrical energy storage industry and can help you meet customer and regulatory safety requirements.
• Save time and money with reliable tests that reduce warranty claims, time to market and R&D activities.
• Ensure a more accurate risk assessment with testing your batteries in extreme environmental conditions and outside the normal operation conditions. This can trigger developing suitable countermeasures early enough in the development and avoid delays in the final development phase.
• Benefit from a single-source provider for battery safety testing and certification that extends through the entire value chain, from component to final product.
• Gain customer confidence by leveraging TÜV SÜD’s reputation as the preferred third-party testing partner.

TÜV SÜD IS YOUR TRUSTED BATTERY ABUSE TESTING EXPERT

TÜV SÜD’s portfolio of battery safety and abuse tests cover tests for a host of different uses: from electric vehicles and off-road, aerospace, rail and waterborne transport to the extensive field of stationary energy storage systems for energy from renewable sources. We have years of international experience and can support our customers through our global laboratory with modern test equipment and highly competent experts. Our holistic approach and commitment to safety will optimise the reliability of your battery and other energy storage products.

Through our expanding network of laboratories throughout North America, Germany, China, Korea, Thailand, Japan and Singapore, we are ready to serve the needs of our customers, provide international market access as well as in-country experience and know-how. Our global testing network is equipped with state-of-the-art safety testing equipment enabling testing to extreme limits in safe conditions – safe for your intellectual property, safe for the environment and, above all, safe for you and our colleagues performing the tests. We provide the full range of battery safety testing services and validation planning and our interdisciplinary expertise will support you in streamlining your product development.

OUR BATTERY SAFETY TESTING SERVICES

We provide safety tests on cells, modules and entire battery systems. Battery abuse testing is carried out according to international standards including SAE J2464, SAE J2929, SANDIA, FreedomCar, UN 38.3, ISO 12405, GB/T 31467-3, GB/T 31485, GB 38031-2020, UL 2580 and UL 1973.

Our battery abuse testing of lithium-ion batteries can be divided roughly into the following categories:

• Electrical abuse tests: overcharge, short circuit, over discharge
• Thermal abuse tests: thermal stability, thermal propagation, fuel fire etc.
• Mechanical abuse tests: nail penetration, crush, free fall, rollover etc.
• Customer-specific safety tests: e.g. leakage of cooling system

In addition, we can also carry out gas analysis for individual tests. After completion of the tests, we offer diagnosis of the batteries, disassembling them and documenting the findings. This helps you find the root causes of reactions during the tests and enables targeted battery development. Finally, we also manage the test batteries’ disposal, freeing you from the related organisational and bureaucratic hassle and ensuring environmentally friendly treatment of the samples.

For more information about our battery safety testing services please contact us today.