Battery test system provides industry highest power density

EA Elektro-Automatik has released a compact, automated battery cycler and test system that will allow manufacturers to test EV batteries better as the industry develops to higher power battery technologies.

The 10300 Series ATE system delivers industry-leading power density: 300kW in a single 42U-high rack that consumes only 6.5sq ft of production-floor space, one-third the space of the leading brand. Users may parallel racks for up to 3.84MW of testing capability. This advance is a substantial advantage for the industry, where production floor space is at a premium or just unavailable.

The new series provides an excellent 2000VDC capacity for testing high-voltage battery packs, a level of test performance that is out of range for most competitive systems. Also, each rack can supply and sink up to 2,400A per rack, and the system offers up to 30,720A total capacity. This enables battery pulse testing, which may need exponentially higher current than the battery AH rating.

This off-the-shelf series is a complete COTS turnkey solution. As well as battery cycling, tests include drive cycle simulations and insulation resistance. The test system can control an environmental chamber and communicate with a BMS through the CAN bus interface.

Included drag-and-drop system software facilitates quick and easy test setup and execution. Many other suppliers charge extra for software, which may need coding to update tests.

Particularly, the new battery test system is priced like competing systems offering lower capacities and far less than the cost of integrating a custom test solution.

"As consumers demand EV batteries with higher storage capacities, producers need test systems with higher power capability. In addition, the new hydrogen fuel cells coming onto the market will require even more," said Eric Turner, Americas director of EA Elektro-Automatik. "Voltage levels as a result are increasing; in some cases, power grid batteries need to be tested now at 1500 volts," he added. "The introduction of the 10300 Series now means there is a production battery test system that is finally capable of meeting emerging voltage and power demands."