Electric Vehicle Battery Test Challenges

Electric vehicles (EVs) are the future of the automotive industry, with manufacturers such as Tesla leading the way. But traditional automakers are vying for market share, too: Volkswagen (VW), the world’s largest car and truck maker, is investing $91B to build EVs, including one priced no more than the current base Golf model—truly a ‘car for the people’.

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Developing new vehicles is time-consuming, but the right investment can offset this challenge. VW has spent over $1B since 2015 to transform its Zwickau factory into the first plant dedicated to manufacturing electric vehicles based on its modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform. While many of VW’s electric vehicles are based on MEB, it presents potential complications. Its EV powertrain and associated technologies are unfamiliar to designers used to generating torque from internal combustion rather than an all-electric drivetrain. And batteries serve a key function, ultimately defining vehicle cost, range, and consequent commercial success. Practically, battery evaluation and test at cell, module, and pack levels is time-critical to new EV platforms. Manufacturers require entirely new solutions to get EVs through design validation tests, production (assembly line) tests and into the market ahead of the competition.