Advanced EVMEV Battery PackTesting Using the ABC-I50 Power System

The ABC-150 battery test system is the first system designed for the demanding requirements of electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) battery testing. With high accuracy, fast response and flexible test automation capabilities, the AX-150 provides the most advanced set of capabilities for EV/HEV battery pack testing. These features are described and several examples of actual use are given. The Importance of Accurate EV Battery Testing No one will dispute that battery technology is the key to the near-term future of electric vehicles (EVs). For the next several years, battery performance is the single biggest risk factor for electric vehicle manufacturers and purchasers. Batteries that fail to live up to their expected performance could cause companies large financial losses, and perhaps even a loss of consumer confidence that would damage the industry forever. With so much riding on battery performance, EV and HEV batteries must be tested as accurately and thoroughly as possible before they are widely deployed. The most obvious way to test batteries accurately is in actual driving use. However, this is also the most expensive way to test them, requiring complete vehicles and their associated driver and maintenance costs. Actual driving tests are also hard to control for important variables such as ambient temperature and humidity. A better way is to use a battery test system that can simulate actual vehicle use as accurately as possible. With such a system, batteries can be tested in controlled environments and tests can run automatically, unattended for hours or days at a time, providing vastly more test data at greatly reduced expense versus actual driving tests. However, the key to this solution is accurate simulation of actual use. Without it, the test data generated are of questionable value.