Testing EV Battery?

– Here’s how to
get to market faster without
compromising safety

Mahmoud Wahby
Global Lead – Business Development for
Electrification Test
NI
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Why Batteries?
• The most expensive component of the
vehicle
• Quality and performance directly impact
brand, marketability and automotive
margin
• Rapidly changing technology with new
cell chemistries and pack configurations
• Validation activities cannot easily be
accelerated and require very expensive
capital investments
• Assembly during production is
complicated and scrap/rework is very
expensive

NI CUSTOMER CONFIDENTIAL
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Battery Design Goals

Safety Performance Cost

Minimize cost of this most

Operate safely Maximize charging rates and
expensive component in the vehicle
(limit determinations to maximize efficiency for lower charge times
performance while staying safe)
Maintenance cost
Maintain discharge performance
Always fail safe over temp range: thermal stability
Pack recycling
Maximize energy density (Wh/kg)

Minimize capacity degradation

over X charge cycles
 Battery Characteristics Causing Test Challenges [Link]

Performance is highly Performance New tech is

temperature dependent degrades over time driving rapid design iterations

(Test in slow and must be (Long-term testing that’s (Constantly changing test
conducted in thermal chambers) difficult to accelerate) requirements with a large library
of DUTS and mix of equipment)

Dangerous Expensive Aggressive

high-power devices Program Schedules
(Large expensive cyclers and (Large liability risk drives extensive (Large number of parallel
test cell safety infrastructure for test coverage, prototypes and test tests to manage)
operational power levels) samples are costly) (Industry push towards
lights out testing)
 Battery Testing Needs
Gain market differentiation without compromising time-to-market

Tests Standards
• Battery lifecycle testing • IEC 62660-1/2
• Battery abuse testing • IEC 62133
• Battery performance testing • ISO 12405-1/2
• Battery environmental testing / Battery durability testing • SAE J2464
• Battery transport testing • SAND 2005-3123
• Dynamic impact test for electric vehicle batteries • SBA S1101
• UN 38.3

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Battery Pack/Module Validation Testing Process

1 2 3 4 5
Communicate to BMS Control temperature/humidity Emulate rest of the system Log Data Do it at large scale for long
to control the battery (multiple brands/models of thermal (charge/discharge) to execute test periods of time
(electrical power characteristics,
(CAN or other) chamber, heater/chiller) profiles (drive cycles, fault conditions) battery temperatures, etc. over time) (manage distributed systems,
monitor tests)

Thermal Chamber Test Equipment

Battery Pack • Battery Cycler

• Control System
Modules HV DC • Test Scripts
Controller
(BMS)
• Data Acquisition System
Cells
• Systems Management
• Etc.
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EV BATTERY PACK AND MODULE TESTING

The Challenge
Testing EV batteries requires long test-times
that are difficult to accelerate. This leads to
large numbers of duplicate test cells and new
challenges in managing the systems and the
data they produce.

Rapidly changing test needs mean traditional,

vendor-dependent test systems are a risk for
time to market and additional expense. Customers
want to have more ownership of changes to their
test system hardware and software.
 Battery Validation Lab Typical Layout

Environmental
Chamber

In-Chamber Measurements

Battery Cycler

Chiller
DUT

Battery Test Software

Battery Data Analytics

[Link]
Measurement Rack
 Why Work with the NI Platform for Battery Test?
• Flexibility of integration with existing tools and workflows
• Shorten schedules in fast-changing technology landscape by not being dependent on a single vendor
• Lower capital costs by leveraging existing assets or being able to change vendors

• Customer Owned Test Architecture: Flexibility, Speed

• Turnkey starting solution that you can adapt to respond to new programs, test requirements, and DUTs

• Infrastructure Enabling Agile and Productive EV Testing

• Re-use architecture and code for different installations
• Open, scalable platform with continuous innovation in Data Production, Processing, and Analytics

Responsiveness to Lower Cost of Partnership for Advanced

Change Ownership Testing

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Battery Validation Test System Design

• Potential for very long test times
Test Characteristics • Rapidly changing DUTs & Test Requirements
• Large, parallel deployments
• Industry push towards lights-out testing

• Stable, sometimes month-long test executions

• Support for true, multi-up testing
Test Needs • Quickly adapt to changing test requirements and DUT interfaces
• Tools for system management and software deployment
• Tools for data management, analysis, and reporting

• Real-time operating system & Infrastructure options for system stability (UPS)
• Ability to independently start/stop executions running concurrently
Design Implications • Hardware Abstraction Layer w/support for 3rd party tools
• Platform-based system designed for flexibility and expansion
• Tight Integration with enterprise tools for test, data, and systems management
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Power Level Test

Emulate the rest of the system at operational power level (drive cycles, fault conditions) for charging/discharging with a Battery Cycler.

Emulated Aux Loads

Converter(DC to DC)
Emulated Traction Motoring Load
Power
Controller
Emulated Charging Electronics Emulated Regen Braking

HV DC Power Drive Unit

EVSE OBC Battery Pack Inverter Motor Mechanicals

(DC to AC)
(X phase AC to
Controller Controller Modules Controller mechanical)
Controller HV DC AC Torque
Power AC Power HV DC (BMS) Cells Power
Electronics Electronics Electronics

BMS
Interface

T&M
Battery Cycler
Rack Cycler
Interface
 Connected Lifecycle Analytics

R&D V&V Production Deployment

R&D testing learns the V&V testing extracts model Production testing extracts Battery condition monitoring
battery model topology by parameters for larger model parameters for each and large-scale data mining
comparing results from virtual amounts of batteries, thereby battery, thereby checking used to refine model topology
and physical testing. learning model statistics. parameter variations to be and parameter knowledge.
within the expected range.

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THE NEW FRONTIER OF TEST AUTOMATION

Systems and Data Management Challenges

Pre-Test Coordination Test Automation Post-Test Analysis
and Preparation and Execution and Action
Systems & Assets Test & Measurement Data
Software Configuration DATA INFRASTRUCTURE
How do I maximize software update How do I build secure data
efficiency and improve configuration pipelines and aggregate data for
compliance? long-term storage and reporting?

System Uptime TEST PROCESS INSIGHTS

How do maintain test continuity/ How do I efficiently collect test data
throughput, optimize system health and monitor test trends to optimize
and reduce unplanned downtime? KPIs such as yield & throughput?

Test Asset Utilization MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS

Do I need to plan test equipment How do I analyze measurement
purchases or re-allocate systems data to improve root-cause answers
based on demand? and accelerate schedules?
OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPACT/RETURN

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Customer Defined Test Architectures

Validated, customizable systems delivered by NI

Industry Experience

Real-Time Execution CompactRIO

High Performance
Measurements
Trusted
Data and
Best-in-Class Power Test Results
Electronics

Lab Management
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Battery Test System

Flexible System
Architecture
Open customizable software
Modular extensible hardware

• User defined, not vendor defined

test system
• Grow your test architecture with
your needs
• Rapidly react to requirements
changes
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BATTERY TEST SYSTEM

Equipment
Integration
Instrument Addons
Instrument plug-in abstraction layer Instrument Addons provide a standardized way to talk to any instrument that has a
for equipment (cycler, chamber, chiller) supported communication protocol: CAN or LIN through the NI-XNET interface, or Serial,
GPIB, & UDP (SCPI or custom) through the NI-VISA interface.
• Quickly (re)configure a test station

• Reuse test scripts across different

test stations
• Effectively manage a mix of equipment

IO Channel Aliases
IO Channel Aliases provide a way to reuse tests even
when equipment and test station configurations change.
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BATTERY TEST SYSTEM

System Battery Test

System Software

Simulation Test Script Development

and Debugging
Commissioning
and Operation

Validate test sequences Software Models Real Hardware Configuration

with equipment models • Device under test • Device under test
• Cycler • Cycler
• Validate test scripts without
• Chamber • Chamber
equipment present • Chiller • Chiller
• De-risk system deployments
• Decouple software dev from
hardware availability

Simple example models for a battery,

BMS, Cycler, Power Supply, and Thermal
Chamber ship with the BTS Software.

These models can be modified and

augmented or replaced as desired.
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BATTERY TEST SYSTEM

Systems
Management Tools
Mass system configurations and updates
On-site and remote test monitoring
Test, data, and DUT databases
• Increase operational efficiency and productivity

• Decrease system commissioning time

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BATTERY TEST SYSTEM

Lossless Long-
term Logging
Real-time logging engine
File spanning, onboard/offboard storage
Notifications and alarming
• Support tests lasting multiple months

• Never lose data

• Always know test status
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BATTERY TEST SYSTEM

Data Management
Standardized and consolidated Wisdom
+ Context
data storage/search/access

Knowledge
Report generation +Experience
• Increase data utilization
• Reduce reporting time Information
+Analysis
• Reduce test re-runs
Data
+Conversion

Measurement

DIKW Model
 Multiple Approaches To Test Systems

Closed System Platform-Based System Fully Custom System

“Vendor Knows Best” “Customer Knows Best” “Customer Does Everything”

Fixed Functionality Customizable Solution Ground-Up System
Closed Ecosystem Open, Vibrant Ecosystem No Ecosystem
Customer Pays Customer Designs Customer Maintains

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Multiple Approaches To Test Systems

Spectrum of Capability & Ownership Example

Fully Custom Platform-based Closed

Solution Solution Solution
No procurement for system changes COTS Framework Risk and liability outsourced

Open for 3rd party AND in-house HW & SW

Inhouse system definition Limited control on pricing
integration

Large in-house support team Control of IP development Not competitive

Full lifecycle ownership liability Control of algorithm deployment Don’t keep pace with COTS

Large multi disciplinary skill-set required Control on HW obsolescence strategy Enforce use of obsolete equipment

Large programme lifetimes = loss of skill

Interface to Enterprise FDM
over time

Scalability for business needs

Migration to new business model

Lack of existing supplier commercial

relationship

In-house Optimized Approach Outsourced

 NI EV Battery Test Customer Application Examples
• Battery Pack/Module Research and Validation Test
• Public work in battery test with Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover
• Work with pack lab project for replacing existing systems lab-wide
• Battery Innovation Center
• Engagement in multiple west coast automotive EV programs

• Battery Production Test

• Large Cell, Module, and Pack Testing projects at major traditional and new OEMs worldwide
• OCV, HPCD, ACIR, and Weld integrity tests
• Proprietary pouch compression/functional test at major cell supplier

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 Mahmoud Wahby
[Link]@[Link]
[Link]/automotive