Enhanced Lithium Ion Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory

Monday, January 11 2010

Sandia National Laboratories will use $4.2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to modify and enhance its existing Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory (BATLab), with the goal of developing low-cost batteries for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Sandia’s BATLab is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of battery testing to ensure they meet real-world performance requirements. The tests help to determine how much abuse lithium ion batteries can safely handle, including being crushed, pounded with nails, and heated to boiling hot temperatures. Sandia tests everything from regular small cells about the size of a laptop computer battery up to full-sized modules and packs weighing several hundred pounds for hybrid vehicles.

The $4.2 million in funding is part of a $104.7 million economic stimulus package to further develop the nation’s efforts in clean energy and efficient technologies across seven DOE national laboratories.

The DOE-funded FreedomCAR program turned to Sandia to investigate the possibility of safely using lithium-ion batteries, which have more power and weigh less than the nickel-metal hydride batteries currently being used in hybrid vehicles. But before lithium-ion batteries could be placed in vehicles, extensive safety tests needed to take place. With the recent stimulus funds, the BATLab will be able to greatly increase the number of tests it does.