Ageing Testing Procedures on Lithium Batteries in an International Collaboration Context

The widespread introduction of electrically-propelled vehicles is currently part of many political strategies and introduction plans. These new vehicles, ranging from limited (mild) hybrid to plug-in hybrid to fully-battery powered, will rely on a new class of advanced storage batteries, such as those based on lithium, to meet different technical and economical targets. The testing of these batteries to determine the performance and life in the various applications is a time-consuming and costly process that is not yet well developed. There are many examples of parallel testing activities that are poorly coordinated, for example, those in Europe, Japan and the US. These costs and efforts may be better leveraged through international collaboration, such as that possible within the framework of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Here, a new effort is under development that will establish standardized, accelerated testing procedures and will allow battery testing organizations to cooperate in the analysis of the resulting data. This paper reviews the present state-of-the-art in accelerated life testing procedures in Europe, Japan and the US. The existing test procedures will be collected, shortly described, compared and analyzed with the goal of defining a process and a possible working plan for the establishment of an international collaboration.