SEICA is pleased to announce that they will once again be present at the Battery Show in Stuttgart at Booth B16 in Hall 8, displaying the latest innovative test solutions developed specifically for the EV sector.

The rapid evolution of electric vehicles (EVs) has posed significant challenges in regard to creating manufacturing processes including test, which is an essential factor to consider in the effort to increase production throughput, improve reliability of the manufactured product, while optimizing costs.

Test Solutions for the core modules of an EV

Know-how, born of experience, is the first requirement for meeting the technological challenges of testing the core modules of an EV, and Seica has applied both to develop comprehensive solutions at an optimized cost.

One of the main concerns of many OEMs, integrators, and new start-ups is the testing of EV battery packs, which

presents several challenges. The electrical connections between the cells of an EV battery are fundamental to the correct performance and safety of the battery, so testing the bondings is a mandatory step of the battery manufacturing process. SEICA’s Pilot BT system, on display in Stuttgart, is able to perform parallel, very precise Kelvin tests of 16+ cells at once, achieving production test rates of nearly 2400+ battery cells per minute. The need for high throughput requires automated solutions, capable of handling even very large form factors: the Pilot BT, in its standard configuration, has a very large test area (1050 x 865 mm) and includes a heavy-duty, pass-through conveyance, able to handle the diversified battery configurations currently on the market, with capacity to spare for managing the configurations of the future.

In order to optimize a solution for smaller form factors, Seica has further extended its range of solutions with the new Pilot H4 BT. Equipped with 4 independent axes for fast parallel testing of 2 bondings in one movement, it has a test area of 800x540mm and a test rate of over 600 bond/min, perfectly suited for high mix/medium volume production, offering high flexibility and a very low setup time.

Both solutions provide reliable, repeatable electrical test at the required throughput rate, with complete traceability of each measurement.

Mini 200 ACIR testing for Lithium Ions cells

In order to produce a high-quality battery pack, all cells must be checked with a rigorous procedure which measures the internal resistance (IR). In fact, if a battery pack is made up of cells selected and put together randomly, each cell may have a different IR, therefore a different current distribution with respect to the other cells, which will lead to different pack temperature distributions. This can be very dangerous and should definitely be avoided.

Visitors to Seica’s booth will also be able to see the MINI200-ACIR tester, developed to provide a simple and effective application to carry out ACIR and voltage tests, enabling battery pack manufacturers to perform incoming inspection where cells can be tested right in the OEM packaging, as well as production testing to ensure the correct current distribution within the assembled pack. The test solution, which meets all of the test requirements, can include a manual fixture or be integrated into an automated system for in-line production testing. The system can be configured with up to 640 non-multiplexed channels for testing up to 160 cells at a time, performing 4-wire kelvin measurements for each cell.

Visitors to Seica’s booth B16 will have the opportunity to meet our best experts who have the know-how and expertise to help manufacturers meet the test challenges of the core modules present in EVs, both from a technical and a cost-effective prospective.

In addition to Seica’s test solutions on display in booth B16, it will be possible to view Canavisia’s Industry 5.0 software and hardware solutions for the acquisition and digitalization of data coming from machines, factories and buildings, with the goal of optimizing processes, maintenance and intelligent energy management on-site, over the web and from the Cloud. The system Dashboard and APP provide a real-time view of the connected resources as well as statistical reporting, and the solutions are compatible with the most widely used protocols and management software, for easy integration into existing infrastructures.