The worldwide battery market is undergoing enormous growth, due in large part to recent advances in electronic technology. The automakers have been accelerating Electric Vehicle (EV) development and they are introducing the new EV models in the market. In response to these situation, Company I received a request from its customer for prompt action on developing smaller and lighter batteries with more power.
The Problem
Difficult to meet customer’s request promptly
Leading battery cell manufacturers have built new factories utilizing the latest production techniques, including greater automation and faster throughput. Production volumes alone cannot solve the battery problem. There must be improvements in the battery’s density, materials, weight, and safety for EVs.
The Company I did not have the right test equipment to conduct the Capacity measurement, Over-discharge test, and I/V performance test efficiently for high voltage batteries. When the company submitted a newly developed prototype to the business partner, it failed in their evaluation because of the insufficient performance. To conduct the required tests on batteries, designed test circuits were used. The company needed to adjust the circuits so that any type of battery can be tested with the circuits. Or sometimes the engineers had to design new circuits more than once, when the test conditions were changed. Having not enough skilled engineers, the company could not conduct the tests efficiently, making it difficult to meet the request. The company wanted to establish a new test environment to improve efficiency of their work, but realized that there was no such space to install the system. Mr. A at the Design Development Dept. was seriously concerned about the present situation that the company I had been facing and tried to find the solution in vain.
Key Aspects of the Problem
- Company I wanted to conduct accurate test on high voltage battery efficiently
- Having not enough space to install new large instruments
