Battery testing and development

Ricardo has the capacity, facilities and capability to deliver a variety of battery testing options. Our capacity for testing is further increased by our dedicated test partners.

Time and again, our customers trust us to deliver test programmes which meet their unique requirements. We excel in all forms of battery testing capability, including our climatic battery cycling which is leading in the industry.

Our state-of-the-art facilities, together with our engineering expertise, enables our clients to take advantage of full-service battery development and testing solutions from concept through to production to test.

Ricardo delivers battery research and development testing from our facilities in the UK. Here we focus on electrical characterisation testing of cells and module level testing.

For larger scale testing of cells, modules and packs, we work with our trusted partners to deliver programmes managed and delivered by Ricardo battery testing experts.

We work with clients across multiple sectors to deliver battery testing and development on wide variety of platforms, from high performance automotive to passenger vehicle.

We have supported an impressive range of OEM clients including:

• Volvo
• McLaren
• iCoBat​ Collaborative R&D Consortium

• Battery simulators covering a wide range of hybrid vehicle development needs
• Bitrode 25 – 750V DC sink or source emulator:
  • 0 – 500A current, 250 kW power rating
  • CAN bus communication
  • User programmable battery modules
  • Transportable – can be linked up to any Ricardo test rig
  • Transmission, engine or chassis dyno test cells
• High bandwidth 0-60V DC, 16kW, 380A source/sink unit
  • Ideally suited for 48V battery, BMS and vehicle power systems development
  • Supports sub-system testing and development to VDA LV148 standard
  • Programmable battery emulation
  • Integrated data logging
  • Highly Portable (19in flight case) for use at client test facilities
• 2650 square foot facility located on Ricardo Detroit Technology Campus in Van Buren, Michigan
• Turnkey engineering and development of complete high voltage battery pack systems with HEV, PHEV and EV capability
• 3 Li-Ion, NiMH capable development chambers
  • Thermal controls from –29 deg C to 60C.
  • Size is 12’ by 12’, enabling use of large format battery pack
• V900 battery cycler and ABC150 battery cycler
  • 250kW, 1000A, 8 to 900V
• Hardware-in-the-Loop system which enables advanced controls development and engineering development
• High voltage instrumentation for independent measurements