How to Test and Validate Battery Specs

Selecting the right battery solution is a big deal for engineering teams developing electrified equipment. Your choice can impact everything from technical performance to profitability. 

You’ve done your homework and defined your requirements. You know what your battery solution must do to support the features that meet your customers’ needs. Can you decide which solution to integrate into your design just by reading the specs from manufacturers?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. Batteries behave differently in different conditions, and you can’t tell from a spec sheet under what circumstances the manufacturers obtained the numbers. Moreover, some manufacturers publish inflated battery life estimates based on unrealistically benign operating conditions and limited product functionalities. 

Before settling on a solution, test the candidates based on your specific assumptions and operating environments. Verify their capabilities and ensure they can perform as expected to avoid costly reworks and delayed timelines.

The good news is that with more suppliers, better insights, and lessons learned from painful experiences (e.g., Samsung’s battery gate, LG paying $1.9 billion to replace Chevrolet Bolt batteries, etc.), selecting battery solutions has become more science than black magic. 

The reality of working with batteries is like trying to live healthfully. Many people don’t feel good after eating three Big Macs — the cause-effect is obvious. But many other things aren’t so clear cut. For example, some practices encouraged by professionals, like a low-fat diet, aren't so good after all. Science gives us new insights, and we must adapt. 

Testing and validating battery performance can be a fairly clear-cut exercise… until it isn’t. The long-term effects are the most difficult to model. The process is simpler for batteries operating in a uniform environment. However, you should create models for various conditions if you sell products in different markets.

For example, you can’t make one type of battery for a garbage truck and expect it to have the same performance and longevity in Anchorage, Santa Cruz, and Phoenix, even if you treat them equally. (Paradoxically, batteries in spacecraft operate in a relatively predictable manner and environment, which makes it much easier to forecast their long-term behaviors.)

Here are some testing and validation scenarios for different types of products:

You make high-ticket items and sell a few of them

Over-dimension the crap out of your prototype’s battery solution and torture test it to the ground. You’re good to go if the results are twice as good as your requirements.

You produce the product at some volume/ You aren’t the only game in town/ Customers are somewhat price sensitive/ The product must be ultra-reliable

Many industrial manufacturers fall into this category. Take the analytical approach — telemetry and metadata are your best friends in decision-making. Build a few systems and compare the real-life data with the predictive analytics. If they align, you have a good chance of meeting your long-term performance goal. 

Software-defined batteries (SDBs) really shine when you need data and analytics to make predictions. However, in some fringe cases, an SDB may be overly complex or expensive, and a legacy platform may be more appropriate.

You make tens of thousands or more of a product

Depending on factors like price point, obsolescence cycles, etc., you may take the analytics approach above or follow a product creation process similar to the iPhone’s — if volumes are high enough to amortize the engineering investment, developing a sizable product-specific battery solution may be worth it. 

Testing and validation here become a numbers game where you balance upfront investment with the cost of unlikely but devastating consequences: You may test thousands of samples under different conditions with cells from at least two vendors for a high degree of confidence or take the risk, stand close to the edge, and accept the possibility of falling off (ask Samsung about that.)

Making the right choice is a tradeoff among various factors, and you must build the foundation by aligning business and technical requirements and decisions.

Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. We can help you make meaningful progress in selecting your battery solution and designing an integration strategy in a day in our new Battery Strategy Workshop. Learn more to see how we can help you build electrified products cost-effectively with cutting-edge insights and deep industry knowledge.