Battery Labs

The battery labs at CAR span 1000 square feet spread across three separate rooms:

• Low-voltage battery lab (cell to module)
• High voltage lab (up to 900V)
• Hardware-in-the-loop and battery management systems lab 
• Battery pack fabrication lab

Each lab offers industry-standard technology; their shared goal is to characterize batteries’ electro-thermal behavior and durability, develop design and control for cells, modules, and packs.

• The main battery lab features new state-of-the art battery cyclers, environmental chambers and liquid chillers. These allow researchers to determine how a battery holds up to years of use. The main battery lab will support the testing of research of low voltage cell to mild 48V systems. 
• The high voltage lab provides the capability of emulating and testing high voltage battery packs up to 900V ±250kW. An AV900, heavy duty dual-channel test system of AeroVironmentTM, is controlled by an HIL dSpace system and it can supply CAR testing facilities for accurate powertrain testing.  
• The Hardware-in-the-loop and battery management systems lab is design to develop and test algorithm for the state of charge and state of health estimation, evaluate and control different balancing strategies, test and assess state of the art BMS.
• The pack fabrication lab is equipped with spot welders and high voltage tools required to safely operate on battery packs.

Relevance to Industry

Characterization and benchmarking of battery chemistries based on applications;

• State of the art and advanced technologies

Model and control development for integration of batteries in electrified powertrains:

• Equivalent circuit and electrochemical –based models

• Calibration of BMS and TMS

• Including SoC and SoH algorithms

Characterize and modeling of battery degradation mechanisms and impact on system

• Calibrate and perform aging campaign

• Including post mortem analysis (OSU IMR)

Primary Uses:

Support research in energy storage systems:

• Materials characterization
• Model calibration
• Control & SoC/SoH estimation
• Systems integration

Provide engineering services for the integration of battery systems for diverse applications:

• Automotive xEV (commercial, private, off-road)
• Aerospace xEV
• Grid and home energy storage

Capabilities:

• State of the art battery cyclers for cell characterization
• Current range: µA to 1000A
• Voltage: Cell (<5V), Module (<60V), Pack (<900V)
• Thermal management testing and design
• HIL/SIL capabilities and BMS testing and calibration
• Fabrication of module/pack prototype.