Powertrain Test Facility of the Year
Our new Battery Development Centre at our Northampton site was recently awarded Powertrain Test Facility of the Year 2022 (in conjunction with our new Vehicle Development Centre) by Automotive Testing Technology International magazine. Click here for more details
Battery Pack Testing and Assembly (Germany)
MAHLE Powertrain has recently opened a new state-of-the-art battery development centre in Stuttgart to provide support for its clients across Europe. This facility can accommodate every stage of the battery development process from early prototype modules to small-scale production batches of complete packs. The installed equipment includes a dual-robot laser welding station served by rotary and orbital drive tables.
Adjoining the prototype shop is a comprehensive test area with two climatic chambers allowing low- and high-voltage battery packs to be tested at up to 1200V or 550 kW, at temperatures from -40°C to +90°C. Simulated drive cycles can also be conducted in harsh environmental conditions to enable the full evaluation of battery cooling systems.
MAHLE Powertrain opens dedicated battery development center in Europe
Battery Pack Testing and Assembly (UK)
MAHLE Powertrain has opened a new facility in Northampton for the testing and characterisation of cells, modules and battery packs, including steady state testing of open circuit voltage, storage capacity and thermal characterisation tests (e.g. voltage response under high discharge, thermal behaviour and internal resistance).
New infrastructure is also being installed to enable the assembly and disassembly of battery modules and battery packs. This will allow the strip and inspection of post-test modules and units from field-trials in addition to assembly of new prototype units.
The new facility enables testing under drive-cycle conditions to help evaluate the performance of battery systems in the context of real driving behaviour and extreme testing conditions.
The facility can be used to test packs and modules with and without battery management systems. It is modular in design to enable fast, cost effective expansion to support increases in customer demand. The new test facility houses climate controlled test chambers with adjustable temperature and humidity and also incorporates a fire suppression system.
Battery test facility specifications
- Max battery pack size: 2500 x 1600 x 500 mm
- Max pack test current: 2400A
- Max pack test power: 1,000 kW
- Test temperature range: - 40 to + 60 °C
- Humidity control: 10% - 95%
- Fire detection and suppression to BS 5839:2019
- Remote chamber control
- Bi-directional power supply for module testing with cycling control software and control of environmental chamber
- Dynamic test cycles possible as well as steady state characterisation
Battery Pack Testing [PDF; 1778 KB]
