Manufacturers of hybrid vehicles now have a dedicated
battery tester designed for the high voltages, currents and variable drive
cycles of their vehicles.
Sakor Technologies, Inc., a maker of dynamometers
for hybrids, recently rolled out the Hybrid Vehicle Battery Test System, a product
specifically designed for voltages as high as 1,000V and for the real road
loads and unsymmetrical driving cycles that are common to everyday driving.
The system
could be significant for automakers, which must assess hybrid battery packs that
weigh hundreds of pounds and operate at voltages ranging from 200-600V.
The new
system's key advantage, however, is that it combines its high voltage
capability with a control system that can be programmed for various types of driving
cycles, much like the dynamometers used in torque testing of engines and
electric motors.
"A battery
may have one level of performance if you just do simple, long-cycle, long-wave
types of testing," says Randal Beattie, president of Sakor Technologies. "But
that doesn't necessarily translate well to the mileage you get out of a battery
when you put it in a real vehicle and subject it to real-world loads. When you do
second-to-second types of unsymmetrical changes, you get much less performance
out of a battery."
Sakor's system
is driven by the company's DynoLab EM controller and works with its
HybriDriveline Dynamometer, both of which had already been in use for testing of
hybrid motors and inverters. Because the company already had experience with
hybrid powertrain technology, it extended its product line to include a hybrid
battery tester, Beattie says.
"Hybrid
vehicle manufacturers need to simulate the second-by-second changes in load
that occur when a car runs up and down a hill, or comes to a stop light,"
Beattie says. "The most important thing is for them to know what kind of
performance they can really expect out of their battery."
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