As researchers and manufacturers race to develop electric vehicles and the battery components necessary to operate them to meet recent federal mandates, S&T researchers believe a major component is missing.

Medhi Ferdowsi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, says the numerous electrochemical energy storage systems (EESS) in development lack consistent standards or validation procedures. “There are about 30 lithium-based battery manufacturers around the world,” he says. “Each claims to be the best, but they all use different standards.”

To help standardize these products, Ferdowsi proposes an energy storage testing laboratory, as part of S&T’s new Advanced Managed-Power Solutions (AMPS) Consortium, set to begin this summer.

“The AMPS Consortium will put us ahead of the game,” says Ferdowsi, director of the consortium. “We will develop standards that can be applied industrywide.”

“The AMPS Consortium will put us ahead of the game,” says Ferdowsi, director of the consortium. “We will develop standards that can be applied industrywide.”

The consortium will conduct performance testing on the batteries that will include electrical, storage, life-cycle and environmental tests; accelerated life testing over various stress conditions; and safety testing, including environmental, electrical and mechanical endurance performance.