The ASAP Group, engineering partner to the automotive industry, has further expanded its service portfolio in the battery testing field. In addition to the existing extensive testing services in the field of e-mobility, complete battery packs can now be tested simultaneously at the Ingolstadt site. The existing testing facilities have been equipped with testing and safety technology as well as an automation system for testing battery packs. With this step, ASAP has responded to the continuing good demand on the market and has thus positioned itself even better in terms of consistency and battery expertise. “Contrary to earlier assumptions, the need to have complete battery packs validated has not diminished and will continue to be an important service in the Test & Validation segment as the number of e-vehicles increases,” says Dominik Sedlmair, Director Division Test & Validation at the ASAP Group. “With the newly created possibility of now also being able to test complete battery packs in terms of quality and service life, we are laying the foundation for the further expansion of this promising service area for us. The exact expansion will depend on the market situation,” Sedlmair continues.
Testing the battery packs in accordance with a comprehensive safety concept
Safeguarding complete battery packs is a major challenge in terms of the resources and technical expertise required. In accordance with a comprehensive safety concept, the ASAP experts carry out automotive standard tests in accordance with the usual OEM standards within the specified operating limits of the battery packs. The systems also make it possible to safeguard a battery management system (BMS) including the fully functional high-voltage battery.
The range of services includes carrying out environmental tests under various temperature and climatic conditions, electrical characterization and thermal testing, as well as determining the storage capacity under changing conditions. In addition, so-called service life tests are carried out at constant or changing temperatures to validate the calculated service life of the battery packs, taking into account the mission profiles. “Safeguarding not only at cell and module level, but also for the entire battery, was a logical expansion of our portfolio. We can also see this from the fact that the test benches for testing battery packs are already working at full capacity due to existing customer orders,” says Dominik Sedlmair, Director Division Test & Validation at ASAP.
Accredited ASAP test and validation centers at three locations in Germany
The ASAP Group implements holistic solutions in the field of Test & Validation at three accredited test and trial centers at its locations in Ingolstadt, Sachsenheim and Wolfsburg. These range from the design and production of individual test systems to the implementation of all process steps for component testing and durability testing. One focus is on the area of e-mobility.
In line with its strategy, the ASAP Group is continuously investing in the expansion of its test centers and end-to-end services. In 2021, for example, a new test hall with around 750 square meters of hall space was put into operation at the Wolfsburg site, expanding development and testing services, particularly for e-mobility topics such as safety tests at cell and module level and cell characterization.
ASAP has a total of 70 test benches at its disposal across all sites. Every year, around 600 test parts pass through the laboratories – for tests ranging from high-temperature and thermal shock tests to requirement-based software and functional tests through to environmental, corrosion and strength tests on LV and HV components. Thanks to continuous expansion, the testing area of the test and trial centers now covers more than 6,000 square meters. This makes the ASAP Group a leading partner for the automotive industry in German-speaking countries in the validation of electric drive systems with a focus on service life and power electronics.