Ensuring safe BEV operations

Whether it’s at the beginning, end, or extreme of the BEV scene, load banks play a role in securing safe operations. Here, Andrew Keith, division director of load bank manufacturer Power Prove explains.

There’s no denying that the future of the automotive market is electric. According to the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook 2022, EV sales doubled between 2020 and 2021, reaching 6.6 million globally. Yet with transition deadlines looming, matching demand with supply is becoming more urgent. This brings an absolute need for reliable, operational vehicles and their enabling technology.

As an essential piece of testing kit, load banks play a vital role in ensuring BEVs and their infrastructure are safe and consistent by validating the proper operational performance of components across the sector – from EV charging point testing to end-of-life battery discharge, and even in Formula E.

From the beginning

EV charging points are a huge new focus for the automotive industry. With a target of delivering 300,000 new charging points in the UK, 500,000 in the US and 6.8 million in the EU all by 2030, production rates are rapidly on the uptake to reach these goals.

Before deploying these charging points, they must undergo quality control to ensure their operational performance. This is where load banks come into play. By stimulating an electrical load, load banks test the charging points postproduction, ensuring they are fit for purpose and to prevent any unexpected failures once set up at their designated sites. Power Prove’s AC30 load bank is very popular for this purpose.

To end of life

As well as ensuring the operations of the EV infrastructure from the beginning, load banks also ensure the safe end-of-life disposal of lithium-ion batteries. In general, BEVs are typically expected to last between 10 and 20 years. So, although end-of-life practices aren’t a huge concern right now, they will be by the end of the decade thanks to the ongoing sales boom.

Once an EV reaches the end of its operational life, its batteries need to be safely discharged. EV batteries are typically recycled to recover their scarce heavy metal components – lithium, cobalt, manganese, and nickel. But before these processes can take place, there’s an additional step that must be taken.

Even when an EV battery appears to have no charge left, it still naturally generates a small amount of charge, which can be enough to be dangerous if not completely released. By plugging the battery into a load bank, it can automatically determine the battery’s current capacity and continuously discharge it, dissipating the excess electronic load. Removing any remnant charge makes the battery safe for dismantling and metal component extraction, for reuse in the next generation of EV batteries.

At the extreme

While the electrification of commercial vehicles dominates the automotive market, there are additional applications sitting at the extreme of the electric revolution. That includes the rise of Formula E – the all-electric FIA World Championship. In the electrical future of motorsport, there remains additional considerations regarding the safety of mechanics when handling the battery packs.

In Formula E, because of the high DC operating voltage of the cars, there’s a great risk of electrocution if batteries are left charged. When handling the lithium battery packs, safety is crucial. To ensure the safety of anyone handling the battery and adhere to the conditions set by air freight companies when moving the cars and components between circuits, it’s essential to discharge the batteries.

To protect the paddock and freight handlers, load banks are used to consume the car’s electrical circuits power and dissipate, discharging it sufficiently to ensure the system is safe for close contact.

As time goes on and EVs become more widespread, both on the road and track, load bank testing for BEVs will become commonplace. While the EV rollout may be in full swing, getting the right technology in place to ensure safe, correct operations at the beginning, end and extreme of the market is crucial to success.