GÖPEL electronic’s new battery cell tester checks up to five cells at once

GÖPEL electronic has released a battery cell tester that evaluates up to five battery cells at the same time. The modular, configurable device runs standard safety and functional tests on individual cells for quality assurance of high-voltage EV batteries, in both development and production.

The tester covers standard safety measurements. The Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) reading is a cell’s voltage with no load applied, and it serves as an indicator of the cell’s state of charge. The Alternating Current Internal Resistance (ACIR) measurement determines a cell’s internal resistance under alternating current, a value that GÖPEL says reflects the cell’s performance, state of aging and quality.

Internal resistance tends to rise as a cell ages, so measuring it helps flag cells that fall outside spec before they go into a pack. OCV and ACIR together give a quick read on a cell’s condition without a full charge-discharge cycle. Matching cells by voltage and resistance matters because a pack’s weakest cell limits the performance of the whole string.

GÖPEL says the tester’s main advantage is fast, reproducible test results. The tester connects to automated equipment, and GÖPEL says this lets batch testing run in a matter of seconds. The company points to incoming inspection and cell grouping as typical applications.

It is a smaller companion to the company’s end-of-line (EOL) battery test system, which runs test routines on a complete battery pack rather than on individual cells.