Relevant standards for German lithium-ion power batteries
Germany’s financial support for electric vehicles is mainly used for technology research and development, and no purchase subsidies are provided to consumers for the time being. In the “high-tech strategy” formulated in 2007, the German government has made the key technology of electric vehicles-lithium-ion batteries the top project. In order to complete this project, the five giants of the industry, BASF, Bosch, EVONIK, LiTec, Volkswagen, and the scientific community and 60 units in the application community have combined to form a lithium-ion battery “Innovation Alliance”: the business community invested 360 million euros, and the federal scientific research The Ministry of Finance subsidized 60 million euros; at the beginning of 2009, the German government allocated 500 million euros to fund the research and development of electric vehicles, including 59 million euros for the research and development of lithium-ion batteries; 60% of the federal energy research and development funds were invested in 2009 The development of the “sustainable transportation” industry represented by electric vehicles; by the end of 2011, the government will provide 500 million euros to fund one battery research center and eight electric vehicle city pilot projects to promote electric vehicle research and marketization.
The German government proposed the “National Electric Vehicle Development Plan” on August 19, 2009. It is estimated that 1 million plug-in hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles will be popularized by 2020, 5 million by 2030, and most cities by 2050 Fossil fuels will no longer be used in transportation. It is hoped that this plan will break through many technical bottlenecks and enable Germany to lead the world’s electric vehicle industry. The plan costs 500 million euros, of which 170 million euros are used to support the research and development of power batteries. At the same time, the government provides low-interest loans and subsidies for new technology projects, including power batteries.
Germany has a greater say in areas such as battery performance and safe charging infrastructure, smart grids, and basic research and standardization of new-generation vehicles. Germany takes international standardization as the foundation of its future competitiveness and vigorously promotes standardization activities. For example, BMW and Volkswagen jointly formulated in September 2010 a global standard for the integration of module connector systems for electric vehicle charging.
While developing new power technologies, Germany has promoted the establishment of an efficient electric vehicle charging station network through different programs and institutions. The development idea is to gradually extend from big cities to inter-city expressways. Take Berlin as an example. The city government announced in 2009 that it would provide free land for at least 550 charging stations to be built in the urban area and conduct a comprehensive test of 1,000 electric vehicles provided by various automakers.
VDA standards for lithium-ion power batteries
The German Automobile Industry Association (VDA) is an association formed by Germany to unify the various standards of the German automobile industry. Due to Germany’s position in the world’s automotive industry, VDA can also be said to represent an advanced automotive industry standard. At present, the relevant VDA standard for lithium-ion power batteries is VDA2007 Test Specification for Li-ion Battery Systems for Hybrid Electric Vehicles. The main structure of VDA2007 is as follows.
General test: Mainly include pretreatment cycle, standard cycle, standard charge, standard discharge, etc. Parameter test: capacity, power, energy efficiency, high temperature start, self-discharge, etc.
Life test: cycle life, etc.
Mechanical safety test: vibration, shock, alternating heat and humidity, etc.
VDA2007 mainly stipulates some test methods and judgment criteria for the performance and durability of the battery.
