Ford will be putting hybrid vehicle batteries through an intense test equivalent of driving over 150,000 miles or for 10 years using a newly constructed test lab. The announcement was made on Dec. 12 through a press release.
Click here to see the press release.
The new test, called the Key Life Test, will be specifically for new lithium-ion batteries to help produce more reliable vehicles in the future.
"Recent studies show consumers are keeping their vehicles longer, and regulations in some regions now require batteries to carry warranties for greater distances," said Layden in the press release. "Fortunately, our tests take into account distances and conditions that go way beyond those normal requirements."
Older generations from Ford included a nickel-metal-hydride battery, but the company announced that they will be offering five different electric vehicles no later than 2013 with completely reconstructed batteries. All new vehicles will include li-ion batteries, which will be 25 to 30 percent smaller.
Other tests that the batteries will go through includes a heat simulation due to complaints that current batteries can't withstand summers in locations like Phoenix where the temperature can reach 140-degrees. They will also go through extreme cold conditions to withstand locations like Canada where the weather can go well below negative 30 degrees.
Ford has been testing hybrid technology since the 1980s, before they were able to finally release the Ranger EV in 1998 and the Escape Hybrid in 2004. Since then 50 million batteries have been produced since 2004 alone.
The company claims that of the 50 million batteries produced and placed in vehicles only six have failed.
"We can't do an apples-to-apples comparison between the nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion batteries," says Mazen Hammoud, chief engineer, Electrified Powertrain Systems in the press release. "But we can evaluate much of the data collected to see how hybrid vehicles are driven, the kinds of conditions they face and the demands that are placed on them. Knowing all of that helps us benchmark our tests and ensure the lithium-ion batteries are meeting or exceeding expectations."
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