Batteries and fire risks have been hot topics in recent years. One thing is clear—more knowledge is needed in this area, and battery testing is essential to filling the knowledge gap.
Vehicle batteries are not the only ones of interest— just as crucial are batteries in energy storage facilities, residential buildings, and in household equipment. Comprehensive testing is essential to ensure batteries’ safety and performance.
More than 30 years of safe batteries
Safe batteries are at the heart of RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and have been so for over 30 years. In other words, the research institute worked on battery safety long before John Smith heard the phrase “electrification”.
A new lab for battery testing opened
To align with society’s increasing number of batteries, RISE opened a state-of-the-art lab for battery safety testing in September 2023 in Borås, Sweden. The lab is welcoming forward-leaning companies in need of safe and sustainable battery testing.
Strengthens competitiveness
“The laboratory’s importance in strengthening companies’ competitiveness should not be underestimated. The industry develops new types of batteries, and these must be tested,” says Claes Winzell, Business Developer at RISE.
Increasing need for battery testing
The need for battery safety testing will likely increase in the coming years. This is due to new regulations and requirements, such as the EU Battery Regulation and the impact of new battery applications and technologies.
New applications need more testing
One example of a new application needing testing is the battery storage units for households combined with solar systems. Such innovations are welcome contributions to solving the climate crisis. Still, the new batteries must be safe and efficient, which can only be assured through extensive testing.
Outdoor tests increase pollution
Battery safety testing is crucial to electrification and to support society’s transition to a fossil-free world. However, the possibility of conducting battery tests that do not harm the surrounding environment is not very high today. Instead, a significant proportion of the tests are still performed outdoors. Increasing the carbon footprint on the way to a fossil-free world is contradictory.
Safe and sustainable battery tests
In the RISE Battery Safety Lab, companies can test everything from battery cells to full-scale vehicles. What makes this lab something extra is its safety and sustainability capacities. The building is explosion-proof, thanks to roof hatches, steel doors, and robust reinforcement bars. Moreover, the lab has high sustainability measures. Extinguishing water and flue gas are cleaned before they reach the surrounding environment.
RISE battery testing includes:
- Thermal propagation
- Thermal runaway
- Free fall
- Impact
- Forced deformation
- Vibration
- Climate
- Immersion
- Cycling
Sustainable testing standardised
“We were the first in the world in this respect, and we believe this will become a new standard in battery testing. There have been enough black marks after ‘greenification’, from companies trying to go green at the expense of the environment,” says Franz Evegren, director of the fire safe transport unit at RISE.
Batteries are pushed to their limits
In Battery Safety Lab, batteries are pushed to their limits and beyond. They are shaken, overcharged, cycled, heated, crushed, and dropped to be tested for our everyday world. How high and low temperatures can a battery endure? How well does a battery perform after long exposure to vibrations or shocks? The exposure to such conditions aims to answer two simple questions: Is the battery safe enough to enter the market? And does the battery fulfil the prevailing requirements?
Important battery safety conference
The next step in RISE’s work to support a sustainable and safe transition is a conference focusing on battery safety on 19 March in Gothenburg, Sweden. The conference welcomes battery peers worldwide to gather for knowledge exchange, safety and sustainability insights, and networking. The aim is precise: to support a strong and safe battery industry — for a sustainable future.
More information about the conference: https://www.ri.se/en/the-battery-safety-conference-2025
