What are the lithium battery standards？

There are a number of national and international organizations responsible for setting and enforcing lithium ion battery standards in areas as diverse as battery performance, safety, recycling and applications. Currently, these organizations fall into two main categories: those that develop optional standards — those that provide best practices; The other are mandatory standards — those that are needed to make, sell and use a product in a particular market. This article will mainly introduce the first type.

Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) was founded in 1907 with more than 12,000 members. SAE is an international organization focusing on three industrial sectors: aerospace, automotive, and commercial vehicles. SAE is one of the largest organizations of engineering professionals in the world, with two distinct purposes: The first is to act as a professional organization in certain areas of engineering, and the second is to set non-mandatory standards.

With a large number of engineering experts involved in its standardization efforts, SAE has the ability to set standards for almost all aspects of automotive, aerospace, and commercial vehicles; And it already provides a lot of standards around electrification of vehicles. There are currently about 20 different working groups within the Battery Standards Committee, all working to develop and update electrification standards.

The greatest advantage of SAE lithium ion battery standards is that they are affordable to customers, as almost every standard test is less than $100 and association members receive a better price. In addition, these lithium ion battery standards are developed and updated by experts in a particular field, so that even a small company can use the collective knowledge and practical experience of a large group of industrial technologists and engineers.

With the rapid growth of vehicle electrification, SAE established a lithium ion battery standards development Committee in 2009, which continues to work today to develop and update standards in the following areas that can be used for vehicle electrification.

Moreover, these working groups have developed an important set of standards. In addition, there are a number of standard specifications that do not focus on batteries but relate to hybrid and pure electric vehicles. It should be noted that industry bodies including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), underwriters laboratories (UL) and other industry bodies also participate to a certain extent in the work of the SAB Committee to ensure that there is no duplication of standards and to promote the full use of new standards in industry.

International Organization for Standardization (SO)

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), founded in 1947, is a global organization dedicated to developing voluntary industrial standards. SAE focuses on the automotive, aerospace, and commercial vehicle industries, while ISO covers a broader range of areas, including health, sustainability, food, drinking water, automobiles, climate change, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

ISO lithium ion battery standards are often more expensive than SAE standards, costing hundreds to thousands of dollars to pass an ISO standard alone. ISO also organizes a group of industry experts in the form of technical committees to develop standards to reach consensus on the scope and content of standards. Once a technical committee agrees on a standard, it is passed on to the larger ISO consortium for approval. Perhaps the biggest difference from the SAE standard is the requirement that the person involved in the development of the lithium ion battery standard must work for a company that is a member of ISO.

ISO often works in conjunction with IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and other standardization organizations to develop certain industry standards.

ISO 16750-1: Road vehicles – Environmental conditions for the detection of electrical and electronic equipment
– Part 1: General knowledge
ISO 16750-2, Road vehicles – Environmental conditions for the testing of electrical and electronic equipment
– Part 2: electrical loads
ISO 16750-3, Road vehicles – Environmental conditions for the testing of electrical and electronic equipment
– Part 3: Mechanical load
ISO 16750-4, Road vehicles – Environmental conditions for testing electrical and electronic equipment
– Part 4: climatic load
ISO 16750-5: Road vehicles – Environmental conditions for the detection of electrical and electronic equipment

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

The International Electrotechnical Commission (EC) was founded in 1906 as ISO’s sister standards organization with the primary objective of drafting and publishing international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

IEC membership is divided not by companies but by countries. Each member state has the same voting rights in the lithium ion battery standard formulation process, and the adoption of any standard by any member state is entirely voluntary. Member states establish national committees responsible for coordinating national interests in the standard-setting process. These committees are mainly composed of experts from government, universities, research institutes and industry.

In the field of lithium ion battery standards, IEC standards include:
IEC 60050-482- International Glossary of Electricians – Part 482: Primary and secondary cells and batteries
IEC 61427-1 — Secondary cells and cells for renewable energy reserves — General equipment and methods for testing — Part 1: Photovoltaic off-grid applications IEC 61429 — Marking of secondary cells and cells using the International recovery symbol ISO 7000-113
IEC 61959 — Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes.

Mechanical testing of sealed portable secondary cells and batteries:
IEC 61960 a containing alkaline or other non acid electrolyte secondary batteries and battery

Secondary lithium cells and batteries for portable applications:
IEC 61982- Secondary batteries (except lithium) for power use in electric vehicles – Performance and durability testing
IEC 62133 – Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes – Safety requirements for the use of sealed portable secondary cells and batteries consisting of them in portable applications
IEC 62281 — Safety of primary and secondary lithium cells and batteries during transport — Safety requirements for secondary batteries and battery equipment — Part 2: Fixed batteries
IEC 62485-3- Safety requirements for secondary batteries and battery equipment — Part 3: Power batteries

As with other lists of lithium ion battery standards, this list is not the whole story, and it may have changed and new standards may have been added by the time this book is published. So when you are planning which country to manufacture or sell your product in, you are advised to go to the IEC website to search and investigate the latest standards required

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an association of technical professionals based on two early industrial organizations, bringing together professionals in the electrical, electronics, computing and related fields.

IEEE is very much like SAE: they are professional organizations that simultaneously set industry standards. The main difference between the two is the focus of work. The industrial scope covered by IEEE is limited to electronic components and equipment.

From the review of all IEEE battery standards, it can be seen that their battery standards are focused on the following aspects: ①fixed applications; ②lead-acid battery; ③Nickel-cadmium battery. The following are some of the battery-related standards that have been developed by IEEE.

Code of Practice for maintenance, Testing and Replacement of open lead acid batteries for stationary applications
484-2002 – Installation design and installation practice for open lead acid batteries for stationary applications
485-2010 – Code of practice for sizing lead-acid batteries for stationary applications
Practice for installation and maintenance of lead acid batteries in Photovoltaic (PV) systems 937-2007
Code of practice for dimensional Design of lead-acid cells for freestanding photovoltaic (PV) systems
Code of Practice for installation, Maintenance, Testing and replacement of open-end nickel-cadmium batteries for stationary applications
Code of practice for the dimensional design of nickel-cadmium batteries for stationary applications
1189-2007 guide for the selection of Valve-regulated sealed Lead Acid (VRLA) batteries for stationary applications
1184-2006 – Guide to batteries used in uninterruptible power supply systems

Specification for installation design and installation operation of valve-controlled lead-acid batteries for stationary applications
1361-2014 Guide for the selection, Charging, testing and Evaluation of lead-acid batteries for use in stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) systems
Guidelines for the maintenance of stationary battery systems
1491-2012 — Guide for selection and use of battery monitoring equipment for stationary applications
1536-2002 a physical interface for the battery of a rail transit vehicle
1561-2007 – Guidelines for performance and life optimization of long range hybrid systems for lead-acid batteries
1562-2007 – Guidelines for the design of cell arrangements and dimensions in independent photovoltaic (PV) systems

Specification for design and operation of electrification dimensions of nickel-cadmium batteries for railway passenger vehicles
1578-2007 – Code of practice for overflow capacity and management of stationary battery electrolytes
1625-2008- Standard for rechargeable batteries for portable computers
1635-2012- Guide to ventilation and Heat management for stationary application batteries
1657-2009 – Code of practice for personal qualification for installation and maintenance of stationary batteries
1660-2008 – Guidelines for the application and management of stationary batteries used in periodic operation
1661-2007 – Guide for the detection and evaluation of lead-acid batteries for photovoltaic (PV) hybrid systems
1679-2010 — Code of practice for characterization and evaluation of emerging energy storage technologies in stationary applications
1725-2011 – Standard for rechargeable batteries for mobile phones

Smart Grid Interoperability Guidelines for Energy technology and Information Technology with Electric Power System (EPS) Terminal Applications and loads as shown in the listing above. Although IEEE has several lithium ion battery standards. they are targeted at portable Power applications. Examples include batteries for mobile phones and portable computers.

Underwriters Laboratory (UL)

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is one of the oldest private safety testing and certification organizations in the world, founded in 1894. UL focuses on testing and certifying product safety for consumers. Today UL continues to expand their testing coverage, engaging in important advisory transactions “with an evolving global perspective to keep safety ahead of innovation.”

UL does a good job of setting testing and certification lithium ion battery standards for consumer batteries in laptops, tablets, or smartphones. However, automakers are reluctant to participate in UL testing and certification for two reasons: For one thing, automakers have done important and expensive tests to validate their batteries and have developed their own testing and inspection requirements that are similar to those of the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency, NHTSA’s requirements are consistent.

Second, they don’t like the final judgment and approval of their products by a single organization that has only a small involvement in the product development process. Furthermore, UL testing can add significant costs to already expensive vehicle inspection procedures, some of which may be duplicated. UL testing must be conducted by itself, whereas a certification such as UN may only require self-certification, i.e. you only need to have available testing data to pass the certification.

At the time of writing, 7 UL certification conditions have been published, including:
UL 1642 lithium ion battery
UL 1973 Batteries for light electric rail (tram) and stationary applications
UL 1989 Spare battery
UL 2054 Alkaline battery or lithium ion alkaline battery pack
UL 2271 Battery for light electric vehicle
UL 2580 battery used in electric vehicles
UL/CSA/IEC 60065 Batteries for Audio and video Equipment

As shown above, UL certification covers a wide range of areas, including lithium-ion batteries, rail vehicles, light vehicles, stationary energy storage systems, backup power and electric vehicles.

Det Norske Veritas (DNV-GL)

DNV, founded in 1864 in Oslo, Norway, is a leading organization dedicated to providing classification, technical assurance and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil and gas and energy industries. At the end of 2013, DNV-GL developed and published a draft guide for large Battery applications in Marine, called “DNV-GL Guide for Large Marine Battery Systems”.

The purpose of this DNVGL guide is to “provide guidance for ship owners, designers, suppliers of systems and batteries, There are also third parties to assist in the process of feasibility studies, profiling, design, procurement, manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance of large lithium-ion battery systems. “

Due to the growing electrification of maritime and shipping applications and increasing regulatory regulations aimed at reducing pollution around the world’s major ports, many ship builders are counting on battery power to replace diesel engines. Because DNV-GL has strong relationships and a long history in the industry, they can set lithium ion battery standards in these application areas. In addition, DNV provides third-party testing and certification services.