Battery manufacturing company SES AI Corporation (formerly SolidEnergy Systems) has successfully passed the safety tests required by China’s GB38031-2020 Electric Vehicles Traction Battery Safety Standard.
The company’s 100Ah lithium-metal batteries for automotive and urban air mobility applications were put through a series of tests relating to overcharging, over-discharging, external short circuits, heating, temperature cycling and crushing.
GB38031-2020 is a mandatory national standard in China and has been specifically designed for the electric vehicle (EV) sector. Compliance with the GB38031-2020 standard demonstrates that SES AI’s 100Ah lithium-metal batteries can effectively manage safety risks under test conditions.
Qichao Hu, founder and CEO of SES AI, explained, “There are two types of safety tests that lithium-metal batteries must pass for electric vehicles and urban air mobility: abuse tests and in-use tests. In terms of abuse testing, this is the first time in the industry that a high-energy density battery such as a lithium-metal battery has passed rigorous safety testing to comply with the GB38031-2020 standard, and this is a key milestone. In addition, when it comes to in-use security, our AI for Safety tool can predict and prevent nearly 100% of incidents in the field.”
Combining the GB38031-2020 standard for abuse and the AI solution for Manufacturing for in-use is a step towards commercializing lithium-metal batteries for EV and urban air mobility applications, according to Hu.
The certification follows the announcement earlier this year that SES AI had entered the next phase of a joint development agreement with Hyundai, which involves agreements for automotive B-cell products.