​Certain kinds of batteries have to be deactivated at the end of their lifespan to reduce the risk of explosion. To this end, battery manufacturers are developing "passivation" procedures that the brand-new battery abuse-testing platform can assess. The platform, an initiative of Liten, a CEA Tech institute, has all of the equipment needed to do abuse testing on modules up to 1,000 Wh. It will be used for projects conducted with industrial partners and for research purposes.

For the first time ever, the platform was used to test a module (830 Wh) for a company in the aerospace industry. The battery of tests included three distinct stages. The first was thermal cycling (-60 °C to 80 °C) with the module at 0 V to create conditions similar to those of the battery's end-of-life environment. Next, the researchers attempted to charge the module for a short period of time and then overcharged it to observe the resulting behavior.

This first-ever testing campaign on a module with a substantial power capacity went very smoothly. The platform also offers other kinds of testing (short circuit, puncture, and overheating) that reproduce a wide range of potential stressors—ideal for studying battery safety.