HORIBA MIRA opens £2m Advanced Battery Development Suite

HORIBA MIRA – a world-leader in advanced engineering, research and product testing – has today opened its Advanced Battery Development Suite (ABDS), further cementing the business as a UK leader in battery engineering and testing.

• Investment sees HORIBA MIRA cementing its place as a UK leader in battery engineering and testing
• New facility to support an increasing demand for electric powertrains

• Advanced Battery Development Suite will make HORIBA MIRA the first business in the UK to provide dedicated facilities for high voltage battery testing in EMC environments

ABDS, which represents £2m of investment by the HORIBA Group into HORIBA MIRA’s engineering capabilities, will provide test and development services for battery packs and other components for hybrid and electric vehicles.

The facility enables HORIBA MIRA to perform testing of full battery packs and battery pack components in both physical and simulation domains. The testing areas range from characterising cell behaviour, verifying software control algorithms and exercising both prototype and production battery packs. HORIBA MIRA will also be able to provide system level verification using ABDS’ integrated Hardware In Loop (HiL) equipment and its EMC facilities.  

HORIBA MIRA will now be the first business in the UK able to provide vehicle manufacturers with a full suite of testing from battery components through to complete battery packs by integrating the power capabilities of the ABDS facility with its independent UK Accreditation Service audited EMC facilities. This includes EMC and electrical transient testing of battery packs in simulated real-world driving conditions in both a charge and discharge state at up to 800A.

The 1,875 sq. ft. test centre is a dedicated facility for the testing and development of high voltage battery systems. The facility is capable of high resolution cell characterisation, as well as testing battery cells and modules through representative charge and discharge cycles at a wide range of temperatures to provide fully representative testing profiles. The Advanced Battery Development Suite provides unique levels of testing capability for the UK, with the ability to test battery packs at up to 600kW, ±1200A and 1000V with ground-breaking resolution.

Declan Allen, Managing Director at HORIBA MIRA, said:

“This investment demonstrates HORIBA MIRA’s commitment to reducing vehicle emissions and strengthens the business’ battery and electric vehicle engineering and testing capabilities.”

“We’ve worked with many of the leading global manufacturers and automotive suppliers over the past 70 years and this investment will enable us to deliver essential testing to support manufacturers and automotive suppliers in developing hybrid and battery systems.”

For more information on HORIBA MIRA, its facilities and capabilities, please visit www.horiba-mira.com or contact +44 2476 355 000.