Millbrook unveils 10m drop tower for battery safety testing

Electric vehicle batteries will be dropped from a new 10m-high tower to ensure they can safely survive.

The drop tower has been installed at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, which offers a range of other battery testing options.

The facility is designed to help customers ensure their products are safe and operable after being dropped from up to 10m. The tower will help users understand how a vehicle battery is affected in different ‘impact scenarios’, such as a battery falling from a forklift or from a storage rack. 

The installation also enables impact and penetration tests, using an ‘impactor’ on the ground. A guidance system allows items to be dropped onto an impact medium, such as aluminium honeycomb, to offer a ‘tuned deceleration pulse’.

Millbrook engineers will collect data such as temperature, acceleration and impact velocity. They can also monitor and log live CAN data from the test item.

Kieran Forinton, chief engineer for safety, said: “The addition of our new drop tower expands our battery abuse testing capability. The tower can also be used for controlled and secure safety testing of other components or manufactured items that are stored, packaged or unpackaged, on racking systems or transported at height. Such test items could range from consumer white goods, through vehicle spares and components, to military material.”

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