Battery abuse testing, what they’re not telling … you

When a battery goes wrong it rarely hits the headlines, and although incidents like the recent Dreamliner battery fires are infrequent, they highlight how dangerous batteries can be under the wrong conditions. But these batteries passed abuse testing. Ruth Williams asks whether the tests push batteries far enough?

Everyone would agree something as potentially dangerous as lithium batteries should be evaluated for safety, but what hasn't been agreed on, or harmonised, is the way in which they are tested or the degree to which they are tested.

Tests had previously focused on measuring battery performance . . .