Green Car Congress: Sandia's Laptop Batteries Abuse Testing Laboratory Awarded $4.2M

Sandia National Laboratories will use $4.2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to modify and enhance its existing Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory (BATLab), with the goal of developing low-cost batteries for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Sandia tests everything from regular small cells about the size of a laptop batteries computer battery up to full-sized modules and packs weighing several hundred pounds for hybrid vehicles. -Pete Roth, lead researcher for Sandia's FreedomCAR program Those upgrades include fire suppression, improved lighting and advanced electrical systems, in addition to new software and analytical equipment to help diagnose battery responses and provide data for manufacturers. developing integrated building systems to reduce US carbon emissions and expanding facilities for fabricating and testing advanced battery prototypes for fuel-efficient vehicles.