UK test lab opens 800V EV systems
German tier one supplier ZF has opened a dedicated 800V Test & Validation facility at its R&D Hub near Solihull in the UK.
The ZF test lab aims to support the adoption of 800V architectures with improved efficiency, charging and vehicle performance advantages for electric vehicles (EVs). This is ZF’s first dedicated facility and one of just a handful in the UK.
It was developed and installed with a project cost partially funded by the UK’s Advanced Propulsion Cetnre (APC), the 800V Test & Validation Laboratory will offer ZF and customers specialist hazardous voltage (HV) testing capacity. ZF will also offer validation testing to third parties and be available for academic research and training.
“OEMs want the compelling benefits of 800V but finding facilities capable of validating these higher-rated systems has not been easy,” says Adrian Mitcham, Head of Special Applications at ZF. “Just like our world-class EMC and climatic chambers on the same site, we plan to offer 800V validation services to external organisations so that more of the benefits can be realised in the wider mobility sector.”
ZF has developed a highly scalable and modular inverter architecture that allows flexibility in both 400V and 800V voltage classes and the facility is now ramping up testing for ZF’s global product development teams.
One of the first developments tested was for truck and bus applications, with ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) division using the facility to validate a new fuel cell air compressor for the segment. The CVS business also validated a new fuel cell Hydrogen Recirculation Blower.
An interlocked and monitored door ensures the entire laboratory forms a secure safety cell and a number of other safety measures have been undertaken as part of the installation, including active discharge resistance to remove hazardous energy as quickly as possible in an emergency and having instrumentation accessed over an optically isolated link.
The facility has been designed with future expansion in mind: adjacent, additional floorspace is available if required, while the infrastructure is also future-proofed with power supplies capable of handling 1,500V DC at 45kW, with the possibility to increase this to 90kW.