• • • ELECTRICAL VEHICLES • • • Testing for EV high
voltage components High-voltage (HV) components are critical to the smooth operation of Electric vehicles (EVs) and must be of high quality, as well as designed to withstand the rigours of daily use By Robert Campling, Senior Manager, TÜV SÜD
T
o expedite product development and wider market acceptance of EVs, one of the automotive industry’s key focus areas is the
integration of new and advanced technologies into vehicles. This includes on-board chargers, HV batteries, DC/DC converters and E-Motors and DC/AC inverters. As such technologies are based on advanced
HV systems that can reach up to 1,500 volts, this brings increased safety risks which must be managed to ensure passenger and operator safety. It’s therefore vital that manufacturers prioritise the safety of their HV components and ensure they are designed to meet stringent safety standards. However, testing HV systems and equipment to
ensure their performance under anticipated operating conditions can present numerous challenges for component manufacturers. This is because HV components are generally far more technically complex than their low voltage counterparts which are used to power conventional vehicles. Thoroughly testing such sophisticated components requires a more complex testing setup. For example, this may include external power supplies to power a component during testing, software, methods of communicating with the device under test (DUT), and cooling mechanisms to dissipate heat generated during the testing process. The testing of HV components also requires
rigorous project management to help ensure the thoroughness and accuracy of testing. On average, compliance testing of an individual HV component can involve as many as 25 different tests on multiple samples of a single component. The sheer scope of testing activities must, therefore, be carefully planned and closely managed to provide the accurate data that is required for an objective assessment of critical performance considerations. Finally, the testing of HV components
necessitates in-depth expertise in advanced components. As few component manufacturers currently have the requisite test competency, they are either faced with developing that expertise in-house or identifying third parties that are sufficiently experienced.
HV testing The HV testing scheme comprises testing of HV components under simulated environmental conditions in accordance with standards including LV123, LV124, LV148 and further customer-specific standards. The LV standards were developed jointly by several German car manufacturers, including Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen,
18 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • SEPTEMBER 2025
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
and published by the VDA. Most global OEMs have now derived their own version of the standard for internal use and for their suppliers. The tests provide proof that the high-voltage
components are able to function efficiently and comply with ultra-strict safety requirements. They include:
• Temperature testing: Exposure of HV components to extreme high and low temperatures and rapid temperature changes, to ensure the components function flawlessly.
• Moisture and water-tightness testing: Verification of components’ resistance to moisture and water.
• Vibration and shock testing: Simulation of vibration and shocks that may occur during driving on uneven roads or offroad terrain.
• IP protection testing: Testing for protection against water and dust ingress.
• Salt spray testing: Testing of components’ resistance to corrosion.
• Electrical testing: These tests include insulation resistance measurement, sparkover voltage tests and temperature stress tests.
• EMC testing: Ensures that components in electric vehicles do not emit electromagnetic interference and are themselves resistant to external electromagnetic influences. This includes testing for interference emission, interference resistance and dielectric strength.
Moving up a gear to HPT EV technology development is evolving at a rapid pace, with the introduction of intelligent components communicating with each other and the environment, alongside new standards and requirements within the automotive industry. Increased testing options and flexibility are, therefore, required for those intelligent and interconnected components to test against multiple scenarios. Our customers are also demanding automated test environments that allow the simulation of vehicle communications. In such a high-performance testing approach,
an automation system sits at the heart of the testing set-up, communicating with other components and simulating different test situations to which the test component is exposed. At the same time, a cooling system is required as the system under test will experience significant heating during the simulation. Depending on the operation mode, flexible power supplies can be embedded, including several sources and sinks. This will enable control and measurement data acquisition to be carried out in real-time so that the behaviour of the systems under test can be observed in a live environment with actual data. Due to this increased flexibility in HPT systems, individual test conditions and operation modes can be implemented.
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