Swiss instrument supplier Inficon has been detecting air leaks for years — on air conditioners, refrigeration, airbags and transmission housings — to look for manufacturing flaws and toxic chemicals. Now the auto industry is asking the company to find leaks in a booming new segment: electric vehicle batteries.
And it’s not about air getting out. It’s about the possibility of water getting in.
Rainwater splashing into a battery enclosure from the road surface or lake water seeping in while the owner of an electric SUV launches a fishing boat can potentially ruin a big battery.
The question facing automakers and battery suppliers all over the world now is how to make sure something the size of a mattress hasn’t ended up with a tiny leak in its seal during mass production.
Inficon’s solution is to apply a technology it’s been using for years on other products to batteries coming down the assembly line. It pumps helium into the battery packs, and then robotic sensors move in like airport drug-sniffing dogs to detect any sign of the gas escaping.
