MAHLE Aftermarket will use the charging plug in addition to the existing OBD port for battery diagnostics of electric vehicles in the future. To this end, the service and spare parts division of the Stuttgart-based automotive supplier is collaborating with Volytica Diagnostics, a software developer based in Dresden.
It evaluates the measured data in the cloud and provides valuable information about the state of the electric vehicle battery. In this way, projections can be made of, for example, necessary repairs. Since the start of 2022 the new diagnostics solution for passenger cars has been tested in practice together with TÜV NORD Mobilität and a well-known European fleet operator.
It is expected to be available from MAHLE by the end of 2022. In the next phase, both partners want to offer the battery diagnostics for battery electric trucks and buses.
Olaf Henning, member of the MAHLE Management Committee and head of the Aftermarket business unit, said: “In terms of workshop equipment, we have massively accelerated our innovation rate. Now we are making the battery a fully predictable variable and thus creating future security for independent workshops in the mobility transition.”
Claudius Jehle, CEO of Volytica, said: “Inspection agencies, owners, fleet operators, and workshop networks have to date been subjected to a massive lack of transparency when it comes to battery quality and therefore vehicle value. Until now, it has hardly been possible to reliably evaluate battery data and communicate the status quo of their batteries to owners of electric vehicles. This paralyzes the further market ramp-up of e-mobility as well as the decarbonization of the transportation sector. At the same time, such a test must not take long and must be affordable. This is exactly where we come in with our technology.”
A special combination of charger and diagnostic tool is used for diagnostics. In this way, MAHLE can get initial diagnostics on the condition of the vehicle battery via the vehicle’s charging socket within ten minutes.
This measurement is carried out independently of the data provided by the vehicle manufacturer via the OBD diagnostics port and is therefore particularly neutral and independent.
Afterwards, the battery data is comprehensively evaluated and interpreted in the Volytica cloud and the result is provided to the user. With this new development, MAHLE is opening up new, future-proof business areas beyond the combustion engine for independent workshops.