Used Electric Cars: Battery Quick Check as a New Service for the Independent Evaluation of Traction Batteries

TÜV Rheinland announces new subsidiary / Battery analysis from TWAICE for new, manufacturer-independent service for business customers / Certified “State of Health” Report / Market launch Fall 2022 / Information at www.batteryquickcheck.com

International testing service provider TÜV Rheinland has founded a company for the independent evaluation of traction batteries in used electric vehicles. Battery Quick Check GmbH is developing a service of the same name that will enable the reliable evaluation of traction batteries. “There is currently no market-ready service for business customers that enables used traction batteries – the most expensive individual component in an electric vehicle – to be evaluated independently and regardless of manufacturer,” explained Dr. Matthias Schubert, Executive Vice President Mobility, responsible for the global mobility business of TÜV Rheinland. “Over the coming months, we will be working with our technology partner TWAICE to establish the leading company for the independent evaluation of used traction batteries.” Munich-based TWAICE provides special analytics software that optimizes both the development and operation of lithium-ion batteries.

The new Battery Quick Check service will be available from fall 2022 for car dealerships, garage chains, logistics service providers, insurance companies, leasing companies, and company fleet management, for example. Private customers can make use of the service through their car dealership or garage. The service comprises a detailed report on the state of the battery (State of Health, SoH), which is certified by TÜV Rheinland. Battery Quick Check GmbH has its headquarters in Cologne.

“We are convinced that all market participants would benefit from increased transparency throughout the battery service life of electric vehicles. This creates the basis for greater trust,” said Dr. Stephan Rohr, founding partner and Co-CEO of TWAICE. “Over the years, we at TWAICE have built up extensive knowledge and technical expertise to determine the actual state of traction batteries quickly and reliably. Our joint Battery Quick Check service will enable us to finally introduce the transparency that is so desperately needed onto the used electric-vehicle market.” A market survey carried out in September 2020 indicated that more than 90 percent of the users of electric vehicles demand an independent battery evaluation before deciding to buy a used electric vehicle.

For the Battery Quick Check, the experts from TWAICE and TÜV Rheinland use the vehicle’s On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) system with the OBD2 interface. The name “Quick Check” says it all: Qualified garage personnel can read out all the relevant data via the interface in approximately 60 minutes. This is then processed by means of the battery analysis developed by TWAICE. This produces an independent status report on the traction battery that is certified by TÜV Rheinland. What’s important here is that the “State of Health” Report on the battery considers the individual aging of the battery independently of the algorithms provided by the vehicle manufacturer.

The certified Battery Quick Check can be incorporated into the overall evaluation of a used electric vehicle as carried out by experts from TÜV Rheinland within the Car Services & Appraisals business field. “An independent evaluation of the ’State of Health’ of the traction battery is a decisive factor in determining the market price of a used electric vehicle. The Battery Quick Check is therefore a thing of the future,” said Dr. Matthias Schubert.

Battery Quick Check GmbH intends to introduce the new service onto the German market in Fall 2022. The rollout for the remaining European markets is scheduled for 2023. In Germany alone, the partners anticipate that there will already be a demand for around 150,000 evaluations of traction batteries in electric vehicles by 2023.

Further information about the new service from Battery Quick Check GmbH can be found at www.batteryquickcheck.com.