Unico, a provider of EV test solutions, has launched its new Unico Quantum Drive Platform. The company says the Unico Quantum Drive platform is designed to help companies develop and validate batteries for electric vehicles and reduce installation costs and ongoing operating expenses. Unico’s new Quantum Drive Platform is expected to offer a cost-effective, energy-efficient and flexible solution for companies developing and validating batteries for EVs, the company says.

“Developing and testing batteries for electric vehicles requires the validation of cells, modules, and packs across a wide operating range,” said Don Wright, VP of engineering at Unico. “This testing requires multiple high-power feeds and significant floorspace which leads to high installation and operational costs. The new Quantum Drive Platform from Unico aims to address these challenges by allowing companies to recirculate the energy from different pieces of test equipment which will offer a tremendous cost and floor space savings for our customers.”

The company says that the Unico Quantum Drive Platform, manufactured in Wisconsin, allows multiple pack, module, and cell test channels to be utilized in a single system for “back-to-back” battery testing. The discharge energy from one channel can be used as the charge energy for another and can also be equipped with a second-life battery energy storage system to “save energy for later.” This combination with proper sequencing can reduce the need for substantial utility connections and enables almost net-zero battery test applications, the company says.

Unico says this new platform “sets a new industry standard” for multi-channel, high-power AC and DC applications in a single system, offering significant footprint reduction and multipurpose capability. The high-performance channels also provide galvanic isolation between all test channels without the need for any low-frequency transformers inside or outside of the drive system. Pilot programs of the Unico Quantum Drive Platform will begin this summer. Deliveries to customers will begin in Q3 2023.