XXLCT for Multiscale Battery Testing: From Modules to Complete Electric Vehicles

The increasing prevalence of battery systems in automotive engineering, along with ever-shortening development cycles, demands advanced and efficient inspection methods to ensure performance, safety, and longevity. This paper presents the capabilities of the XXL computed tomography (CT) technology tailored for large-scale battery analysis. While state-of-the-art microfocus CT systems offer excellent performance for cell-level inspections, their limitations become apparent when addressing larger and more complex battery cell assemblies. We therefore explore use cases beyond the scope of conventional CT, including large battery modules, complete packs with multiple modules, cell-to-chassis architectures, and even fully assembled electric vehicles. In these scenarios, the XXL-CT—with its high penetration power enabled by a 9 MeV linear accelerator (linac) X-ray source—supports geometric evaluation of batteries and their surroundings, as well as changes induced by lifecycle and abuse testing or crash events, all without disassembly. Finally, we provide an outlook on the next evolutionary step in XXL-CT: a giant gantry-based CT system and its potential to increase the application range and throughput even further. This larger system will begin operation in Fürth, Germany, at the end of 2026.