The electrically-driven vehicles, ranging from limited (mild) hybrid to plug-in hybrid to fully-battery powered, will rely on a new class of advanced storage batteries, such as those based on lithium, to meet different technical and economical targets. The performance and life determination in the various applications of these batteries is a time-consuming and costly testing activity. These costs and efforts, actually carried out in different countries, may be better leveraged through international collaboration, such as that under preparation in the framework of the International Energy Agency. Here, a new effort is under development that will establish standardized, accelerated testing procedures and will allow battery testing organizations to cooperate in the analysis of the resulting data. This paper reviews the present state-of-the-art in accelerated life testing procedures in Europe, Japan and the US. The existing test procedures will be collected, compared and analyzed with the goal of an international collaboration.
