I’m skeptical of battery marketing claims, but this is a test rig, not a press release number. The Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, has built what it calls a globally unique high-speed X-ray system. It looks directly inside an operating cell while it is being abused — something battery developers have mostly had to infer from simulations, destructive teardowns, or indirect measurements.
What the X-ray system actually measures
The setup combines a high-performance X-ray source with a specially developed battery test chamber and sensors for temperature, pressure, voltage, and gas flow. It captures up to 1,000 images per second, which is fast enough to record gas formation, material displacement, and crack propagation in real time. The protective chamber around the cell is designed to shield the X-ray components from the extreme conditions of a lithium-ion thermal runaway.
Dr. Sebastian Schopferer, Head of Battery Safety at Fraunhofer EMI, puts it directly: “Our in-situ method allows us to see what happens inside a cell in fractions of a second—in real time and at the highest resolution. This fundamentally changes how we understand battery design and safety.”
Until now, a cell that went into thermal runaway was often an after-the-fact investigation. You opened it up, looked at the damage, and tried to reconstruct the sequence. With high-speed X-ray, you watch the failure happen. That changes how engineers validate venting, propagation from cell to cell, and crash safety.
Why direct imaging changes battery development
Fraunhofer EMI says it has already characterised material ejection during thermal runaway and propagation behaviour in multi-cell setups for several German car manufacturers, including VW and Audi. The data feeds directly into simulation models and certification work. Instead of relying on assumptions, engineers can compare their models against what the cell actually does under load, overcharge, or mechanical damage.
That matters because battery safety is not a single number. A cell that passes a standard nail penetration test may still behave unpredictably in a multi-cell module or at low state of charge. The X-ray data gives you a direct view of the failure mode, not just a pass/fail result.
PowerCo’s 200 GWh industrial context
PowerCo was founded by the Volkswagen Group in 2022 and is building three cell factories with a combined capacity of up to 200 GWh per year — in Salzgitter, Valencia, and St. Thomas. A quick calculation: 200 GWh divided by an average pack size of 60 kWh gives roughly 3.3 million vehicles per year; use 80 kWh and the figure drops to 2.5 million. That scale makes high-speed validation a practical necessity, not a lab curiosity.
Cell design is also about cost, not just safety. LFP cells are already pushing pack prices down. The Smart #2 we covered uses a 35.7 kWh LFP pack under €25,000. The same engineering logic applies across the range, from compact LFP city cars to 106 kWh luxury sedans like the AMG GT 53 EV. If you want to push energy density, fast charging, or cost per kWh, you need to know exactly what happens inside the cell when things go wrong.
European cell development is also under pressure from China. In July 2026, Chinese BEV sales rose 6% and NEV market share hit a record 65.1%. Tooling like Fraunhofer’s X-ray system is one of the ways European manufacturers try to keep pace on cell safety and development speed, rather than simply buying cells from the cheapest supplier.
What happens next
By 2028, PowerCo will install a corresponding X-ray system at Salzgitter. The institute says the system is scalable for various cell formats and chemistries, which is an important advantage for future battery generations. Initial results from the collaboration are already feeding into the development of series cells at PowerCo.
For EV owners, there is no immediate change to the car in your driveway. This is development infrastructure, not a product update. But if it works, the cells in a future Volkswagen, Audi, or Porsche should be safer, better understood, and more quickly iterated — and that eventually shows up in real-world range, charging, and degradation data.
For current real-world range and cost figures across production EVs, use our Bjørn range calculator or browse the EV catalog.
