This new partnership is trying to improve EV battery quality and production time

Two analytics companies are joining forces to try to provide a real-time look into electric vehicle battery behavior and increase production speed.

The partnership announced Thursday is between PDF Solutions and Voltaiq.

PDF Solutions is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and collects data during manufacturing, performs analytics and employs machine learning for semiconductor companies. Voltaiq is a Cupertino, Calif., company that makes software to analyze battery function.

The companies said in a news release that they’re working on an “integrated solution” to examine battery quality earlier in the production process.

“Our partnership with PDF Solutions will help battery manufacturers adopt the agile mindset to better compete in the global transition to battery power,” said Tal Sholklapper, Voltaiq’s founder and CEO.

The companies say the partnership will correlate issues visible through data collection with root causes, giving battery manufacturers the ability to remedy problems earlier.

Organizations including Microsoft, Amazon and Mercedes-Benz use Voltaiq’s battery-analyzing software, and 18 of the top 20 semiconductor companies use PDF Solutions products, according to a joint presentation by the two firms.

Tesla faced production bottlenecks while producing batteries last year, and LG Chem invested more than €1 billion to boost its battery capacity output at a plant in Poland. The price of lithium ion batteries increased in 2022 for the first time on record.

While battery production slowdowns are often related to supply chain issues and materials shortages, PDF Solutions and Voltaiq said in their presentation that “the fundamental challenge with batteries” is that “it takes a long time to tell if they’re good or bad,” so spotting issues using their technology will accelerate production.