SimpliPhi Power Lives Up To Claims In Marine Corps Testing

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SimpliPhi Power has been alloverCleanTechnica in the last few months, and just continues to share more and more supporting detail for its battery products. When I was up at its headquarters a few weeks back, company reps shared that they had just completed some intense battery stress testing with the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune Military Base and were just waiting for the results to be cleared for public consumption before they could share. We were just cleared to go live, so without further ado, let’s jump in.

The Marine Corps team tested 31 different military-grade energy storage devices over 3 days in 4 different situations to vet them for military use and determine which units were best suited for the rigors of combat. They started with some easier tests, then really put the pressure on the units:

“Testing began with a gentle, long duration test, discharging 1/16 of the load per hour. Then the Marine Corp tested the batteries at a discharge rate of 1/6 the load, 1/2 the load, 2.5 times the load and 1.25 the load, the latter two discharge rates representing extreme ‘stress test’ scenarios.”

In our previous article, we shared that SimpliPhi Power’s Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) technology combined with its proprietary architecture keeps the batteries cool (nominal heat generation with no heat signature) and allows them to be kept in completely sealed containers in hot environments while maintaining high performance. These tests really put SimpliPhi’s units to the test and in parallel to the competition. Is it getting warm in here or is it just me?

Enough suspense, how did they perform? Did they live up to their claims?

“Marine Corp testers found the SimpliPhi OES batteries performed above and beyond expectations in providing both mission critical peak-load power, as well as long duration storage power, in a form factor that is lighter and smaller compared to standard battery formats, without a heat signature or the need for ventilation or cooling.”

Specifically, “SimpliPhi OES1.3 kWh high-output battery produced 5.2kW in a sustained 10-minute peak output in the same small 1.3kWh form factor without melting, shutting down or catching fire, as some other batteries subjected to the same field discharge tests did,” said Jaron Rothkop, president of Zerobase Energy, who was present for the tests. “In addition, other feedback included statements such as ‘lighter, charges faster, more efficient, 4X more power and easy to swap out with lead acid.”

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These results are encouraging for SimpliPhi and really seem to validate the company’s extreme claims. I’m particularly encouraged by the safety implications of these results, as conventional lithium-ion batteries are prone to thermal runaway as we see in phones, laptops, and in a few battery-compromising EV crashes over the last few years. Given the challenges with lithium-ion units, I wasn’t excited about putting those very same batteries in a container on my wall and wiring them into my house… downstairs… at the exits, and just hoping they didn’t experience thermal runaway and catch my house on fire. LFP seems to have turned the corner and the specific architecture SimpliPhi Power is using is top dog… for now.

Such an exciting time in the industry and exiting to see things that couldn’t previously be done happening right before our eyes!