A guide to safely transporting Lithium-ion batteries

As well as new changes coming into force from 1^st April in relation to the State of Charge (SoC) of batteries transported by plane, the guide also highlights IEC standards, UN testing regulations and special provisions required before batteries can be shipped by plane.

The rise in demand for smaller, more portable devices that require a lot of battery power has resulted in more compact and energy-dense batteries. Customers in industries including medical, healthcare, security, defence and instrumentation are increasingly using feature-laden devices with power hungry features including colour touchscreens, GPS antennas and WiFi radios, more powerful processors and onboard storage.

"It can be a challenge to navigate the maze of regulations," explained Neil Oliver, Technical Marketing Manager, Accutronics. "For example, batteries in medical applications must meet the requirements of IEC safety testing in addition to the mandatory transportation testing. With the high volume of batteries now being shipped by plane globally, it is important that businesses offering batteries for transport are aware of their responsibilities.

"We've released this one-page guide to give OEMs a starting point on the journey to safely transporting lithium-ion batteries by plane. If OEMs still need a helping hand, Accutronics has transport-qualified experts who can help and our customisable range of modular and credit-card batteries and charger solutions are available to suit transportation requirements."