Lithium Battery Testing Study

Transport Canada’s TDG Directorate implements a lithium Battery safety assessment study of Canadian lithium Battery manufacturers, importers and distributers. This assessment examines packaging, labelling and verifies compliance to the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria Subsection 38.3 (UN 38.3). In this project, Transport Canada is looking to understand the risks posed by power tool Replacement Batteries during shipping by air, as they are common Replacement Batteries by volume.

The objective of this project is to:

1. Order several common Replacement Batteries for power tools that are shipped rapidly via the express air mode. 
2. Receive and document the arrival of lithium-ion Batteries according to the checklist in Section 3, looking for compliance with TDG regulations.
3. Perform testing to UN 38.3 (UN Manual of Tests and Criteria) for several common Replacement Batteries for power tools that are shipped rapidly. 

In this study, The Contractor shall purchase two (2) Sets of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Batteries and eight to twelve (8-12) Sets of Replacement Batteries shipped rapidly from marketplaces such as Aliexpress, Amazon and eBay. A Set is defined as twenty-five (25) individual identical Battery units, where each one (1) Battery is inserted directly into the power tool Battery housing in order to function. Upon receipt, the packages will be checked for compliance with Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR). The Contractor will measure the State of Charge (SOC) of the Batteries to ensure compliance with IATA Packaging Instruction 965 (SOC<30%). The Contractor will request the UN 38.3 test summary report from the seller, which are required to be provided when shipping lithium-ion Batteries.

Once the package has been checked for compliance with TDGR, UN 38.3 testing will be performed by The Contractor to check that the test report from the supplier (if supplied) is accurate and true. Select Batteries which fail will be sent for further analysis at the National Research Council Canada (NRC) in Ottawa, ON, Canada or Vancouver, BC, Canada.