Abstract: In some embodiments, battery-cell testing apparatuses that each include at least one cell slot for receiving a corresponding battery cell along an insertion axis in a direction parallel to the width axis of the cell, a positive electrical contact, and a negative electrical contact. The positive and negative electrical contacts may be located and configured so that as the battery cell is inserted into the cell slot, a positive electrical tab of the cell makes physical contact with the positive electrical contact and a negative electrical tab of the cell makes physical contact with the negative electrical contact. In some embodiments, the cell slot further comprises at least one cell receiver that slidingly receives the battery cell and holds the battery cell during testing. In some embodiments, each of the positive and negative electrical contacts comprises a tab receiver.

Abstract: Methods of detecting anomalies in and/or overcharge protection for secondary (rechargeable) electrochemical units, such as secondary cells and multicell secondary batteries. In some embodiments, the methods are based on a health measure referred to as “reverse coulombic efficiency” (RCE), which is based on a principle that the maximum amount of charge added to a secondary electrochemical unit during recharging should equal a net amount of charge discharged from the secondary electrochemical unit since a most recent fully charged state. An RCE-based health measure can be used to predict anomalies in secondary electrochemical units that can lead, for example, to overheating, explosion, and underperformance, among other things. Apparatuses and systems for implementing RCE-based anomaly detection and/or overcharge protection are also disclosed.