INFICON has introduced technology that will allow automakers and battery suppliers to reliably check critically important EV battery cells for dangerous leaks. Billions of lithium-ion battery cells are produced annually and more than five percent are estimated to have small undetected leaks that could affect battery life or cause vehicle fires. The company's breakthrough technology can accurately test all types of lithium-ion battery cells for the first time – the single most important leak-detection development in the past decade, according to Dr. Daniel Wetzig, INFICON's research and development director. The company's new leak-detection systems recently were shown for the first time in North America at The Battery Show in Novi, Michigan. Developed at the company's research facilities in Cologne, Germany, company's new quality-control systems incorporate industry-first mass-spectrometer technology that can detect dangerous leaks 1,000 times smaller than other test methods and paves the way for the industry's first quality standards for EV battery cells. ELT3000 systems are user friendly and provide precise leak measurements that follow international metrology standards such as those established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the German Institute of Calibration (DKD – Deutscher Kalibrierdienst).