AVL DiTEST Unveils New EV Diagnostic Tools, Eyes Aftermarket Battery Repair Solution

At Automechanika Frankfurt 2026, Austrian testing company AVL DiTEST GmbH showed off new tools for testing and checking the safety of electric vehicles. These ranged from advanced e-motor testing equipment used by car manufacturers to simpler tools built for everyday repair shops. The company also revealed plans to build a dedicated battery repair kit, something it sees as an urgent and growing need in the aftermarket.

Among its OEM-focused offerings was a testing setup for a Gen 5 BMW e-motor, capable of performing isolation voltage withstand tests (also known as high-potential tests) and housing leakage checks. The system includes a rest-bus simulation, allowing it to communicate directly with a vehicle’s battery to close contactors and run full diagnostic sequences, making it suited for end-of-line production and service applications. It is not intended for typical aftermarket use, since it requires deep communication access to the e-motor and battery systems that most service centres, particularly in India, don’t have, Mr. Manuel Vollgruber, Product Line Manager- E-Mobility, AVL DiTEST GmbH, told this publication.

For genuine aftermarket use, AVL DiTEST showcased its newly developed FLEXconnect tool, designed to help technicians repair or rebalance electric vehicle battery modules. When a battery module develops an imbalance between cells, or needs replacement entirely, a new module must be charged to match the voltage of the others in the pack, something normally impossible without direct communication with the battery management system. FLEXconnect works around this by reading individual cell voltages directly, covering up to 10 cells at a time, and can charge at up to 2kW while discharging at 600W, with cell balancing capability up to 600 milliamps. Still a late-stage prototype, the tool is designed to let service centres assess and repair battery packs even without full communication access to the vehicle’s systems, he said.

Another new product – practiCABLE, aimed specifically at the German market, addresses a lesser-known regulation requiring annual safety testing of EV charging cables used with business vehicles. Since individual cables can vary significantly, sometimes containing manufacturer-specific electronics that alter expected isolation values, AVL DiTEST built a fully automated testing device pre-loaded with reference values for around 150 cables sourced directly from OEMs including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Ford.

Technicians simply select the correct cable from a database, conduct a visual inspection, run the automated test, and receive a detailed report, complete with technician details, serial numbers, and pass/fail values, offering workshops both a safety-compliance tool and a potential new revenue stream, he explained.

For battery electric vehicle workshops more broadly, AVL DiTEST also showcased its WorkSafe HV safety tester, already used in large volumes by the Volkswagen Group, which allows technicians to confirm a vehicle is voltage-free before beginning repairs. The tool supports both AC and DC measurements up to 1,500V DC and 1,000V AC, covering isolation, potential, and capacity measurements, functioning much like an advanced multi-meter, but with the added benefit of generating a formal test protocol for record-keeping.

Rounding out the lineup was the AVL DiTEST EValuate, originally developed for periodic technical inspections, which combines three safety checks: verifying a vehicle’s immobiliser engages correctly when plugged in, testing AC-side insulation resistance at the charging port, and performing equipotential bonding measurements across high-voltage components to catch issues like corrosion that a vehicle’s internal isolation monitoring system might miss. While no formal regulation currently mandates this specific test, the company expects one to emerge within the next two to three years, he said.

Finally, AVL DiTEST presented its Leak S2 device, capable of high-precision pressure leak detection, alongside its earlier S1 version, which adds smoke and tracer gas testing (using forming gas or helium) to help pinpoint leaks in systems like turbo induction setups.

Looking ahead, the company plans to develop a dedicated aftermarket battery repair solution, acknowledging the challenge of covering the vast number of connector types across different vehicle models. The initial plan is to launch a starter kit covering roughly 40-60% of use cases, with broader coverage to follow over time.