164 Chapter 13 The NAATBatt organization was originally formed as a U.S. based trade group but today the membership has grown and now includes member organizations from countries including Canada, China, and Europe. The organization works to make connections between companies within the battery industry to help speed the introduction of energy storage systems into all types of products. More recently the organization has also begun to include other types of electrochemical storage technologies such as ultra-capacitors and super capacitors.
Portable Rechargeable Battery Association Formed in 1991, the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association (PRBA) was founded by five of the major rechargeable battery manufacturers of that period including Energizer, Panasonic, SAFT America, SANYO Energy Corporation, and Varta Batteries. The PRBA was established as a nonprofit trade association to meet the growing need for industry-wide battery recycling programs. The PRBA also acts as the voice of the rechargeable power industry, representing its members on legislative, regulatory, and standards issues at the U.S. state, federal and international level (Portable Rechargeable Battery Association, 2014).
To date the PRBA has focused mainly on smaller battery powered applications and not on the larger automotive, industrial, or grid/ stationary applications. Light Electric Vehicle Association The Light Electric Vehicle Association (LEVA) is an international trade association for LEVs. LEVA defines a light electric vehicle as an electric bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, three wheel vehicle, or light four wheel vehicle. The LEVA group is based in the U.S. but has membership in both Europe and Asia.
With the very large usage of electric bicycles in Asia and Europe, this group is focused on supporting and growing this market by creating a group of retailers, dealers, distributors, manufacturers, and suppliers promoting the development, sale, and use of LEVs worldwide. US National Labs There are also several major U.S. national laboratories that have significant focus on battery research and testing, including Sandia National Lab (SNL), Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL), the National Renewable Energy Center (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) all are major partners in the testing of advanced batteries.
The National Labs do not do certification, but rather conduct various testing, competitive assessments and evaluations and research partnering with industry, academia, and other government organizations.