After an accident, the exterior of a battery may appear intact while some cells inside may have moved or deformed. In Germany, the **Fraunhofer Institute** is developing a system that can X-ray an entire battery without needing to take it apart. This automated system is designed to help decide whether a battery should be repaired, recycled, or used in a second application. The system resembles a giant scanner for batteries, allowing electric vehicles to be X-rayed to check if their batteries have been damaged. The concept is not entirely new at **Fraunhofer**—a device called AIR was introduced in 2024. The new development comes from the software, which can automatically analyze the images obtained from the X-ray scans. The operation is similar to a washing tunnel: an X-ray source is placed above the vehicle, and a detector on the ground captures images after the beam passes through the car and its battery. The battery pack can also be checked separately. Software developed by **Fraunhofer IIS** and the **University of Applied Sciences in Munich** can identify three main types of battery cells: cylindrical, prismatic, and pouch. It can also detect geometric issues such as displacement, deformation, or swelling. In testing, the automated analysis of a battery pack took about five minutes. However, the total inspection time may vary depending on the size of the pack and the number of images needed. To test the system, researchers examined a **Volkswagen ID.3** after a front collision. The car had hit the rear of a **Volkswagen Tiguan** at 79 km/h. Although the front of the **Volkswagen ID.3** was significantly damaged, the X-ray images did not show any critical structural issues with the battery. However, this diagnosis alone was not enough to approve the battery’s reuse. Additional data from the battery management system (BMS), event recorder, electrical checks, and a safety assessment were also reviewed. At the end of this process, the battery was classified at the EUCAR 0 danger level, the lowest possible. In contrast, when the system was used on another damaged battery with cylindrical cells, it detected a strongly deformed area and several displaced cells. In this case, **Fraunhofer** advised against reusing the battery. This kind of inspection could complement the State of Health (SOH), which mainly provides information about the electrical and electrochemical condition of the battery, by adding details about its mechanical integrity. The **Fraunhofer Institute** believes this technology could be used in future periodic inspections for electric vehicles, though no specific deployment plans have been announced at this time.