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Month: November 2025

How Custom Battery Packs Improve Product Performance

Introduction

In today’s fast‑moving world of portable electronics, industrial systems, medical devices, and IoT equipment, standard off‑the‑shelf batteries often aren’t enough. Performance demands in size, weight, discharge/charge profile, safety, and lifecycle are rising. That’s where custom battery packs come into play. By tailoring every aspect of the power source to the device and application, you unlock higher performance, longer life, and a competitive edge.

At Emerging Power, we specialise in custom‑designed battery packs combining advanced chemistries (like lithium‑ion and Li‑polymer), integrated management systems (BMS), and full regulatory testing to bring your product to market faster and stronger. 

In this article, we’ll explore why custom battery packs improve product performance and how Emerging Power delivers that difference.

Why Standard Battery Packs Fall Short

Off‑the‑shelf batteries are convenient and cost‑effective for many use‑cases, but they come with trade‑offs:

  • Limited flexibility in form factor: standard shapes may force compromise in device design, adding bulk or weight.
  • Sub‑optimal energy or power density for the exact application: you might oversize “just in case”, or undersize and suffer short runtime.
  • Generic safety, thermal, and charge/discharge profiles: high‑performance devices often need more stringent requirements.
  • Longer time to certification or ruggedisation when the pack wasn’t designed specifically for the product environment (e.g., medical, military, outdoor).

3. How Custom Battery Packs Drive Better Performance

Here are the key advantages of a custom battery pack design in improving your product’s performance:

  • Tailored Form‑Factor & Weight – When a battery pack is designed specifically for your product, you can optimise size, shape, weight distribution, and integration. This helps devices become slimmer, lighter, or more ergonomically designed, improving user experience, portability, and aesthetics.
  • Optimised Energy & Power Profile – Custom design allows you to match capacity (how much energy) and power (how fast you can deliver energy) exactly to the application’s load profile. For example, a device with bursts of high power but a light standby load benefits from a pack engineered for high discharge rather than just high capacity.
    Emerging Power emphasises working with “leading name‑brand cell manufacturers … to provide you with the best possible battery pack solution for your most demanding battery requirements.”
  • Integrated Battery Management (BMS) & Safety – A custom pack can include a tailored BMS that monitors voltage, current, temperature, cell balancing, and protects against over‑charge, over‑discharge, short circuit, and thermal runaway. That means better safety, longer cycle life, and fewer failures.
    Emerging Power mentions on its main site: “We offer design support for the total battery pack requiring a BMS, a PCB, Enclosure, Testing, Regulatory Support, Custom Programming” for even military applications.
  • Thermal Management & Environmental Robustness – High performance means higher demands on heat dissipation, durability, extreme temperature resistance, vibration, etc. When a pack is built custom, you can design the enclosure, connectors, cooling, or thermal shielding appropriately, delivering reliable performance even in harsh conditions.
  • Reduced Time to Market & Competitive Advantage Because custom battery packs align to your exact specifications, you avoid the “one size fits all” compromise. That means faster design cycles, fewer iterations, better fit with device architecture, and stronger differentiation in the marketplace.
  • Lifecycle Optimisation & Total Cost‑of‑Ownership – While custom packs may cost more upfront than generic ones, the overall lifetime value is higher: better cycle life, fewer replacements, fewer failures, and less maintenance downtime. For applications like medical devices, industrial sensors, drones, or military gear, that matters.

4. Use Cases: Where Custom Packs Make a Big Difference

Here are some real‑world scenarios where the value of custom battery packs is evident:

  • Medical devices: critical equipment cannot tolerate abrupt power dropouts or pack failures. Custom packs ensure reliability, compliance, and long life.
    For example, see our article on how lithium‑ion battery suppliers support the medical industry: Unlocking the Power: Lithium‑Ion Battery Suppliers and Custom Packs in the Medical Industry
  • Drones / UAVs: light‑weight, high‑power bursts and long flight time demand battery packs optimised for weight, discharge rate, cooling, and form‑factor.
  • IoT & smart sensors: devices often deployed remotely, in harsh environments, with long operating lifetimes and minimal maintenance. Custom packs can match shape, connector, and power profile to deployment.
  • Industrial instrumentation / rugged environments: in mining, oil & gas, outdoor sensor networks — battery packs must survive extreme temperatures, vibration, and deliver predictable performance.
  • Consumer / portable electronics: if your product differentiates by design (slim form, high runtime, fast recharge), then the battery pack becomes a key enabler.

5. Why Choose Emerging Power for Custom Battery Packs

Here’s why you should consider Emerging Power for your next battery‑pack design:

  • Depth of experience: more than 20 years designing and assembling custom battery packs for OEMs across markets, with ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100:2016 certification. 
  • Chemistry flexibility: the ability to work with multiple chemistries (Li‑ion, Li‑polymer, LiFePO₄, NiMH, etc.) and select the ideal one for your product. 
  • High‑quality supply chain: strong relationships with tier‑one cell manufacturers such as Panasonic, Samsung, LG, and Sony. 
  • Full design‑to‑production support: from cell selection, BMS, enclosure design, thermal & mechanical engineering, to regulatory testing and manufacturing. 
  • Market‑specific expertise: whether medical, industrial, military, IoT, or consumer, Emerging Power understands the unique regulatory and performance demands in each.
  • Focus on performance and safety: The company emphasises “Design for Safety – Built with Quality”. 

Best Practices When Specifying a Custom Battery Pack

When you engage with a partner like Emerging Power, consider these best practices to get the most from your custom battery pack:

  1. Start early in the device design process — involve the battery pack engineer while product architecture is still flexible. (Emerging’s site: “the earlier we are brought into the design process, the better.”)
  2. Define your load profile accurately — know your discharge/charge cycles, peak power bursts, standby, ambient conditions, and lifetime expectations.
  3. Choose the right chemistry and cell configuration — balance capacity vs power vs cost vs safety vs temperature.
  4. Specify environmental and mechanical constraints — size, form‑factor, connector type, vibration, shock, thermal cycling.
  5. Establish BMS and safety requirements — cell balancing, thermal cut‑off, over‑charge/over‑discharge protection, redundancy if needed.
  6. Plan for certification and regulatory compliance — medical, military, and consumer all have different rules.
  7. Evaluate lifecycle and serviceability — can the pack be replaced, monitored, serviced?
  8. Communicate with your battery partner — a good partner will guide you on trade‑offs, costs, manufacturability, and sourcing risks.

7. Conclusion

In summary: If you want your product to deliver higher performance, longer runtime, lighter weight, greater reliability, and faster time to market, then a custom battery pack designed specifically for your application is the logical choice. At Emerging Power, we bring the expertise, supply chain, engineering support, and manufacturing capability to make that happen.

By choosing a custom pack built by Emerging Power, you gain more than a battery; you gain a performance enabler. From the smallest sensor to the most demanding medical device, the right power solution makes the difference.

Improve your product performance with a custom battery pack
📞 Call us: (908) 546-5403
 📧 Email: sales@emergingpower.com

Or visit our product pages to learn more:

Safety & Regulatory Requirements for Battery Packs in Medical Devices

Introduction

Battery packs are the lifeblood of many modern medical devices, from portable infusion pumps to wearable monitors to emergency ventilators. But unlike consumer gadgets, battery packs in medical devices must meet far stricter safety, performance, and regulatory requirements. A single failure, such as thermal runaway, overcharge, or short circuit, can compromise patient safety, trigger recalls, or hinder regulatory approval.

This guide outlines the key safety and regulatory requirements for battery packs in medical devices, with a focus on U.S./FDA standards, global standards references, and practical tips for device makers and integrators. Use this as a blueprint to ensure compliance, accelerate approvals, and reduce risks.

 

Why Medical Device Batteries Need Extra Rigor (vs Consumer Batteries)

  • Patient safety is non-negotiable. Battery failure could lead to loss of life support, shocks, overheating, or internal burns.
  • Regulatory scrutiny. Medical devices fall under FDA, ISO, IEC, and industry standards. Battery modules are part of that system.
  • Lifecycle, traceability, and maintenance. Batteries degrade over time; cycles, usage history, and field behavior matter.
  • Interconnectivity and portability. Many medical battery packs charge while in use or power critical systems; these increase risk.

Because of this, battery packs in medical devices must satisfy both electrical/electronic safety and medical device regulatory norms.

 

Key Regulatory & Safety Standards for Medical Device Battery Packs

Below are the foundational standards and regulatory frameworks that should guide your system design and certification process:

1. FDA & U.S. Regulatory Framework

  • General Controls & Quality System Regulation (QSR, 21 CFR 820): Medical device manufacturers must adhere to design controls, risk management, change control, CAPA, and complaint handling. Battery packs are part of the device design.
  • 510(k) Premarket Notification / PMA: If your device is Class II (or higher) and uses a battery pack, your battery subsystem must be documented, tested, and sometimes benchmarked to predicate devices or recognized standards.
  • Consensus Standards Recognition: The FDA recognizes certain standards; for battery safety in medical devices, two key UL standards are now FDA‑recognized consensus standards: UL 2054 (battery pack safety) and UL 1642 (lithium battery cells). Conformance can streamline the review process.
  • Biocompatibility & Material Safety: Even though battery packs aren’t implanted themselves, device packaging and components near patient contact must meet biocompatibility evaluations per ISO 10993.

2. Electrical / Safety / Battery Standards (IEC, UL, UN)

  • IEC 60601 series: The general safety and essential performance standard for medical electrical equipment. A device using battery packs must meet the applicable parts (e.g., leakage current, insulation, protection) under IEC 60601.
  • IEC 62133: A standard for the safety of rechargeable cells and battery packs (especially Li-ion, NiMH) covers overcharge, short circuit, overdischarge, and mechanical abuse.
  • UL 2054 & UL 1642: As above, recognized by the FDA as consensus standards.
  • UN 38.3: For lithium-based batteries, the UN transportation test suite (altitude, vibration, thermal cycling, shock, short circuit, overcharge) is required. Many medical battery packs must pass UN 38.3 to be shipped legally.
  • Stress / Abuse Testing: Medical battery packs often must survive tests beyond nominal conditions — e.g., thermal extremes, shock, vibration, short circuits, charge cycling under load. 

Design & Risk Management Best Practices

Meeting standards is necessary, but good design ensures safety in real-world use. Here are the best practices:

  • Redundancy & fault tolerance: Use redundant cells or circuits so one failure doesn’t endanger the system.
  • Battery Management System (BMS): Incorporate over-voltage, under-voltage, overcurrent, temperature sensors, cell balancing, and fault detection.
  • Encapsulation, isolation, and shielding: Prevent leakage currents, isolate battery from patient‑touching surfaces.
  • Monitoring & telemetry: Log battery health, charge cycles, temperature, and alert if anomalies occur.
  • Field replaceability & traceability: Track battery lots, serial numbers, usage history, replacements.
  • Usability & human factors: Design battery insertion/removal so misuse is minimized (IEC 62366 usability engineering applies).
  • Lifecycle testing: Accelerated aging, deep cycling, calendar aging, and performance over time.
  • Labeling & instructions: Include warnings, safe charge/discharge ranges, removal instructions, and disposal guidance (in line with regulatory requirements).

Challenges & Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

Challenge Risk Mitigation / Tip
Overreliance on battery manufacturer specs Real use conditions (temp, load) differ Conduct your own testing under worst-case loads
Non‑compliance with consensus standards Regulatory delays or rejections Use recognized standards (UL 2054, UL 1642) and document conformity
Battery aging & drift over time Device failure in the field Monitor battery health; design fail-safe discharge cutoffs
Improper charging during device operation Risk during use or charging BMS must manage charging safely; isolate when needed
Interference with medical device electronics Instability, noise, leakage Shielding, proper grounding, EMI/EMC testing
Lack of traceability Hard to manage recalls or servicing Use serial numbers, lot tracking, and usage logs

 

Conclusion 

Ensuring the safety & regulatory compliance for battery packs in medical devices is complex, but it’s non-negotiable. By aligning your design and testing strategy with FDA‑recognized standards (UL 2054, UL 1642), IEC 60601, IEC 62133, and UN 38.3, and embedding robust risk management, traceability, and usability, you dramatically reduce regulatory friction and safety risk.

At EmergingPower, we specialize in delivering medical-grade battery pack solutions that are engineered to meet or exceed regulatory requirements, helping device developers bring safer, compliant products to market faster.

Want help designing a regulatory‑ready battery subsystem, or reviewing your compliance plan? Contact us to discuss your specific project needs.