My tool for joining tabs of pouch cells

[John in CR]

After trying a few things to join tabs of pouch cells (hole punching, crimping, aluminum solder) for which I didn't like the results for various reasons, I came up with this tool to safely drill holes. On cells I'm joining, I fold the tabs over on each other at least once and clamp together with this and drill the holes. For high current connections and for terminal end I'll fold a piece of copper or aluminum sheet over the tabs first for good electrical contact on the outside of the tabs (not the faces touching each other). After drilling I install very short 5mm bolts to finish the connection.

I also use this tool for turning the copper alloy tabs of Chevy Volt modules into "bolt to" battery terminals when I use only a portion of a module to make a pack.