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29.220.30 Alkaline secondary cells and batteries
New standards
IEC 62133-1:2026 CMV
Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes - Safety requirements for portable sealed secondary cells, and for batteries made from them, for use in portable applications - Part 1: Nickel systems
Scope: IEC 62133-1:2026 CMV contains both the official standard and its commented version. The commented version provides you with a quick and easy way to compare all the changes between IEC 62133-1:2026 edition 2.0 and the previous IEC 62133-1:2017 edition 1.0. Furthermore, comments from IEC SC 21A experts are provided to explain the reasons of the most relevant changes, or to clarify any part of the content.

IEC 62133-1:2026 specifies requirements and tests for the safe operation of portable sealed secondary nickel cells and batteries containing alkaline electrolyte, under intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuse. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition of IEC 62133-1 published in 2017. It constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to IEC 62133 1:2017:
a) removal of the definition "secondary battery";
b) removal of the definition "portable battery";
c) "removal of the definition "portable cell";
d) replacement of the single term "room temperature" with 20 °C ± 5 °C in 7.2.3;
e) modification of Figure 1.
Base documents:
IEC 62133-1:2026
Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes - Safety requirements for portable sealed secondary cells, and for batteries made from them, for use in portable applications - Part 1: Nickel systems
Scope: IEC 62133-1:2026 specifies requirements and tests for the safe operation of portable sealed secondary nickel cells and batteries containing alkaline electrolyte, under intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuse. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition of IEC 62133-1 published in 2017. It constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to IEC 62133 1:2017:
a) removal of the definition "secondary battery";
b) removal of the definition "portable battery";
c) "removal of the definition "portable cell";
d) replacement of the single term "room temperature" with 20 °C ± 5 °C in 7.2.3;
e) modification of Figure 1.
Base documents:
Replaces: IEC 62133-1:2017
Replaced standards
IEC 62133-1:2017
Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes - Safety requirements for portable sealed secondary cells, and for batteries made from them, for use in portable applications - Part 1: Nickel systems
Scope: IEC 62133-1:2017 specifies requirements and tests for the safe operation of portable sealed secondary nickel cells and batteries containing alkaline electrolyte, under intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuse.
This first edition cancels and replaces the second edition of IEC 62133 published in 2012. It constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to IEC 62133:2012:
- separation of lithium systems into a separate Part 2;
- inclusion of button cell requirements.
Base documents:
Replaced: IEC 62133-1:2026
Drafts
prEN IEC 62133-2:2026
Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes - Safety requirements for portable sealed secondary lithium cells, and for batteries made from them, for use in portable applications - Part 2: Lithium systems
Scope: This part of IEC 62133 specifies requirements and tests for the safe operation of portable sealed secondary lithium cells and batteries containing non-acid electrolyte, under intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuse.
This standard establishes minimum requirements for susceptibility of cells, and batteries to the abuse and environmental effects that these cells and batteries may encounter in handling, transport and storage, but does not presume to account for these effects in specific applications, which are left to the requirements of the combination of the battery and end-use equipment in the end-use equipment standards.
Coin cells with an internal resistance greater than 3 Ω measured in accordance with IEC 61960-4:2024, 6.6, and batteries made from them are out of the scope of this document. The instructions for preventing accidental ingestion of those coin cells and batteries are specified in IEC 60086-4:2025, 7.2.
This standard does not address functional safety of the electronic and programmable electronic battery controls.
This standard addresses first life cells and batteries. In the case of reused, repurposed or second life secondary lithium cells and batteries, additional requirements and tests should be considered.
In addition to the requirements explicitly outlined in this standard including markings and instructions, it is essential to consider other potential safety risks that cannot be fully addressed. These include, but are not limited to, hazardous voltage exposure, flammability risks for non-metallic materials, and other application-specific safety concerns.
Compliance to this standard alone cannot be sufficient for safe integration of a cell or battery in the end-use equipment if only the cells or batteries comply with this standard with no additional evaluation.
NOTE 1 Annex C of this standard provides guidance for further considerations when battery specific criteria are not covered in the end-use equipment standard.
Portable applications comprise hand-held equipment, transportable equipment and movable equipment.
Examples of the main uses are shown below:
a) hand-held equipment: smartphone, tablet PCs, audio/video players, and similar equipment;
b) transportable equipment: notebook computers, CD players, and similar equipment;
c) movable equipment
1) 18 kg or less in mass and not fixed in place, or
2) provided with wheels, castors, or other means to facilitate movement by an ordinary person as required to perform its intended use,
3) power tools, power assisted cycles, business-use video cameras, and similar equipment.
NOTE 2 EESS (Electrical Energy Storage Systems) and UPS, which use batteries over 500 Wh of electric energy are excluded.
NOTE 3 Self-propelled vehicles are excluded.
Base documents: prEN IEC 62133-2:2026; 21A/970/CDV