We would like to give a quick overview of the main functionalities of Battery Management Systems (BMS).
The BMS is an essential component of any electrified vehicle and is responsible for the safe operation of the battery system. This results in several tasks, from which the most important ones are:
Cell Monitoring:
To keep the battery cells in a save state, parameters like the cell voltages, temperatures, and currents have to be monitored.
Battery Safety and Protection:
No battery cell in the pack may exceed a safety critical limit regarding voltage and temperature.
Estimation of SOC, SOH, and SOF:
SOC, SOH, and SOF are important indicators of battery systems and serve as basis for functionalities like range prediction, balancing, etc.
Ensure the Isolation:
The BMS must guarantee the isolation between the HV and the rest of the vehicle.
Balancing:
To increase the total usable capacity of the battery pack, charge imbalances between serial cells must be compensated.
Charge Control:
The batteries have limitations for the charge current. They have to be considered during the charging process. Advanced charging strategies (e.g., pulse charging) may be applied.
Thermal Management:
For safety reasons, but also to increase the efficiency, the battery must be operated in an optimal temperature range. For this purpose, it can be cooled as well as heated.
Communication with the Car:
The BMS is responsible for sharing important parameters like the SOC of the battery with the other vehicle’s components. Furthermore, power requirements of the drivetrain are received.
Open Main Switch:
In emergency cases or when the vehicle is parked the BMS opens the main switch.
Control RBS switches:
A significant number of switches are controlled to reconfigure the ESUs. Depending on the RBS type and its functionality, the switching operation must be performed with high
synchronicity.
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