Battery Management System and its Applications

3 General Procedure of the BMS Design

3.1 Universal Battery Management System and Customized Battery Management System

It is much better for users to buy a “universal” battery management system like the charger. However, the battery management system is generally more complicated; for example, the characteristics, such as the operating environment and the condition of the battery, should be considered. The universality of the battery management system is mainly discussed in this section.

3.1.1 Ideal Condition

Ideal conditions of a BMS include feasibility in all types of the batteries, rapidly self adapt to replaced batteries and wide applicability on different powertrains, such as hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and energy systems other than vehicles.

However, it is difficult to achieve the ideal condition at present, mainly because of the following causes:

First, the operating characteristics vary with the battery type; for example, there are significant differences in the threshold voltage for battery charging and discharging protection, as well as balancing implementation measures among the lead acid battery, the nickel metal hydride battery, the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, etc.

Second, there is a difference in the same battery type of different manufacturers or the different batches from the same manufacturer, which cause different SoC estimation algorithms and balancing management strategies [1].

Third, the power battery pack may be used for different ...