The project aims to develop a 260-400 V Battery Management System (BMS) to operate large Li-ion nano-batteries in cars weighing up to six tons. Subsequently, the BMS will be tested in 10 prototype Volvos with in-wheels engines capable of travelling a distance of 220-250 km on an eight-minute charge.
Project description
The purpose for this project is to develop, test / demonstrate and prepare for mass production a scalable BMS (Battery Management System) with a voltage between 260 and 400 Volts. The BMS will be able to manage large Li-Ion nano-batteries for automotive purposes - such as cars (up to 2000 kg) and trucks up to 6000 kg. The BMS is developed for automotive use which will include for instance management of regenerative breaking for charging of the batteries and CAN-bus communication with the other electronic equipment in the car and the internal communication in the BMS. After development of the BMS prototypes they will be installed in 10 prototypes of EV Volvo with in-wheel motors from PML FLightLink UK. The goal is to develop a EV which can drive 220-250 km/charge and can be fully charged witin 8 minutes
Results
The purpose of the project is to develop and prepare for mass production a scalable 260-400V Battery Management System( BMS) for controlling large Li-ion nano-batteries used in transportation vehicles - including passanger vehicles (up to 2 tonnes) and smaller trucks (up to 6 tonnes). This purpose has been fulfilled, as a scalable system has been developed in the project, consisting of two main components. The local monitoring unit is able to monitor 3-8 battery cells for voltages and temperature, and to balance the cells to achieve a uniform voltage level. The central control unit is capable of collecting data from and managing up to 32 local monitoring units, which means that the complete battery pack can contain between 3 and 256 battery cells connected in series. The central control unit also manages charger and load, and it has several input and output options. It supports both analogue and digital signals as well as communication via CAN-BUS protocol, the automotive standard. The complete system was run into production in the last part of the project and external certification tests where performed. In 2010 the product won the Frost & Sullivan Automotive Product Innovation Award. The originally planned pilot projects with foreign clients were not conducted, but the system has been implemented successfully in a number of pilot projects with clients in both the automotive and other sectors instead. The system was launched to the market for the first time on the electric vehicle show EVS24 in Stavanger in May 2009. The project was finally concluded in September 2009 with a 4 month delay due to high demand from potential customers during the project, who wanted to test the system in pilot projects. These customer projects were given priority, as they were perceived as an opportunity to obtain valuable experiences with the developed system and implement improvements before the final version was put into production, which then happened with a delay compared to the original project plan. The project budget was exceeded marginally with 3%
