Ashwoods Energy Battery Management
Ashwoods Energy Lithium Battery Cell Management
Ashwoods Battery Management Module
Nemo EV engineered by Ashwoods
Ashwoods Energy Battery Management System
A leading supplier of Battery Management Systems and Battery Pack integration for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
Supports multiple cell chemistries including Lithium Iron Phosphate Energy and Power, Nickel Cobalt Aluminium and Nickel Manganese Cobalt.
Battery Management Systems
Battery Modules
Bespoke Battery Pack Development
Ashwoods Energy will be at:
BMS
Battery Management is the single biggest challenge facing the Electric Vehicle (EV) and Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) market as it affects all aspects of vehicle performance. One of the greatest challenges that Ashwoods Automotive faced during the development of the Hybrid Drive technology was the lack of effective battery management. There are no Battery Management Systems (BMS’s) available on the market that can effectively manage Lithium batteries on a demanding hybrid drive cycle.
- HEV Charge events are short time, high power relative to the battery capacity (>5C) whereas EV charging is long time and low power (1C Max Typical C/5).
- EV charge cycles typically terminate when the battery is at 100% State of Charge (SOC) which means the BMS is working at highest voltage. In HEV applications, the balance occurs within the system working range typically <80% SOC
- EV’s can tolerate much higher quiescent drain from the battery pack due to regular charging and the size of the battery pack >10kWh. For HEV battery packs ~1kWh quiescent drain needs to be significantly lower to avoid excessively short storage time.
The Technical Challenge
Most BMS’s are designed for applications which provide a relatively long calibration phase for the battery at the end of the charge cycle during which the balancing can occur (EV charge 6 to 8 hours).
In a micro cycling hybrid application the balance during charge opportunities are significantly shorter (a few minutes maximum). The battery pack capacity used in HEV’s is smaller than EV’s and operates at higher Charge and Discharge rates relative to the capacity for shorter durations; therefore keeping the energy state between cells well balanced is critical for HEV operation.
An out of balance battery severely degrades HEV performance as it reduces the already minimal usable capacity of the battery thereby restricting the energy throughput of the hybrid system.
Ashwoods Energy Battery Management SystemsRead more 
The lack of suitable BMS available on the market resulted in Ashwoods Automotive being forced to develop its own BMS as an integrated aspect of its award winning Hybrid Drive application.
The results have been impressive: 150 Ashwoods Hybrid vehicles with proprietary BMS have covered over 500,000 miles presently. Data received from these vehicles has been crucial for the further development of the Ashwoods BMS. No other BMS supplier has access to this level of detailed real world data
The Technical Solution
Ashwoods Energy BMS is designed for short time constant balancing in a micro cycle environment which requires high power balancing. This is ideally suited to enhance regenerative braking energy recovery in EV’s.
The BMS contains an intelligent balancing algorithm which manages available energy based on Battery State of health and likely future balancing/ charging events. This allows the vehicle to utilise the maximum energy available from the battery for a given drive cycle whilst maintaining pack balance within the range of optimal functionality.
Rapid communication between BMS modules within the pack ensures that all modules are working in harmony to achieve best possible balance state throughout short balance events.
The Ashwoods Energy BMS is powered from Vehicle 12V bus rather than battery pack to avoid storage discharge issues. All communications with the BMS are isolated and common to Vehicle GND to ensure a safe installation.
The BMS is able to balance battery packs during charge by energy dissipation from fullest cells and during discharge by energy supply to weakest cells within the pack.
Key points Summary:
- High power balancing for short balance events.
- Rapid communication for whole pack awareness balancing.
- No quiescent discharge.
- Able to balance during charge and discharge.
- BMS can also provide trickle charge in storage to ensure battery readiness.
BMS Exploitation
Ashwoods Energy is already working with some of the largest Lithium battery manufacturers who are all seeking more effective BMS solutions.
The BMS has already proven itself to be are superior to all others tested in real world applications.
Furthermore, Ashwoods is working with a number of HEV and EV suppliers who are experiencing problems with their current battery pack solution and are seeking alternatives.
As such, Ashwoods Energy will be supplying its technologies in two forms to a range of industry partners:
- BMS for licensing to OEM Lithium battery manufacturers.
- Complete battery solutions for end users and their EV/HEV applications. (by integrating the BMS with cells supplied but a range of battery manufacturers to produce a bespoke Ashwoods Energy battery solution)
Ashwoods Energy’s products are designed specifically to achieve mass market acceptance for the products from a price and performance perspective.
BMS Unique Selling Points
- Lower cost and higher performance compared to market alternatives
- Increased battery cycle life
- Improved range, performance and reliability of all EV, HEV and PHEVs
- Significantly shorter calibration phase during charging which leads to lower power consumption and co2 emissions
- Suitable for all required applications –EV, HEV, PHEV, standby power and buffering
- Generic management system which is easily adapted to other battery chemistries
- No Self discharge during storage
- Unique mechanical integration strategy, which reduces cost and increases system reliability.
| More info on battery management systems? |
| Call us on 01392 340415 |
| Email info@ashwoods.org |