Session One, Smart Power Electronics Based Active Battery Energy Management Systems for Electric Transportation

More recently, the trend in the auto industry is to move towards electric modes of transport as well as autonomous e-mobility (self-powered cars and urban mass mobility). Hence, it has become imperative to find a solution, to manage energy production and usage accurately, especially within the context of future electric energy storage systems. Enhancing the life of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery packs has been the topic of much interest in the auto industry. In this framework, the role of on-board cell voltage balancing of Li-ion batteries will be highlighted in this talk. This is a very important topic in the context of battery energy storage cost and life/state-of-charge, SOC/state-of-health, and SOH monitoring. Li-ion batteries provide a reasonable solution for e-transport; however, the main issues include: Cycle life (range anxiety), calendar life, energy density, power density, and safety. These issues can be addressed effectively by using a simple practical approach: a power electronics based dynamic cell voltage equalizer. The design and implementation of a novel, reduced-parts DC/DC converters for battery cell-voltage-equalization will be discussed. The design, implementation, and testing/validation of the active cell-balancing DC/DC converter topology will be presented.