Evaluation and Comparative Study of Cell Balancing Methods for Lithium-Ion Batteries Used in Electric Vehicles

Vehicle manufacturers positioned electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) as reliable, safe and environmental friendly alternative to traditional fuel based vehicles. Charging EVs using renewable energy resources reduce greenhouse emissions. The Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries used in EVs are susceptible to failure due to voltage imbalance when connected to form a pack. Hence, it requires a proper balancing system categorised into passive and active systems based on the working principle. It is the prerogative of a battery management system (BMS) designer to choose an appropriate system depending on the application. This study compares and evaluates passive balancing system against widely used inductor based active balancing system in order to select an appropriate balancing scheme addressing battery efficiency and balancing speed for E-vehicle segment (E-bike, E-car and E-truck). The balancing systems are implemented using “top-balancing” algorithm which balance the cells voltages near the end of charge for better accuracy and effective balancing. The most important characteristics of the balancing systems such as degree of imbalance, power loss and temperature variation are determined by their influence on battery performance and cost. To enhance the battery life, Matlab-Simscape simulation-based analysis is performed in order to fine tune the cell balancing system for the optimal usage of the battery pack. For the simulation requirements, the battery model parameters are obtained using least-square fitting algorithm on the data obtained through electro chemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) test. The achieved balancing time of the passive and active cell balancer for fourteen cells were 48 and 20 min for the voltage deviation of 30 mV. Also, the recorded balancing time was 215 and 42 min for the voltage deviation of 200 mV.