Software data evaluates EV batteries

Designers are constantly looking to improve the life and range of electric vehicle batteries. One way to see whether these improvements are working, or which batteries are performing the best in EVs, is by using a battery management system.

As one BMS provider, Ion Energy Inc., describes it, the battery management system is the "brain" of the battery pack. Akhil Aryan, CEO of the India-based company, says battery management systems are "the regulator of battery life and performance."

The BMS is a set of electronics inside the battery. This piece of hardware can protect the battery from operating outside safe conditions. It can measure voltage, for instance, and prevent the battery from being overcharged. The BMS can also regulate current.

Automakers can use monitoring software to collect data from the BMS. Analyzing the data gives automakers insights into which lithium ion battery packs or cells are performing better than others and safety information about the condition and performance of the battery under different pressures.

The information gathered from software also gives battery pack manufacturers, fleet managers and other stakeholders a chance to work on extending battery life by identifying deviations from expected performance levels.

Few companies are in the business of making software that analyzes data from battery management systems. Among them are Ion Energy and Berkeley, Calif.-based Voltaiq.

Ion Energy's customers include Tata Motors and aerospace giant Airbus.

In September, Ion Energy launched Edison Analytics, a software platform that ingests and analyzes battery data to identify patterns, predict life degradation, provide prognostic alerts and send over-the-air updates on the battery's performance.

Ion says its software product measures cell voltages, ensuring balanced charge cycles. It also identifies the battery's state of charge and controls crucial safety systems.

Ion Energy's analytics software, which is cloud-based, also allows customers to examine data from batteries that have already been installed in vehicles.

"We believe that the next 10 to 15 years are a huge opportunity in the energy storage and consumption side of things," Aryan said. "As these EVs make it to the roads, the charging infrastructure is skewing consumption patterns, and new consumption patterns are emerging."

Edison Analytics' software platform goes hand in hand with Ion's battery management system, as the products can be used individually or together, depending on the customer's needs.

Ion says a handful of major automakers are testing the platform. The company is already a supplier to battery manufacturers and startup automakers in 12 countries. Aryan said the platform was used in 20,000 vehicles in 2018 and is expected to be in 100,000 vehicles by early 2020.

Voltaiq, founded by Eli Leland and Tal Sholklapper in Brooklyn in 2012, also uses software to collect battery performance data and metadata.

The startup moved to San Francisco and now works with one of the Detroit automakers and one of the world's largest Internet companies.

"Batteries are fundamentally an intensive engineering challenge, and the data already exists," Leland said.

The data Voltaiq software collects is streamed and made available for immediate analysis. Those using the data can select any dataset they want to analyze to identify issues that impact performance, reliability and other factors.

Voltaiq software also automatically generates reports on a scheduled or event-driven basis.

"Spotting issues in batteries much sooner than anyone else can is really one of our core benefits," Sholklapper said. "We always assume that reliability and quality would be the top priority for customers. … The top concern right now by far is time to market.

"The status quo no longer works here," Sholklapper added. "They can't just do this in-house."

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Battery Lifetime Analysis and Simulation Tool, or BLAST, initiative uses a different approach to evaluate the longevity and performance of batteries: simulations.

Engineers working on BLAST have worked with automakers and suppliers to accelerate a battery's age in a lab setting to analyze data on the temperature, charge and discharge rate and other factors that impact its lifetime.

"Everybody wants to reduce the cost of battery-electric vehicles," Kandler Smith, NREL vehicle energy storage engineer, said.

"You need to be able to evaluate the battery degradation at a very fast rate."