Future of Battery Management System in Electric Vehicles in India
Uniform charging of all the batteries or same discharging, is what is expected from an ideal battery management system.v
Why Battery Management System is the Future?
The 5th largest car market in the world is none other than India. And in coming years it will become 3rd largest with more than 40cr people in need with mobility solution by the end of this decade. But we are already facing pollution problem due to the increased vehicles and carbon emitted from them. Whereas the cost of crude oil is increasing day by day which raises a need of some alternative solution. In the recent times, the only alternative to these traditional vehicles are electric vehicles, to which even government is pushing. As referred to the target, by 2030 the Electric Vehicle penetration must be raised by 40% in buses, 70% in commercial vehicles, 30% in private cars, and 80% in 2-3 wheelers. To accomplish this target, the GST on EV is reduced by 12% to 5% and subsidiaries are provided to the manufactures. Electric Vehicles are the clear future of transportation not only in India but across the world. The most important factor in switching from a petrol or diesel engine to an electric vehicle is the battery management system (BMS). The battery management system plans and manages the entire battery set and ensures the safety of the battery system. Provides up-to-date information on the working characteristics of batteries such as type, temperature, capacity, charge status, power consumption and charge cycle.
How Battery Management System function?
The management system controls power and voltage, manages heat, ensures electrical safety, detects faults in advance, optimizes power efficiency, balances the charging of all units, and controls noise. The most important of all these functions is the management of power safety and capacity building. Safety falls into two parts: electrical protection and thermal protection, which can be combined into functional safety. Consumers expect that the life of the battery must be extended with safety and also with stable efficiency.
Uniform charging of all the batteries or same discharging, is what is expected from an ideal battery management system. Battery management systems available in the market are currently dependent on the manufacturers, with a difference in the efficiency. Considering the complexity of the system and its variety of functions, there is a need for standardization of the system, urgently needed. The government and the industrial establishments need to work together. Lithium ion batteries are currently the most widely used, as lithium ions are more efficient at recharging than any other. Lithium is a very light metal and has a high electrochemical potential, so it has a maximum energy density per unit of volume and per unit of weight.
Challenges with the system
The current challenges are to increase the safety of the battery, reduce the cost, find new metals for the battery, increase the capacity and reduce the charging time. The vehicles caught fire due to non-compliance with the standard procedure given to the battery. But if similar incidents occur with vehicles parked in the parking lot of a residential building, the consequences can be dire. Therefore, the customer should follow all the instructions, do not keep the vehicle in the sun, charge the battery as per the given standard, keep the vehicle in continuous use and do not exceed any limit of use. But the rate of such fires is negligible, so there is no reason to worry. Since success from failure is the key to engineering, it is certain that an effective power management system will soon be in use.
Solutions Ahead
The market of Battery Management System (BMS) is forecasted to expand as there is a hike in demand for electric vehicles. In future the electric vehicle batteries will be made less complicated and easy to charge as well as easy to use. The BMS is improving slowly and steadily which will save energy and accelerate the performance. There is a need for government support in adopting electric vehicles. The union government, in the 2022 budget, announced that they will bring a battery swapping policy with interoperability standards so as to boost the adoption of electric vehicles.
