UK engineering firm Ricardo has developed a new Battery Management System (BMS) that uses model-based control methods to optimize the performance of both existing and next-generation cell chemistries.

According to Ricardo, the more affordable and lighter-weight cell chemistries of the future are likely to require a more intensive level of model-based management and control than today’s technology, delivered through a much more sophisticated BMS.

Ricardo’s new BMS provides a scalable increase in processing power from approximately 90 to 800 million instructions per second, compared to its predecessor. This increase in capacity enables the adoption of model-based battery management and control, enabling (for example) the BMS to estimate the state of the cells based on parameters that might be impractical or impossible to measure, such as instantaneous internal cell temperature.

“The new Ricardo BMS demonstrates our commitment to taking on some of the toughest challenges in electric vehicle development,” said Martin Tolliday, Ricardo’s Managing Director of Hybrid and Electric Systems. “This new high-performance Ricardo BMS will enable us to help bring forward the deployment of next-generation battery cell chemistries.”

Source: Ricardo via Green Car Congress