Hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles are on track of becoming the future of the automotive industry. Due to various substantial issues caused by the native Internal Combustion engines on the environment, many Original Equipment Manufacturer’s(OEM) have already chosen their path into electrification. The environmental effects of burning fuel leading to toxic pollutants, depletion of fossil fuels, and increased cost have led engineers to look for sustainable alternatives. The current innovations are in the development of battery safety and Battery Management Systems (BMS), hydrogen fuel cell-based vehicles etc.
The Shift Towards Electrification
The technology that is keeping awake the Research & Development centers of different OEM’s, suppliers at all the levels is the technology of Electrification of the automotive sector. The leading OEM’s have already taken the new path, but this path is neither short nor narrow. Different OEM’s and suppliers have found different technologies and solutions for the challenges faced in recent days, but new challenges keep surfacing each day. The biggest challenge is in the domain of the safety of usage of Electric Vehicles (EV’s). These challenges arose due to the varied conditions that EV’s are exposed to.
Hazards of Electric Vehicle Usage
The usage of electric vehicles in extremely cold weather conditions, hot weather conditions, overcharging, undercharging has led to numerous hazardous situations of fire, explosion, electric shock, release of the toxic gases, and damage to the batteries in the long run, later leading to hazardous situations. The safe development of the Battery Management Systems is now the key to solving many of the concerns in the EV automotive sector.
Importance of Battery Management Systems
The safe development of the BMS systems has indeed developed a keen interest in the Functional Safety Domain. ISO26262 provides a clear guideline on the development of any E&E critical systems and their malfunctions which challenge safety. The development of BMS systems to operate safely in any type of conditions by developing a robust safety concept by analyzing the various hazards posed by the EV batteries, and subsequently deriving requirements for the design, operation, service and decommissioning.
Extreme Hazards and Safety Precautions
The extremity of the hazards posed by EV batteries is always on the dangerous side due to the nature of the hazards and the exposure of human life around this new technology. Fire, electric shock, explosion, release of toxic gases can occur at any moment in any situation. In fact, an OEM had suggested all its customers not to park their EV’s in their garage and charge overnight. Such is the impact of EV batteries.
Monitoring Battery Health
The voltage, temperature and various battery related parameters must be constantly monitored by the Battery Management Systems in any operational situation to prevent any mishaps. These monitoring systems also help in maintaining battery health which is an important aspect to maintain the safe operation for the longevity of the battery.
Advancements in Functional Safety Development
The Functional Safety development of the BMS helps in new concepts for thermal management, Energy Management, Cell Balancing and other various methodologies. The Functional Safety Concept for a BMS includes detection and mitigation mechanisms, deriving the fault tolerant time interval for each safety goal and transition to safe state with or without degradation.
The Future of BMS Technology
The Functional Safety Concept for BMS does not stop here. This is a dynamic technology that keeps evolving day by day. As the battery voltage is increasing more and more in HV systems, safety is becoming a concern. Increase in high voltage systems also increases the complexity of implementing safety solutions in the system. Our extensive experience helped many of our customers to make their HV systems safe enough for public use.
Sangamesh Ganiger is a Functional Safety Specialist at CYRES Consulting with a background of working in the automotive industry in the domain of functional safety. Skilled in Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and ISO26262, he carries experience in applicability of FuSa for both passenger vehicles and 2 wheelers and administering work products such as Impact analysis, Item definition, HARA, FSC, Safety goal validation and aligning of DIA with suppliers. He has an educational qualification of bachelor’s in technology in Mechanical Engineering Sciences with a specialization in Automotive Engineering.
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