Battery management: Vitesco Technologies advances key function of electric driving

Basis for further profitable growth in the e-mobility business:
battery management orders worth more than 2 billion euros
Contracts with global high-volume manufacturers, with
premium car makers and with start-up companies in all
relevant markets
Battery management systems increase the range of electric
cars, ensure safer car operation, and contribute to longer
battery life
Innovation: wireless communication simplifies the battery
design, saves space and opens up new possibilities in the
development of e-vehicles

October 6, 2022.

Vitesco Technologies has recently won several
orders worth more than 2 billion euros for its innovative Battery
Management Systems (BMS). One of Vitesco Technologies’ significant
contracts will deliver already a wireless communication version of the
battery control units for 400V and 800V BEV architecture. This
particular innovative solution reduces the amount of cabling inside
the battery saving space and improving range capacity through the
use of either a larger battery or by reducing the size and weight of
the battery that would otherwise be used.
Battery management is a key function of electric driving: Intelligent
BMS solutions consisting of control units, sensors, and application
software protect the battery against overheating and ensure a
balanced charging state of all cells. This is essential for the safe
operation and long battery life. In other words, with its many
individual functions the BMS protects the biggest and most valuable
single system in an electric vehicle.
“With our modular software and hardware for battery management
we can offer our customers tailor made solutions. In addition,
innovations such as wireless communication with the battery
modules enable advanced battery design, leading to reduced system
costs for our customers,” says Thomas Stierle, Member of the
Executive Board and head of the Electrification Technology and the
Electronic Controls business units of Vitesco Technologies.
Battery management: a “hidden champion” in the electric car

The core functions of BMS are divided between two types of control
units in the Vitesco Technologies portfolio. The first is the battery
management controller permanently monitoring the state of cells and
modules. It can trigger a corrective action within the battery when an
undesirable operating condition is detected in order to deliver the
maximum range and achieve its maximum service life. This is
accomplished through the use of a high voltage sensor to monitor and
control the high current flows toward the battery. In the case of a
crash, the BMS also triggers the electrical isolation of the battery from
the rest of the car.
Cell supervising circuits are a second type of controller monitoring and
balancing the charging levels of individual battery cells (something
which can always occur in Li-Ion cells due to manufacturing
tolerances). “For this purpose, Vitesco Technologies is currently
developing a new procedure for actively balancing cells (hence: active
cell balancing), which can bring another efficiency gain in the order of
several percent,” according to Rodrigo Peres, Head of Production Line
Battery at Vitesco Technologies.
“The number of BMS orders that we received over the past weeks and
months reflects the relevance of our solutions. We have signed
contracts with global high-volume manufacturers, with premium car
makers and with start-up companies – in all relevant markets,” said
Thomas Stierle.
As a generic development, Vitesco Technologies’ modular BMS portfolio
is already prepared to facilitate an integration of its functional parts
into other control units. Through this, Vitesco Technologies anticipates
a trend in the electric and electronic vehicle architecture: reducing
the number of devices by using fewer control units with much higher
computing power and with complex software systems.