LG Chem, STMicroelectronics Drive Battery Tech for Hybrid Electric Vehicles
December 24, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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STMicroelectronics (ST) and LG Chem unveiled details of a new automotive battery pack that they say extends the potential of electric and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), reducing both petrol consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The new battery pack combines LG Chem lithium ion (Li-ion) battery technology with a battery management chip manufactured by ST.
HEVs typically use batteries based on nickel metal hydride (NiMH) technology, which uses simpler control circuits but are heavier and operate at lower voltages, according to LG Chem and ST.
Li-ion batteries are used in portable consumer electronic equipment because they offer twice the energy-to-weight ratio of NiMH batteries and have a very low self-discharge while not in use. However, their use in higher-power applications has been limited because the charge-discharge cycle of Li-ion batteries must be carefully managed to protect the batteries from abuse condition.
For this reason, Li-ion batteries must be combined with reliable electronic battery management circuits in high-power applications, LG Chem and ST said.
LG Chem also said its new Li-ion battery pack manages the charge/discharge cycle by incorporating an advanced battery management chip, manufactured by ST, which enables safe and long-term reliability of Li-ion battery technology at affordable cost, even in applications such as automotive powertrain systems.
"Accurate and reliable control of the battery charging and discharging cycles makes Li-ion technology applications the established choice for low-power consumer applications, as well as a leading contender for future high-power," said M.H. Kim, vice president of the Battery Research Institute of LG Chem.
The ST battery management chip is manufactured with ST proprietary bipolar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) double-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor (DMOS) - or BCD - technology, which combines digital logic circuits, analog measurement circuits and power-handling transistors in one silicon chip.
According to ST, a battery management system with these chips controls the charging and discharging cycles of the battery to ensure safe operation and long battery life.
Each chip can handle up to 10 Li-ion cells and also includes an interface for communicating with other ST battery management chips in a system. With this communication capability, as many as 32 battery management chips can be connected in cascade to manage batteries that deliver up to 1,600 volts (V) to the electric motors.
LG Chem and ST said their tool reduces the cost and weight and increases the reliability of the Li-ion battery pack, enabling Li-ion technology to address new applications from electric scooters and bicycles to heavy trucks.
Source: ST Microelectronics (ST).