An Analytic Hierarchy Process for Selecting Battery Equalization Methods

Bruno Martin de Alcântara Dias, Cynthia Thamires da Silva, Rui Esteves Araújo, Ricardo de Castro, Eduardo Lorenzetti Pellini, Cláudio Pinto and Armando Antônio Maria Laganá
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Bruno Martin de Alcântara Dias: PEA—Polytechnic School (POLI-USP), São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil
Cynthia Thamires da Silva: PEA—Polytechnic School (POLI-USP), São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil
Rui Esteves Araújo: INESC TEC and Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Ricardo de Castro: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
Eduardo Lorenzetti Pellini: PEA—Polytechnic School (POLI-USP), São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil
Cláudio Pinto: Continental Engineering Services Portugal, Unipessoal Lda, 4200-162 Porto, Portugal
Armando Antônio Maria Laganá: PEA—Polytechnic School (POLI-USP), São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Batteries have been the predominant energy storage system used in electric vehicles. Battery packs have a large number of cells that develop charge, thermal, and capacity imbalances over time, limiting the power, range, and lifetime. Electronic battery management and state of charge (SoC) equalization methods are necessary to mitigate such imbalances. Today, it is possible to find a wide range of battery equalization methods in the literature, but how to decide which of these methods should be applied in practice? This paper compares 24 SoC equalization circuits that are typically found in automotive applications. We employ an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach to rank these equalization circuits according to multiple decision criteria (energy efficiency, equalization speed, implementation and control simplicity, hardware size, and total price). We also prepared a survey to collect design preferences from multiple battery balancing experts from around the world in order to better understand the relative importance of different criteria. The obtained results confirm that automotive engineers continue to favor passive balancing methods because of their low price, small PCB size, and implementation simplicity—despite the energy efficiency benefits of active balancing.

Keywords: battery; energy management system; EMS; battery management system; BMS; state of charge equalization; balancing system; costs analysis for practical application; analytic hierarchy process; AHP; electric vehicle; plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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