UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI PISA

DIPARTIMENTO DI INGEGNERIA
DELL’INFORMAZIONE

CORSO DI LAUREA MAGISTRALE IN INGEGNERIA

ELETTRONICA

Anno Accademico 2012 – 2013

Tesi di Laurea

PROGETTO DEL SISTEMA DI ACCUMULO

ENERGETICO PER UNA VETTURA ELETTRICA DI
FORMULA SAE

Candidato: Andrea Gassani

Relatori:

Prof. Roberto Saletti

Ing. Federico Baronti
Contents

Introduction 5

I Electric Vehicles 7

1 Electric Propulsion System 13

1.1 Electric motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 Motor Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2 Energy Source System 17

2.1 Energy sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.1 Battery parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.2 Batteries for electric vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1.3 Battery models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Energy Management Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2.1 SoC estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2.2 Battery charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.3 Battery thermal management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.3.1 Air thermal management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.3.2 Liquid thermal management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.3.3 PCM thermal management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

II Battery Pack Design 39

2.4 FSAE rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.4.1 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.4.2 Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.4.3 Battery limitations: types, container and connections 43
2.4.4 Battery related components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.4.5 Shutdown Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.4.6 High Voltage components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.4.7 Rules analysis and considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.5 Formula SAE Vehciles analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

1
2 CONTENTS

3 Components Selection 55
3.1 Motor and Motor Controller selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.2 Cell selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.2.1 Physical and electrical requirements . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.2.2 Market Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.3 AIR selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.4 traction system wire selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.5 HVD selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.6 Fuse selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.7 Battery charger selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.8 Pre charge and discharge circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3.9 BMS selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.10 Components connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.10.1 Battery connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.10.2 BMS connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.10.3 TSMP, AIR, precharge and discharge circuits connec-
tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

4 Battery pack mechanical design 83

4.1 Single segment traditional layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.2 Single segment innovative layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4.3 Battery pack layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

III Simulations and Validations 97

5 Electric Simulations 101

5.1 Cell model and simulation setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.2 Performed simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

6 Thermal Simulations 111

6.1 Cells thermal parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
6.2 Comsol model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
6.3 Performed Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Conclusion and future work 123

Bibliography 125
Abstract

This thesis analyses and explains the design work-flow used to create the
battery pack of the new Formula SAE electric vehicle of the University
of Pisa. The project starts with Formula SAE rules analysis in order to
understand how they reflect on the design, what is the traction system
general shape they require and what devices have to be included inside of it,
then a state of the art analysis is performed with the purpose of realise how
other Formula SAE vehicles are designed. As soon as necessary devices are
categorised, commercial solutions available on the market are examined and
selected, trying to obtain the best trade off between costs and performance
and then the attention is focused on the battery pack mechanical layout, that
is a pretty innovative part of this thesis: to get Formula SAE requirements
about serial production of designed vehicles, a PCB is used to manage signal
connections between BMS slave boards.
At the end of the text simulations are performed to check and evaluate
battery behaviour during an endurance event. Each cell has been carefully
modelled by an equivalent circuit and electric simulations of an entire race
are executed to check the real performance of the battery providing power
and energy to the vehicle. Thermal simulations by finite element analysis
software are implemented to check temperature trends inside the battery and
carefully control that the safe operating temperature of Lithium batteries is
never exceeded , and in case, find the simplest and reliable cooling techniques
guaranteeing sufficient performances.

3
4 CONTENTS
Introduction

Contemporary societies are growing up, and they will be growing faster than
now over the next years. At the same time, the need for mobility will also
increase. In fact, in the next 50 years, the global population will increase
from 7 billion to 10 billion and the number of vehicles will increase from
700 million to 2.5 billion. [1] If all these vehicles are propelled by internal
combustion engine, pollution and the lack of oil will be the greatest problems
over the next years. According to the International Energy Outlook, the
transportation sector is going to increase it’s oil consumption up to 55% by
2030 [1], so a revolution in this area will become fundamental. The bet is
in the electric mobility, which has reached the attention of researchers and
which, mostly supported by technical development, seems to be the most
promising technology for future mobility.
This thesis analyses all perspectives related to the design and realisation
of the battery pack for the new Formula SAE electric car of the University
of Pisa, and it can be outlined on this way: part one gives a general in-
troduction to electric vehicles; first of all a general definition of an electric
vehicle is given, and then the three main types of electric vehicles such as
fuel cell (FCVs), hybrid (HEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are
introduced. According to the purpose of this thesis, the analysis of FCVs
and HEVs is fairly general; only a global description of their main concepts
is presented, and further reviews can be found in [1] and [3]. Later, the main
subsystems building up a battery electric vehicle are analysed: starting from
the propulsion subsystem a fairly general analysis of electric motors is done
and then the energy source block is exposed, but due to the purpose of this
text only batteries are explained. A detailed overview of each battery type
is done, and then the main aspects relating to battery management systems
such as battery protection, state of charge estimation and cell balancing are
introduced. At the end of part one an important aspect related to the bat-
tery pack such as thermal management is studied exposing state of the art
solutions for air, liquid and phase change material cooling.
The second part of this text covers the battery pack design. Lots of con-
straints are involved in the project, such as technical limitations, Formula
SAE rules and financial problems, so, at the beginning, limiting the project
space by introducing boundary conditions is fundamental, thus an overview

5
6 CONTENTS

of the whole SAE electrical rules is done. As soon as technical requirements

are understood and the general shape of the electric system required by rules
is highlighted the attention is focused on the battery pack design. The first
design step is an introductory analysis of other Formula SAE electric vehi-
cles created by top teams, with the purpose of understand typical order of
magnitude about important project parameters such as power, voltage and
energy. Computer simulations are then performed to refine these require-
ments and fit them on the new vehicle; then, according to results, market
analysis is performed to find commercial solutions for each device building
up the traction system. The analysis is then conducted exploiting details
about connections between different devices, analysing how they should be
made, and detailing necessary connectors. At the end of part two, as soon
as devices are selected and connected each other, the attention is focused on
the battery pack mechanical design and two different layout are analysed:
the first one which is pretty a traditional solution is not deeply explained
and it is exposed as an example, whereas the second one is deeply explained
by three dimensional drawings. This is an innovative mechanical layout,
and it may become fundamental if serial productions of the battery pack is
performed, as it is simulated by Formula SAE events. Physical problems
involved on mechanical layout, such as how cells are electrically connected
each other, how battery management system is connect to each cell, and
how signal wires connecting close BMS boards are arranged, are deeply ex-
plained.
The third part of this thesis explains simulations performed in order to
verify electric and thermal behaviour of the battery pack during a typical
Formula SAE race. Design validation is a fundamental part of each design,
and in case cells are not physically available and real tests can not be per-
formed, reliable models, as used, are necessary. From an electric point of
view, each cell has been modelled by an equivalent circuit, and electric sim-
ulations are performed to check the electric operation of the whole battery
pack during an endurance event, trying to understand the maximum me-
chanical power allowed to complete the race. Due to power levels, thermal
problems can not be neglected especially if Lithium cells are used, and in
order to understand how temperature varies inside the battery pack during
a race and properly design a cooling system, finite element analysis is done
by Comsol simulator. This is another innovative part of this thesis because
thermal characterisation of cells are widely available in literature, but cells
behaviour inside the battery pack is different due to neighbouring cells ef-
fects. A simplified model has been created using finite element software to
evaluate thermal behaviour of cells inside the battery pack in order to design
the most economic and affordable cooling solution. As soon as a prospec-
tive cooling system has been identified, CFD analysis has been executed to
provide reliable results using a physically accurate model.
 Part I

Electric Vehicles

7
 9

Contrary to popular belief electric vehicles are not born recently, but
their origin dates back to the 19 th century. In fact the first electric cars
were developed in 1834 and their evolution grew until the last decade of
the 19 th century, when a number of company produced EVs in America,
Great Britain and France [1]. During the same years, the combustion engine
was born, and both the technologies lived together; neither surmounted the
other one essentially because both had some weaknesses: EVs were slow
and had short operating time, whereas internal combustion vehicles had
start-up problems. Thanks to the invention of the electric starter motor [2],
combustion vehicles outdo electric ones, mostly because the short operating
time of battery electric vehicles had not been improved too.
Modern electric vehicles are completely different compared to their an-
cestors which were mainly simple electric driven cars. In fact, today EVs
are complex systems, which interacts with their surrounding more than a
traditional car. So, giving a complete definition of EVs is difficult, essen-
tially because a modern EV is not just a car, but it is a complex system
whose design involves automobile engineering, electrical engineering, elec-
tronic engineering and chemical engineering. Generally speaking, according
to most of researchers, a modern EV is a vehicle which involves with electric
propulsion. With this broad definition in mind, EVs may include battery
electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and fuel cell electric
vehicles (FCEVs) [1].
As the name suggests, a Battery Electric Vehicle is a vehicle that utilises
chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs and motive power pro-
vided by electric motors and motor controllers instead of burning petrol or
diesel in an internal combustion engine. This definition is rather strict: in
fact it is possible to find vehicles with more complex energy storage de-
vices, e.g., batteries and super-capacitors. Performances and ranges of a
Battery Electric Vehicle differs considerably from conventional Diesel and
petrol ones. In fact, the range of a BEV and its performances depend firstly
on the type and size of battery used and secondly on the weight of the vehicle.
Battery chemistry allow a wide variation in energy and power density, from
traditional Lead-acid batteries to modern Lithium-Ion packs, and different
operating time can be obtained. BEVs are becoming commercial solutions,
although their high initial cost, short driving range and long charging time
show the limitation of battery-powered vehicles, which are mainly suitable
for short range applications, typically commuting ones.
Giving a definition to an emerging technology is not easy and HEVs are
an example of this problem: in fact, as proposed by Technical Committee 69
(Electric Road Vehicles) of the International Electrotechnical Commission,
an HEV is a vehicle in which propulsion energy is available from two or
more kinds of sources, and at least one of them can deliver electrical energy
[1]. Based on this general definition, there are many types of HEVs, such
as gasoline ICE and battery ones, diesel ICE and battery, battery and FC,
10

and battery flanked by capacitors. However, the last definition is not well
accepted from consumer. In fact it is thought to an hybrid vehicle as a
vehicle propelled by an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric
motor (EM). So, according to this definition, it is common to define an
hybrid vehicle as a vehicle which uses more than one energy sources, typically
two, one of them is a traditional fuel (typically diesel or petrol), and the
second one is electric. Hybrid electric vehicles can be an interesting trade off
which might be useful to improve the typical operating range of a BEV and
reduce pollutants emissions. As a matter of fact, HEVs were developed to
overcome the disadvantages of both the ICE vehicles and the ”pure” BEVs,
thanks to the traditional engine that converts energy from on-board gasoline
or diesel to mechanical energy, which is used to drive the on board electric
motor or to drive the wheels together with the electric motor. So, the on
board electric motor serves as a device to optimise the efficiency of an ICE
[3], as well as recover energy during breaking or coasting of the vehicle, and
it can uses the power produced by the ICE to charge the batteries. Hybrid
vehicles have certain limitations, e.g., increased cost due to the introduction
of electric motor, energy storage system and power converters and they have
also safety concerns due to the introduction of high voltage in vehicle system.
Fuel cell vehicles use fuel cells to generate electricity typically from hy-
drogen (but also other fuels could be used) which can be used to drive the
vehicle or can be stored in a storage device, typically batteries or ultra-
capacitors. The main advantage of an hydrogen fueled vehicle is its eco-
sustainability. As a matter of fact, if hydrogen is used as a fuel, a fuel cell
does not produce pollutants, and its byproduct is simply water. FCVs have
long-term potential for future vehicle, although they have issues such as high
costs of cells and technical issues in hydrogen storage [3] [4].
The basic configuration of an electric vehicle is shown in figure 1, [1]
whereas the three main types of EVs are compared each other in figure 2
[3]. In next chapters the three main subsystems included inside an electric
vehicle are analysed.
 11

Figure 1: EV composition

Figure 2: Characteristics of BEVs, HEVs, and FCEVs

12
Chapter 1

Electric Propulsion System

Propulsion system inside a vehicle manages the operations to transfer driver

decisions’ to the engine. It is a complex system which involves different
components and has strong interactions with other subsystem, e.g., energy
sources. The blocks included in the propulsion system are outlined below:
ˆ Electronic Controller: it is the interface between the driver and the
engine, and it is mainly based on control signals transduced by accel-
erator and brake pedals. As a matter of fact, based on this inputs, the
electronic controller provides proper controls to switch on and off the
electronic devices used to regulate power flows between the electric
motor and the energy sources. It is also possible to find commer-
cial products which include both controller and power converter in a
monolithic solution.
ˆ Power Converter: it is the bock which manages power conversion be-
tween the motor and the energy sources. As figure 1 suggests, it has
a bidirectional channel from/to the motor and from/to the energy
sources, because EVs use regenerative braking to generate energy dur-
ing braking phases, and recharge batteries.
ˆ Electric Motor: it is the main part of the traction system, and it
provides the driving force to the vehicle as in traditional cars, but in
addiction, in EVs it is used to regenerate energy during braking.

1.1 Electric motor

The major requirements for an electric motor for traction purpose are sum-
marised below:
ˆ High instant power and high power density
ˆ High torque at low speeds for starting and climbing, as well as high
power at high speed for cruising.

13
14 CHAPTER 1. ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEM

ˆ Very wide speed range including constant-torque and constant-power

regions

ˆ Fast torque response

ˆ High efficiency over wide speed and torque ranges

ˆ High efficiency for regenerative braking

ˆ High reliability and robustness for various vehicle operating conditions

ˆ Reasonable cost

Traditionally, DC motors have ever been prominent in electric propul-

sion because their torque-speed characteristics suits traction requirements
well and their speed control techniques are simple. However, DC motors
have a commutator; hence, it requires regular maintenance. Recently, tech-
nological developments have pushed commutator less motors to a new era,
leading with the advantages of higher efficiency, higher power density, lower
operating cost, more reliability, and lower maintenance over DC motors. In-
duction Motors (IMs) are a widely accepted and diffused motor type for EV
propulsion because they are mature, highly reliable, and free from main-
tenance. Alternatively, permanent magnet (PM) brushless motors are also
promising because they do not require maintenance and also use permanent
magnet, thus high efficiency and power density can be achieved.

1.2 Motor Controller

A motor controller must supervise the operation of an electric motor, provid-
ing energy to move the rotor, or giving a path for current produced during
regenerative braking. If voltage and current levels of a motor controller are
plotted on a Cartesian coordinate system, 4 different operating area can be
outlined: on the first quadrant the motor act in forward operation, that is
the energy flows from batteries to the electric motor, whereas on the second
quadrant, that is the braking one, the motor act as a generator, sending
back the energy to the batteries. On the third quadrant the controller pro-
vides energy to the motor to rotate in reverse way, whereas on the fourth
one the energy flows from the motor, which rotates in reverse directions, to
the batteries.
The electronic components used to supply and control DC motors are
called Chopper and they are mainly used in step up or step down configu-
rations, both is single, double and four quadrants operation. In contrast, to
supply AC motors Inverters are traditionally used especially in multi level
configurations including PWM control. Due to the purpose of this text
which is mainly focused on battery design, electric motors are not deeply
1.2. MOTOR CONTROLLER 15

analysed. Additional information about them, including state of the art

solutions related to their control can be found in [5], [6], [7], [8], [9].
16 CHAPTER 1. ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEM
Chapter 2

Energy Source System

Energy source subsystem has to manage energy reserves of the vehicles, and
it can be divided into 2 sections: energy sources and energy management
unit. Energy sources include devices used to physically provide energy to
the vehicle, whereas energy management unit involves all the electronic cir-
cuitry necessary to maintain the energy source into its safe operating area,
improving its life cycle avoiding potentially dangerous situations.

2.1 Energy sources

The energy source is the physical device used to produce electric energy and
different sources can be used such as fuel cell, battery or ultra-capacitors.
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts the free-energy of
an electrochemical reaction into electric energy. In contrast to a battery, a
fuel cell generates electrical energy rather than stores it and continues to do
it as long as a fuel supply is maintained. Its advantageous features are quiet
operation, zero or very low emissions and rapid refuelling. According to the
purpose of this text which concerns the design of a BEV, fuell cells are not
further examined.
Ultra-capacitors stores energy by physically separating positive and neg-
ative charges which are stored on two parallel plates divided by an insulator.
Since there are no chemical variations on the electrodes, ultra-capacitors
have a long cycle life but low energy density [10]. In contrast, the power
density of an UC is considerably higher than that of the battery; in fact ultra-
capacitors can be used as assistant energy storage devices for EVs: in urban
driving, there are many stop and go situations, and the total power required
is relatively low, thus UCs are very appropriate in capturing electricity from
regenerative braking and quickly delivering power for acceleration or battery
recharging, due to their fast charge and discharge rates.

17
18 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

2.1.1 Battery parameters

A battery is a device that converts the chemical energy contained in its
active materials directly into electric energy by means of an electrochemical
oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction. In the case of a secondary battery, it
is recharged by a reversal of the process.
Desired characteristics of batteries used for electric vehicles are:

ˆ High specific energy and energy density to provide adequate vehicle

driving range

ˆ High power density to provide acceleration

ˆ Long cycle life with little maintenance

ˆ Low cost

ˆ Capability of accepting high power repetitive charges from regenera-

tive braking.

Battery is formed by series or parallel connections of cells, and it is used

to provide energy to loads, which are the electric motor and the auxiliary
systems in an EV. According to the chemistry of each cell, different voltage
can be obtained, and series connections are typically used to get the high
voltage necessary to supply an electric motor, whereas parallel connections
are used to improve provided current and available energy. The most im-
portant parameter used to describe and categorise a battery is the available
charge, which is usually expressed in Ah at constant temperature and dis-
charge current by cell producers. For example, if a 12 Ah cell is used, it can
provide 12 A at constant current and temperature for one hour; 12 is called
the C rate of the battery, and it is used to describe charging and discharging
currents as multiples and sub-multiples of itself. Battery capacity is not a
constant value, thus if a 12 Ah battery is discharged by a 4C current it does
not provide 48 A of current for a quarter of hour, because battery capacity
change with variations in temperature and discharging current [11]. Typi-
cally for lithium batteries which are the state of the art solution for EVs,
the higher the discharging current, the lower the related capacity, whereas
the lower the temperature the lower the capacity, as shown in figure 2.2 and
2.1 respectively.
During operating phases a battery is discharged, thus its residual charge
is highlighted by a normalised indicator called State of Charge (SoC), the
equivalent of a fuel gauge in traditional cars, which is conventionally 1 for a
fully charged battery and 0 for a fully discharged battery. SoC influences the
electric behaviour of a battery, and relationships between the voltage and
the SoC of a cell, at constant discharge current and temperature, is shown
in figure 2.3. Another indicator called Depth of Discharge (DoD) represents
2.1. ENERGY SOURCES 19

Figure 2.1: Voltage vs. nominal capacity at vary temperature and constant
current

Figure 2.2: Voltage vs. capacity at vary C rates and constant temperature
20 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

the quantity of energy used, thus it can be thought as the complement of

SoC.

Figure 2.3: Voltage vs. SoC at constant C rates and temperature

Secondary batteries are the main energy sources of a BEV, and the
most important types used for electric traction are Lead-Acid, Nickel-Metal
Hydride and Lithium ones.

2.1.2 Batteries for electric vehicles

Lead-Acid Batteries Lead-acid batteries are the most commercially ma-
ture rechargeable battery technology, with over 20 years of industry usage
and they are most commonly used in automobiles as starting lightning and
ignition. Lead-acid batteries have about 800 life cycles but their lifetime
varies greatly based off of usage, discharge rate, and number of deep dis-
charge cycles. The OCV of a Lead-Acid battery is about 2,1 V [13] on a fully
charged cell, and lead to 1,7 V on a discharged one. They also have very low
energy density (about 35kg Wh
) [12] compared to other battery technologies,
whereas their main advantage is their low cost.
During charging, hydrogen is produced at the negative electrode thus if
the battery is overcharged it suffer of water loss. This is mitigated in utility
scale installations through the use of Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA)
batteries, which automatically allows recombination of gas.

Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) Batteries NiMH batteries have been

the chemistry of choice for EV and HEV applications during the nineties
and the early noughties due to their relatively high energy density (about
70 Wh
kg ) [12], proven safety, wide operation temperature ranges, and long life.
The best operation performance is achieved when discharged at 20% to 50%
2.1. ENERGY SOURCES 21

of the rated capacity whereas if repeatedly discharged at high load currents,

their life is reduced to about 200 or 300 cycles.
The significant disadvantages of NiMH batteries are the high rate of self-
discharge and their memory effect; in fact NiMH batteries typically lose 20%
of their charge on the first day and 4% per day of storage after that and
in addiction the energy stored into a cell is reduced if the cell is recharged
before it has been completely discharged. This memory effect is inherited
from Ni-Cd batteries of which NiMH are successors, and it occurs due to
the modification of the crystal structure of nickel hydroxide.
A fully charged cell supplies an average voltage of 1,25 V [14], down to
about 1,1 V at completely discharged cell. When overcharged, NiMH batter-
ies use excess energy to split and recombine water, thus they are maintenance
free. However, if batteries are charged at excessively high charge rate, hydro-
gen buildup can cause cell rupture, whereas if a battery is over-discharged,
it can be reverse-polarised, leading to its destruction.

Lithium Batteries The main categories of Lithium Batteries used in au-

tomotive applications are Lithium ion (Li-ion) and Lithium Polymer (LiPo)
that can be thought as an evolution of Li-ion ones.

Li-ion Batteries Lithium-ion battery technology has been first com-

mercialised in 1991 by Sony Corporations and its typical applications in-
clude portable equipment, laptops, cameras, mobile telephones, and portable
tools. Due to its high energy density, Li-ion is the main technology used for
e
batteries in contemporary EVs, and their cost is actually about 800 kWh .
The nominal open circuit voltage of a Li-ion battery is 3,6 V reaching
4,2 V at fully charged stage and about 2,8 V at fully discharged stage.
Advantages of Lithium-ion batteries include high energy and power density
(about 170 Wh W
kg and 360 kg respectively) [12], even if they depend mainly on
the chemistry used for their cathode, no memory effect, long calendar life
and medium self-discharge rate. Li-ion cell can be used with higher current
levels than other cells, but some problems have to be solved: to ensure safe
operation, it is mandatory to use a battery management system to at least
provide over-voltage and under-voltage protections, which act to avoid the
voltage to go out of the safe operating range. It is also important to provide
over-temperature protection, to ensure the temperature is lower than 60
degrees, which is the maximum allowed temperature of Lithium batteries to
avoid chemical damaging.
Different cathode materials are used for Li-ion batteries, and the most
interesting for electric vehicle is the LiF eP O4 which is mainly used for safety
purpose; in fact, in case of misuse, they reduce fire and explosion risks.
LiF eP O4 batteries suffers from low energy density (about 100 Wh kg ) [15]
compared to Lithium Polymer ones, whereas their power density is higher
22 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

W
than Polymer ones (about 300 kg ). Their nominal voltage is 3,2 V and it is
fairly constant during the operation, reaching 2,8 V at fully discharged and
3,6 V at fully charged stage. They also dispose of about 2000 life cycle at
e
100% of DOD, whereas their price is relatively high, up to 1200 kWh .

LiPo Batteries Lithium Polymer batteries are an evolution of Li-ion

ones, based on the way the electrolyte is stored inside the cell. Their open
circuit voltage range start from 2,7 V at fully discharged state to 4,2 V at
fully charged state, with an average voltage conventionally chosen to be 3,7
V. Their main advantages are high power and energy density compared to
other Lithium battery (about 200 Wh W
kg and 900 kg respectively) which show
the possibility of substitute Li-ion technology on future electric vehicles,
both to provide wide operating range and peak power. Therefore, this kind
of batteries suffers of security risks as Li-ion ones, thus their temperature
and voltage have to be checked by a battery management system.
The main disadvantage of this kind of cell is its relative high cost, which
e
vary from 1000 up to 1600 kWh .

2.1.3 Battery models

Future technologies related to electric vehicles are the most promising alter-
natives to traditional cars but these new technologies will heavily depend on
battery packs, thus it is extremely important to develop accurate battery
models that can conveniently be used with simulators of on board power
electronic systems. Researchers around the world have developed a wide va-
riety of models with different degrees of complexity. Electrochemical models,
mainly used to optimise the physical design aspects of batteries, charac-
terise the fundamental mechanisms of power generation and relate battery
design parameters with macroscopic (e.g., battery voltage and current) and
microscopic (e.g., concentration distribution) information. However, they
are complex and time consuming because they involve systems of coupled
time-variant spatial partial differential equations requiring days of simula-
tion time to be solved, complex numerical algorithms, and battery-specific
information that is difficult to obtain, due to the proprietary nature of this
technology [16]. Mathematical models, mostly too abstract to embody any
practical meaning but still useful to system designers, adopt empirical equa-
tions or mathematical methods like stochastic approaches to predict system
level behaviour, such as battery run-time, efficiency, or capacity. However,
they cannot offer any I–V information that is important to circuit simulation
and optimisation.
Electrical models are electrical equivalent models created by a combi-
nation of voltage sources, resistors, and capacitors for co-design and co-
simulation with other electrical circuits and systems. For electrical and
electronic engineers, electrical models are more intuitive, useful, and easy to
2.1. ENERGY SOURCES 23

handle, especially when they are used in circuit simulators. Most of these
electrical models fall under three basic categories: Thevenin, impedance,
and run-time based models, as shown in figure 2.4. In automotive applica-
tions, mixed solutions composed of Thevenin and run-time based model are
typically used.

Figure 2.4: (a) Thevenin, (b) impedence and (c) runtime based electrical
models

Thevenin model The easiest model consists of an ideal battery with an

open circuit voltage E and a constant equivalent internal series resistance.
This model does not take into account the varying characteristic of the in-
ternal impedance with state of charge, electrolyte concentration and sulfate
formation. Another disadvantage is that this model can not reproduce the
transient response of the battery which is extremely important whenever
the load dynamically require a variable amplitude current. In addition, the
voltage E can not be considered constant because its value reduces as long
as the battery discharges. This simplified model is only applicable in some
circuit simulations where the energy drawn out of the battery is assumed to
be unlimited or where the state of charge is of little importance. Clearly,
for electric vehicle applications, this model is not appropriate.
In its most basic form, a Thevenin based model, shown in figure 2.4(a),
uses a series resistor (RSeries ) and an RC parallel network (RT ransient and
CT ransient ) to predict battery response to transient load events at a particu-
24 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

lar State of Charge. An increase on the number of parallel RC networks can

increase the accuracy of predicted battery response, mainly because battery
response is formed by more than one time constants, which can be replicated
by different RC networks. The RSelf −Discharge resistor is used to reply the
self discharge tendency of a cell; its value is high and it can be neglected if
desired cell has small self discharge rates, or batteries are not stored charged
for a long time. Sometimes is possible to model parasitic effects by a voltage
source EP in series with RSelf −Discharge resistor.

Impedence based model Impedance-based model, shown in figure 2.4(b),

employ the method of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to obtain an
AC equivalent impedance model in frequency domain, and then use a com-
plicated equivalent network (Zac ) to fit the impedance spectra. The fitting
process is difficult, complex, and non intuitive. In addition, impedance-
based models only work for a fixed SoC and temperature setting, and there-
fore they cannot predict battery run-time response.

Runtime based model Run-time based model shown in figure 2.4(c),

uses a complex circuit network to simulate battery run-time and DC voltage
response for a constant discharge current in SPICE-like simulators, but they
can not predict transient response for varying load currents accurately.

Mixed model Mixed models combine both the characteristics of Thevenin

and run-time models, and an example is shown in figure 2.5. On the left,

Figure 2.5: Mixed model

a capacitor (CCapacity ) and a current-controlled current source, inherited

from run-time based networks, model the nominal capacity and its run-time
behaviour both in charging and discharging phases. The RC network, sim-
ilar to that in Thevenin based models, simulates the transient response.
To bridge SoC to open circuit voltage, a voltage-controlled voltage source
2.1. ENERGY SOURCES 25

is used. This model predicts run-time behaviour, both steady state and
transient response and also capture some batteries electrical characteristics
such as usable capacity (CCapacity ), open circuit voltage, and transient re-
sponse. These characteristics are dependant on temperature, life cycles, age
etc. as summarised in figure 2.6. The model works as follows: assuming

Figure 2.6: Typical battery characteristic curves of usable capacity versus

(a) cycle number, (b) temperature, (c) current, and (d) storage time, as well
as (e) open- circuit voltage versus SoC and (f) transient response to a step
load-current event.

a battery is discharged from an equally charged state to the same end-of-

discharge voltage, the extracted energy taken from the equivalent usable
capacity, declines as cycle number, discharge current, and/or storage time
(self-discharge) increases, and/or as temperature decreases, as shown in fig-
ure 2.6(a)–(d). Full-capacity capacitor CCapacity represents the whole charge
stored inside the battery by converting nominal battery capacity in Ah to
charge in Coulomb, including the dependency between usable capacity and
temperature, cycle number, age and provided current. Setting the initial
voltage across CCapacity (VSoC ) equal to 1 V or 0 V, the battery is initialised
to its fully charged (i.e., SoC is 100%) or fully discharged (i.e., SoC is 0%)
26 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

state. In other words, VSoC represents the SoC of the battery quantitatively.
When the battery is being charged or discharged, current-controlled current
source IBatt is used to charge or discharge CCapacity so that the SoC, repre-
sented by VSoC , dynamically changes. The nonlinear relation between the
open circuit voltage (VOC ) and SoC shown in figure 2.6(e) is important to
be included in the model, thus voltage-controlled voltage source VOC (VSoC )
is used.
During a step load current event, the battery voltage responds slowly, as
shown in figure 2.6(f). Its response curve usually includes instantaneous and
curve-dependant voltage drops and the transient response is characterised
by the shaded RC network in figure 2.5. The electrical network consists of
series resistor RSeries and two RC parallel networks composed of RT ransientS ,
CT ransientS , RT ransientL , and CT ransientL . Series resistor RSeries is respon-
sible for the instantaneous voltage drop of the step response. RT ransientS ,
CT ransientS , RT ransientL , and CT ransientL are responsible for short and long
time constants of the step response, shown by the two dotted circles in figure
2.6(f).
Theoretically, the whole parameters included in the model are multi-
variable functions of SoC, current, temperature, and cycle number. How-
ever, within certain error tolerance, some parameters can be thought to be
independent or linear functions of some variables for specific batteries. For
example, a low capacity battery in a fairly constant temperature applica-
tion can ignore temperature effects, and a frequently used battery can ignore
self-discharge rates without suffering any significant errors [16].

2.2 Energy Management Unit

The energy management unit, as the name suggests, is the part of the en-
ergy subsystem which control the run-time behaviour of energy sources in
order to measure important parameters and keep each cell working in safety
conditions, inside its safety operating area, avoiding critical situations such
as overcharging or undercharging and thermal problems. In case of BEVs
supplied by Lithium batteries, e.g, the temperature of each cell has to be
kept less than 60‰ and its voltage has to be be maintained between a voltage
interval which is conventionally chosen to be higher than 2,8 V but lower
than 4,2 V, in order to avoid chemical modifications inside the cell. An en-
ergy management unit for BEVs which provide only these basic monitoring
features is called Battery Monitoring Unit; however providing only moni-
toring tasks is not adequate for traction purpose where malfunctioning and
services interruptions must always be prevented.
Due to the unavoidable miss-match of production systems, cells inside a
battery pack are not identical and thus their capacities are different: this is
a critical problem, especially in BEVs, because discharging must stop when
2.2. ENERGY MANAGEMENT UNIT 27

the cell with lowest capacity is empty (even though other cells are still not
empty); this limits the energy taken from the battery [2]. The problem
is the same during charging because the energy provided to the battery is
stopped as soon as a cell is fully charged, even if the other ones are not
completely filled. To avoid these problems, which may become relevant
in electric vehicles, and lead to operating range reductions, the Battery
Monitoring Unit has to perform battery balancing and charge redistribution
and its name becomes Battery Management Unit.
In order to provide a definition, a Battery Management System (BMS)
is any electronic system that manages a rechargeable battery (cell or battery
pack), protecting it from operating outside its Safe Operating Area, moni-
toring its state, calculating secondary data and balancing it. A BMS may
monitor different parameters in order to check battery status [17], such as:

ˆ Voltage: total voltage, voltages of individual cells, minimum and max-

imum cell voltage

ˆ Temperature: average temperature and temperatures of individual cell

ˆ State of charge (SoC): to indicate the charge level of the battery

ˆ State of health (SoH), a variously-defined measurement of the overall

conditions of the battery

ˆ Current: current in or out of the battery

and it may protect the cell against:

ˆ Overcurrent (may be different in charging and discharging modes)

ˆ Overvoltage (during charging)

ˆ Undervoltage (during discharging), especially important for lead–acid

and Li-ion cells

ˆ Overtemperature

ˆ Undertemperature

ˆ Over-pressure

ˆ Ground fault or leakage current detection

The BMS may also control cells temperature through heaters, fans, air con-
ditioning or liquid cooling which may be activated when the temperature
overcomes predefined limits.
Additionally, a BMS may calculate values based on the above items, such
as:
28 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

ˆ Energy [kWh] delivered since last charge or charge cycle

ˆ Charge [Ah] delivered or stored

ˆ Total energy delivered since first use

ˆ Total operating time since first use

ˆ Total number of cycles

The BMS also control battery recharging by redirecting recovered energy

(i.e. from regenerative braking ) back into the battery pack and it may report
calculated or measured data to an external device, using communication
links such as:

ˆ Serial communications, e.g., RS-232 or CAN serial communications

ˆ Direct wiring

ˆ Wireless communications

BMS topologies fall in 3 categories:

ˆ Centralized: a single controller is connected to the battery cells through

a multitude of wires

ˆ Distributed: a BMS slave board is installed at each cell, with just a

single communication wire between the boards and the controller

ˆ Modular: a few controllers, each handing a certain number of cells,

with communication between the controllers

Centralised BMS are most economical, least expandable, and are plagued by
a multitude of wires. Distributed BMS are the most expensive, simplest to
install, and offer the cleanest assembly. Modular BMS offer a compromise
of the features and problems of the other two topologies.

2.2.1 SoC estimation

The term State Of Charge (SoC) may be confusing. The main reason for
this is that a distinction must be made between the charge inside the battery
and the portion of this charge that will actually be available under actual
discharge conditions. As previously explained, a significant difference may
occur between these two, for example when a battery is discharged at low
temperatures. In an attempt to avoid further confusion, the following defi-
nitions [19] are used:
2.2. ENERGY MANAGEMENT UNIT 29

ˆ State-of-Charge (SoC): The charge that is present inside the battery

which can be expressed in percentage of the maximum possible charge.
A practical way to define the battery State of Charge (SoC) is to start
from a quantity called extracted charge defined as:
Z τ
Qe (t) = Icell dt
0

Then, the definition of SoC is:

Qe
SoC = 1 −
Cn

where Cn is the nominal capacity of the battery.

ˆ Remaining capacity (Caprem ): The available charge under the valid

discharge conditions, thus Caprem is equal to or smaller than SoC,
depending on conditions. Caprem can also be expressed in percentage
of the maximum possible charge

State of charge estimation is one of the most important task of Battery

Management Systems in hybrid and electric vehicles. Knowing the amount
of charge stored in each cell of a battery is indeed crucial for effective bat-
tery utilisation that prevents cells from damaging extending their lifetime
in particular for lithium batteries, that are less tolerant to overcharging and
deep discharging. In addition, State of Charge estimation is the basis for
balancing strategies, which lead to a better utilisation of the battery pack
extending its lifetime.
State of Charge estimation in a vehicle is a very challenging task because
the estimator has to rely on on-board current and voltage measurements,
which are typically noisy and inaccurate, but it should also provide reliable
estimation in every possible battery operating condition [18]. The calcu-
lation may also include additional errors to the estimation process, but a
distinction has to be observed: in contrast to BEV applications which in-
volve primarily battery discharge, an HEV application may involve repeated
charge-discharge cycles. This distinction is critical: in BEV applications,
complete stationary recharge allows the SoC estimation algorithm to be
reset to an accurate initial condition; therefore, estimation errors do not
accumulate over multiple discharge/recharge cycles. In HEVs instead, bat-
teries are used to improve vehicle efficiency, thus they are never completely
discharged: if an error is done, the estimation tends to become inaccurate
and unreliable, because the error is never removed, due to the absence of a
reset situation.
To perform State of Charge estimation, lots of methods have been re-
alised [19], and they can be divided into the following categories:
30 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

ˆ Direct measurement: this method uses physical battery properties,

such as voltage and impedance variations during discharging or charg-
ing phases.

ˆ Book-keeping systems: Coulomb counting method uses discharging

current as the input and integrates battery current over time to cal-
culate the SoC. Book keeping systems use Coulomb counting method
with compensations for discharging efficiency, self discharge, capacity
losses etc.

ˆ Adaptive systems: these methods can automatically adjust the esti-

mation process for different operating conditions, such as different C
rates, temperature etc.

ˆ Hybrid methods: these systems combine the advantages of each SoC

estimation method to provide more precise and reliable estimation
performance.

In automotive applications model based algorithms are the most promising

solutions, mostly because they do not require long training periods as neu-
ral networks do, and also provide reliable estimation. In systems that are
frequently charged and discharged, such as EVs, Coulomb Counting can be
an interesting solution, due to its simplicity.

Direct measurements The direct measurement method is based on a

reproducible and pronounced relation between a measured battery vari-
able and the SoC. This battery variable should be electrically measurable
in a practical set-up. Examples of variables are battery voltage, battery
impedance and voltage relaxation time after application of a current step
[19]. Most relations between battery variables depend on the temperature,
thus the battery temperature should also be measured and the relation fTd
between measured battery variables and the SoC, in which d means a generic
variable and T the temperature as a parameter, have to be known and stored
in the system, allowing indirect measurements. In fact the main advantage
of a system based on direct measurement is that it does not have to be
continuously connected to the battery. Measurements can be performed as
soon as the battery is connected, then the SoC can be directly inferred from
the function fTd . The main problem is determining the function fTd , which
should describe the relation between the measured battery variable and SoC
under all applicable conditions, including spread in battery behaviour.

Open circuit voltage If the relationship between OCV and SoC is

measured and known, thus State of Charge estimation might be achieved
by using this characteristics, which can be stored inside a memory; this
is useful for lead acid batteries, which have a fairly linear curve, whereas
2.2. ENERGY MANAGEMENT UNIT 31

it is more difficult for lithium batteries. In fact, this method have some
practical drawbacks: according to previously explained battery models, the
open circuit voltage become the electromotive force (EMF) in value, when
the current is zero. In practise applications, especially for deeply discharged
batteries, the OCV may takes minutes to reach the EMF value. In addiction,
the fairly constant drop in voltage, between SoC= 20% and SoC=80% lead
to a considerable variation of SoC due to a small variation in voltage, thus
this method is not reliable for lithium accumulators.

Book keeping systems Book-keeping is a method for SoC indication

that is based on current measurement and integration. This can be denoted
as Coulomb counting, which literally means ‘counting the charge flowing into
or out of the battery’. The basic idea of Coulomb counting is fairly easy:
assuming the initial SoC (SoC(0)) is known, SoC evolution can be evaluated
by integrating the battery current, as shows in the following equation:
1 τ
Z
SoC(t) = SoC(0) − Icell dt
C 0
where Icell is the cell current (positive during battery discharge), and C
is the nominal cell capacity. This approach, however, is very sensitive to
measurement errors, in particular offset and temperature drifting of the
current sensor, which may lead to large SoC errors over time, because of the
current integration.
The Coulomb counting algorithm requires to be correctly initialised with
the initial SoC value, which may not be available, as it happens in HEVs
where the battery is never fully charged or discharged, and also offsets and
parameters drifts have to be compensated to achive a precise and reliable
SoC estimation. Book keeping systems use Coulomb counting method but
also include compensations for undesired variations.

Adaptive systems The main problem encountered designing an accu-

rate SoC indication system is the unpredictability of battery behaviour that
depends strongly on operating conditions. A possible solution is to add
adaptivity to a system based on direct measurement, book-keeping or a
combination of them. The basic principle to add adaptivity to an SoC in-
dication system is depicted in figure 2.7. Measured battery variables Ibat ,
Tbat and Vbat are inputs of the adaptive model, which estimates battery
behaviour in the form of output vector Ym on the basis of these inputs.
Adaptivity of the model is based on a comparison of Ym with observed bat-
tery behaviour in the form of vector Yb , obtaining an error signal E, which
is input to an Adaptive Control Unit. The unit updates model informations
updating parameter values or even by changing model description. As a
result, the model is adapted on the basis of the system to which the battery
is connected and the error between estimation and observation is minimised.
32 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

Figure 2.7: Basic principle of an adaptive SoC indication system

Recently, with the development of artificial intelligence, various new

adaptive systems based on neural networks for SoC estimation have been
developed, but these solutions are mainly research topics, thus they are not
explained on this text and can be found in [20].

Hybrid methods The aim of hybrid models is to benefit from the advan-
tages of each method obtaining optimal estimating performance, improving
accuracy. The integration of different methods is wide and is not further
analysed in this text, however the most important hybrid methods include
Coulomb counting and OCV methods to reinforce the SoC estimation by a
double measurement, performed during discharging or charging phases by
Coulomb counting, and then checked during equilibrium state by the OCV
methods. Another important example of hybrid methods is the usage of
Karman Filter to correct the initial value of Coulomb counting method, or
estimate the SoC in noisy applications [18]. This application is important in
automotive applications, where voltage and current signals are mainly noisy
and difficult to measure.

2.2.2 Battery charging

The typical structure of an EV batteries charging system results from the
combination of AC-DC and DC-DC converters with the respective digital
control system [21]. The AC-DC converter is used to rectify the AC voltage
from power grid to a DC voltage whereas the DC-DC converter is used to
adapt the rectified voltage to a level compatible with the batteries one and
also control batteries during charging process. Regardless to battery charger
2.2. ENERGY MANAGEMENT UNIT 33

topology, battery charging phase is fundamental for battery life because lots
of physical quantities vary while the electric current provided to the battery
is converted by chemical reaction, in order to recharge the battery. It is
thought that the purpose of a charger is simply to ”refill” the charge tank
of the battery, whereas there are many other physical aspects involved in
charging process such as temperature, over-voltage and over-current which
may reduce battery lifetime. Thus, even if the refilling purpose is the most
important aspect of battery charging phase, battery voltage, current and
temperature have to be carefully controlled. This aspect leads to a carefully
choice of battery charging algorithms which are fundamental to prevents
premature failure.
The ability of a cell to accept charge is dominated by the electrolyte
concentration in the electrode-electrolyte interface region. The surface area
of the electrode and the width of electrolyte reservoir determine how fast
the newly accumulated charge can ”diffuse” into the electrolyte, thus making
room for more charge [22]. An equivalent electrical model which can be used
to explain the charging process is shown in figure 2.8. The terminal current

Figure 2.8: Electrical equivalent circuit model of a cell with charging resis-
tance, storage element and gassing current.

It is shown entering the cell from the right and it ideally recharges the
cell. In real situations, however, parasitic effects occurs, thus the charge Q
which enters the electrolyte storage element, Uoc , is transported by a smaller
current Ict . The difference between It and Ict is the parasitic current Igas
which model the gas formation during charging phase, whereas the charging
resistance Rchrg inhibits the charging reaction from taking place. The whole
quantities represented in the equivalent circuit are dependent on the SoC;
the OCV relationship has been explained in previously chapter whereas the
charging resistance and gassing current are fairly constant during most of
the charging phase but their value rapidly increase at the end of the charging
process. This relationship exploit an important safety problem: at the end
of the charging process, gas are usually created inside a fully charged cell,
and they may lead to fire and explosion due to overpressure [22]. This
34 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

safety problem reinforce the need of suitable charging algorithm, to avoid

overcharging, overtemperature and cells damage.

Basic Charging Profiles This paragraph discusses the basic charging

profiles traditionally used for Lead Acid, NI-Mh and Lithium batteries.

Constant Current Constant Voltage (CC-CV) At the beginning

of CC-CV method a constant current equal to, or lower than, the maximum
C rate of the cell is applied to the battery under charge until the maxi-
mum charge voltage is reached. At that point the charger operating mode
turns to constant voltage output, which is maintained across the battery
terminals until the charge termination criterion is satisfied, as explained in
figure 2.9. Normal charging termination happens when the battery is fully
charged. A popular criterion to determine full charge holds that a battery is
fully charged when the maximum charging voltage has been reached (thus
changing the charge mode to CV), and when the falling value of the charge
current (happens after the change to CV) is below a certain fraction (usually
1/30 to 1/10) of the battery maximum charge rate [23]. Another termina-
tion approach uses a timeout, stopping the charging after the charger has
been in constant voltage mode for two hours, but many other interruption
criteria are possible such as cell temperature and gas pressure measure-
ment. Traditionally, at the end of the charging process, if batteries are still
under charge, trickle charging is performed, in order to protect cells from
overcharging. CC-CV is the most important charging method for Lithium

Figure 2.9: Time evolution of CC-CV charge of a Li-on cell.

battery, and in practice it is the mainly used in industrial application.

2.3. BATTERY THERMAL MANAGEMENT 35

Pulse trickle charging For batteries which are less thermally stable,
or for batteries which are being ”fast charged,” a pulse type trickle charging
is often preferred. In this method, which is often used with VRLA and Ni-
MH cells, at the end of the normal constant voltage charging regime, a set
of current pulses are applied to the battery and they are usually terminated
by a simple timer. The advantage of pulses is that cells inside the battery
have time to thermally equalise and the accumulated acid at the electrode-
electrolyte interface has a chance to diffuse into the electrolyte.

BMS as charging supervisor Previously explained techniques are

traditionally used to control the charging process, as in Lithium batteries
where CC-CV is the pretty only accepted method. To obtain a CC-CV
charging or any different charging profile, a smart charger, which is mainly
a charger with additional electronic logic, is needed. In fact, many chargers
have charging profile for a particular type of battery. Experimental results
shows that a dedicated charging profile may be the best solutions, but there
is also another possibility: the BMS is more able to know when a battery
have to be charged (because it knows the voltage of each cell) than the
charger (which only knows the total voltage) [24]. Using the BMS to control
the charging process and a simple charger with simplified logic could be a
reasonable solutions, in order to reduce costs and obtain the same (or even
better) performances.

2.3 Battery thermal management

The main goal of batteries inside an electric vehicle is supplying the electric
motor and due to unavoidable losses, batteries waste a percentage of the de-
livered power as heat. Each type of battery has a specific maximum allowed
temperature to avoid chemical problems, thus this additional power has to
be removed from the battery pack, in order to keep the temperature lower
than the maximum temperature level. As a matter of fact, an appropriate
thermal management system should be able to keep the temperature be-
tween the values to which the battery provide the best performances. This
considerations exploit the need to heat the batteries, if the external tem-
perature drops below, for example, 0‰. In fact, as previously explained,
batteries’ characteristics reduce at low temperature, but due to the purpose
of this text, which involves the realisation of the battery pack for a SAE
vehicle, whose races take usually place in cold seasons, the heating aspect is
not further examined.
Basically there are two main problems caused by temperature. The first
one is that during charge and discharge phases temperature must not exceed
safety levels decreasing battery performances. Another problem is that the
uneven temperature distribution inside the battery pack lead to a localised
36 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM

deterioration. Thereof, temperature uniformity, within a cell and from cell to

cell, is important to achieve maximum cycle life of cell, module, and pack.
The thermal management system may be passive (i.e., only the ambient
environment is used) or active (i.e., a built-in source provides cooling), and
it can be also divided into three categories based on medium: air, liquid,
phase change material.

2.3.1 Air thermal management

Thinking to use air for battery thermal management may be the simplest
approach, and air cooling systems are used due to cost and space limitations.
Air cooling may refer to natural or forced convection but according to the
experience of commercial electric vehicles it is apparent that air natural
convection for battery dissipation is invalid; for example the Toyota Prius
supplies forced air from the cabin as thermal management, whereas sport
oriented cars like Tesla Roadster need of liquid cooling [25]. In forced con-
vection heat transfer is achieved by directing/blowing air parallel or serial
across a battery module or pack.

2.3.2 Liquid thermal management

A battery thermal management system using liquid could be achieved either
through discrete tubing around each module or submerging modules in a
dielectric fluid for direct contact. A state of the art solutions in liquid cooing
is represented by heat pipes. A heat pipe is a heat transfer device that
combines the principles of both thermal conductivity and phase transition
to efficiently manage heat transfer between two solid interfaces. At the hot
interface of a heat pipe a liquid in contact with a thermally conductive solid
surface turns into a vapour by absorbing heat from that surface. The vapour
then travels along the heat pipe and condenses back into a liquid. The liquid
then returns to the hot interface through either capillary action or gravity,
and the cycle repeats [26]. Heat pipe are deeply used in battery cooling
systems [27] especially in conjunction with sink and air cooling.

2.3.3 PCM thermal management

An ideal thermal management system should be able to maintain the bat-
tery pack at an optimum temperature with low volume, weight and cost
added [25]. Thermal management systems such as forced air cooling and
liquid cooling make the overall system too bulky, complex and expensive
due to blowers, fans, pumps, pipes and other accessories, thus solutions us-
ing PCM for battery thermal energy management were proposed for electric
and hybrid electric vehicle applications. A phase change material (PCM)
is a substance with an high heat of fusion which, melting and solidifying
at a certain temperature, is capable of storing and releasing large amounts
2.3. BATTERY THERMAL MANAGEMENT 37

of energy. Heat is absorbed or released when the material changes from

solid to liquid and vice-versa. Traditional PCMs, such as paraffin, were
taken as the most promising [25] because of large latent heat, nontoxic, not
corrosive, stable and low cost. However, pure paraffin suffers from a low
thermal conductivity. High thermal conductivity PCM is demand strongly
in battery thermal management because if a small volume of the battery has
higher temperature than another one, due to an inhomogeneous tempera-
ture distribution, heat between the two volumes can be exchanged only by
conduction. The main fault in PCM cooling is that if the whole battery pack
is submerged in a PCM material, which is solid at temperature lower than
its melting point, maintenance inside the battery could become difficult.
38 CHAPTER 2. ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEM
 Part II

Battery Pack Design

39
2.4. FSAE RULES 41

As previously explained, the main part of this text involves the reali-
sation of a battery pack for a racing electric vehicle involved in Formula
SAE competitions. As soon as a problem that had never been studied and
analysed before is presented, design approach have to be clearly understood
to produce an high performance, reliable and low cost solution, respecting
strict time dead-line. Typically design methodology firstly require to un-
derstand boundary conditions limiting the project, such as rules, costs and
time limitations, and then if the project has been analysed and resolved
before by other people, it is also important to understand who it has been
done. The same design methodology is used during this thesis. In fact, be-
fore starting the battery design from scratch, boundary conditions limiting
the project space are evaluated. This is done firstly analysing what For-
mula SAE rules, which must always be fulfil by an FSAE vehicle, impose,
and then evaluating design solutions used by other Formula SAE teams in-
volved in electric competitions in order to understand, keep and evolve their
choices. In this chapter in fact, battery design is performed starting from
general vehicle requirements, moving then to electric configuration and con-
nections and exposing, at the end of the part, a mechanical layout for the
entire battery pack. As explained in next section by rules, battery design
is tightly coupled with other mandatory components and then their choice,
based on a trade off between costs and performances are also explained. All
other components which are not related with the battery are not further
explained.

2.4 FSAE rules

Formula SAE is an international competition supported by the Society of
Automotive Engineers since 1978 with combustion engine vehicles and has
recently expanded to include electric vehicle. The competition is held every
year at many locations around the world and challenges university students
to design, construct and race Formula style vehicles providing an oppor-
tunity to learn in a simulated working environment that incorporates with
real-world situations. The competition itself compromises of static events
where students present details of the design, cost and manufacturing pro-
cesses and dynamic events that test vehicles acceleration, braking, handling
and safety.
The aim of this thesis is to design the battery pack of the new Formula
SAE car of the ”E-Team Squadra Corse” of the University of Pisa in com-
pliance with the latest Formula SAE rules. In fact the competition imposes
strict design guidelines included on the ”FSAE rules” book which is the
collection of all the technical specifications that must be always fulfil by a
SAE vehicle. According to the purpose of this text SAE rules are evaluated
in order to extract the general shape of the electric circuitry inside the car,
42

how rules reflect to the battery project and also understand how it should
be connected with the other electric and electronic subsystems. The most
important electrical rules involved on battery pack design are summarised
and commented in this section, whereas other electrical ones which are not
connected with battery design are not explained on this text.

2.4.1 Definitions
The uppermost aspect that can be observed in Formula SAE rules is safety.
This is also an important foundation of SAE competitions in general, and
it reflects in electrical rules with strict definitions on voltage levels: in fact
whenever a circuit has a potential difference greater than 40 V DC or 25
V AC RMS it is defined as part of the High Voltage or traction system,
whereas Low voltage is defined as any voltage below and including 40 V
DC or 25 V AC RMS. This is the most important electrical classification
provided by SAE rules: two distinct voltage level must be managed inside
the vehicle and this reflect directly to the circuitry: the traction system (TS)
circuit is defined as every part that is electrically connected to motors and
accumulators and it is an high voltage system by definition, whereas the
grounded low voltage (GLV) system of the car is defined as every electrical
part that is not part of the traction system and it is a low voltage system.
The differences between low and high voltage systems is also highlighted
on their connections: the GLV system must be grounded to the chassis
as opposed to the traction one, which must be completely isolated from
the chassis and any other conductive parts of the car. As explained later,
an electronic circuitry called IMD is used to guarantee it. There must be
no connection between the frame of the vehicle (or any other conductive
surface that might be inadvertently touched by a crew member or spectator),
and any part of any traction system circuits. traction system and GLV
circuits must be physically segregated such that they are not run through
the same conduit, except for interlock circuit connections. Where both
traction system and GLV are present within an enclosure, they must be
separated by insulating barriers made of moisture resistant. The maximum
voltage allowed on the traction system is not strictly defined by SAE rules,
but it is different for each different competitions as summarised in figure
2.10.

2.4.2 Wiring
Wires, terminals and other conductors used on the traction system must
be sized appropriately for the continuous traction system current and must
be marked with wire gauge, temperature rating and insulation voltage rat-
ing. The minimum acceptable temperature rating for traction system cables
is 90‰. All traction system wiring running outside of electrical enclosures
2.4. FSAE RULES 43

Figure 2.10: Maximum allowed voltage for different competition

must either be enclosed in separate orange non-conductive conduit or use an

orange shielded cable. Wiring that is not part of the traction system must
not use orange wiring.

2.4.3 Battery limitations: types, container and connections

According to rules, there is no limit on motor power, whereas there is a
limitation on the energy drawn from the battery that must not exceed 85
kW. Violating these values will lead to disqualification for the entire dynamic
event in which the violation occurred, and the energy drawn is checked by
judges an energy meter, which is also used to evaluate the amount of energy
used at the end of the endurance, in order to assign fuel economy scores.
Regenerating energy is allowed and unrestricted but only when the vehicle
speed is greater than 5 km/h.
The energy storage devices are also strictly restricted by SAE rules: in
fact, all types of accumulators except molten salt and thermal batteries are
allowed; e.g., batteries, super-capacitors, etc. are allowed, but fuel cells are
prohibited. All cells or super-capacitors which store the traction system
energy must be enclosed in an accumulator containers. Even the accumu-
lator container is strictly regulated: in fact if it is made of an electrically
conductive material, poles of the accumulator segments and/or cells must
be isolated from the inner wall of the container with an insulating material
that is rated for the maximum traction system voltage. The accumulator
container has also important limitations on the mechanical configuration: all
accumulator containers must be rugged and rigidly mounted to the chassis to
prevent the containers from loosening during dynamic events or possible ac-
cidents. The accumulator segments contained within the accumulator must
44

be also separated by an electrically insulating and for all cell chemistries

different from LiFeP04 ones, barriers must also be fire resistant (according
to UL94-V0, FAR25 or equivalent). Holes, both internal and external, in
the container are only allowed for the wiring-harness, ventilation, cooling or
fasteners. One of the most important aspects during battery pack realisa-
tion are cells electric connections; rules forbid soldering in the high current
path, thus other solutions have to be taken. In order to dimension wire size,
maximum currents and temperature have to be analysed as usual, but in
addiction rules force that every wire used in an accumulator container, no
matter whether it is part of the GLV or traction system, must be rated to
the maximum traction system voltage.

2.4.4 Battery related components

Lots of components have to be included in order to realise compliant battery
pack: for example in every accumulator container at least two isolation
relays, which must open both the accumulator poles must be installed. If
these relays are open, no HV have to be present outside the accumulator
container, thus they must be of a normally open type.
As explained during first chapter, batteries must be always controlled
by an electronic circuitry called BMS in order to keep them inside their safe
operating area. Formula SAE rules impose several regulations on batteries
and battery management. In fact, the BMS must continuously measure the
voltage across every cell, in order to keep cells inside their safety voltage
levels, and it must also continuously measure the temperature of critical
points inside the accumulator to keep cells below their safety temperature
range. In addiction, temperature sensors used by BMS must be directly in
contact with cells.
Each battery container must contain at least one fuse and at least two
accumulator isolation relays, and maintenance plugs, additional contactors
or similar measures have to be taken to allow electrical separation of the
internal cell segments such that the separated cell segments contain a max-
imum static voltage of less than 120 V DC and a maximum energy of 12
MJ. The separation must affect both poles of the segment. This separation
method must be used whenever the accumulator containers are opened for
maintenance and whenever accumulator segments are removed from the con-
tainer. The Accumulator Isolation Relays (AIRs) and the main fuse must
be separated with an electrically insulated and fireproof material from the
rest of the accumulator.

2.4.5 Shutdown Circuit

The shutdown circuit consists of at least 2 master switches, 3 shut-down but-
tons, brake-over travel switch, insulation monitoring device (IMD), inertia
2.4. FSAE RULES 45

switch, brake system plausibility device, all required interlocks and the bat-
tery management system (BMS). If the shutdown circuit is opened/interrupted
the traction system must be shutdown by opening all accumulator isolation
relays and the voltage on the traction system must drop down under 40V
DC or 25V AC RMS in less than five seconds after opening the shutdown
circuit. An explanatory schematic of the required shutdown circuit is shown
in figure 2.11.

Figure 2.11: Shutdown circuit diagram

2.4.6 High Voltage components

Except for the battery ones, which are included in a dedicated section as
previously shown, lots of other devices are fundamentals to the purpose of
project compliant high voltage circuitry and are regulated by FSAE rules.
46

Battery is part of the traction systems, thus an overview of other high

voltage devices required by rules to be included inside the traction system
is performed.
Two traction system voltage measuring points (TSMP) must be con-
nected to the positive and negative motor controller/inverter supply lines
and must be marked HV+ and HV-. TSMP is used by judges during techni-
cal inspections, in order to measure the voltage present on the High Voltage
circuitry and check if the traction system is shut down properly within the
maximum allowed time. Each TSMP must be secured with a current limiting
resistor according to the following table, whereas fusing of the TS measuring
points is prohibited. A 4mm shrouded banana jacks rated to an appropriate

Figure 2.12: TSMP series resistors values

voltage level have to be used for the TSMP connector.

It must be possible to disconnect at least one pole of the traction system
accumulator by quickly removing an unobstructed and directly accessible
element, fuse or connector, in case of a stuck accumulator isolation relays for
example, thus a device generally called ”High Voltage Disconnect” (HVD)
must be included. It must be possible to disconnect it without removing any
bodywork within 10 seconds in ready to race condition, and the HVD must
be positioned above 350 mm from the ground. If a tool is needed to open
the HVD this tool must also be attached to the push bar. If no tools are
needed to open the HVD, an interlock must activates the shutdown circuit
and open the AIRs when the HVD is removed.
Motor controllers in electric vehicles typically have large input capaci-
tance and very low input resistance. As a result, when initially connecting
a battery to the motor controllers, there is an inrush in current which may
cause several problems to other components such as:

ˆ Damaging the motor controller

ˆ Damaging the battery packs itself which are not rated for the inrush
current

ˆ Welding of contactor contacts which cannot be determined by just

looking.

A pre charge circuit, which is allowed and regulated by FSAE rules will
solves these problems, without limiting the operating current of the traction
system. In fact, a circuit that is able to pre charge the intermediate circuit to
2.4. FSAE RULES 47

at least 90% of the accumulator voltage before closing the second AIR must
be implemented. This circuit must be disabled by a deactivated shutdown
circuit, therefore it must not be able to pre charge the system, if the shut-
down circuit is open. If a discharge circuit is needed to guarantee that when
the shutdown circuit is open the voltage drop down to a value lower than 40
V DC in less than five seconds, it must be designed to handle the maximum
discharge current for at least 15 seconds and it must be wired in a way that
it is always active whenever the shutdown circuit is open. Furthermore the
discharge circuit must be fail-safe such that it still discharges the interme-
diate circuit capacitors if the HVD has been opened. Thus, summarising,
regulations involved on the electrical design of the vehicle are summarised
below:
ˆ The traction system or High Voltage (HV) (defined as any voltage
greater than 40 V DC) must be completely isolated from chassis.

ˆ The border between the traction system and Low Voltage (LV) system
(defined as any voltage below 40 V DC) system must be completely
galvanic isolated.

ˆ The LV system must be grounded to chassis.

ˆ Each accumulator container must contain at least one fuse and at least
two contactors.

ˆ Contactors must open both poles of the accumulator.

ˆ Each accumulator cell must be monitored by a Battery Management

system (BMS) to keep its voltage within its safe operating voltage
range.

ˆ The BMS must continuously measure the temperatures of critical

points of the accumulator.

ˆ traction system and LV circuits must be physically segregated such

that they are not run through the same conduit.

ˆ Two traction system measuring points (TSMP) must be installed and

connected to the positive and negative motor controller lines.

ˆ Each TSMP must be secured with a current limiting resistor.

ˆ There must be a High Voltage Disconnect (HVD) that is able to dis-

connect at least one pole of the traction system accumulator.

ˆ Pre charge circuit must be implemented and it must not be able to

pre charge the immediate circuit, if the shutdown circuit is open.

ˆ The shutdown circuit directly carries the current driving the AIR.
48

ˆ All electrical system (both low and high voltage) must be appropriately
fused.

2.4.7 Rules analysis and considerations

Analysing FSAE rules general requirements on battery and high voltage
circuitry are highlighted and with the purpose of realise a rules compliant
battery pack, the following devices have to be chosen:

ˆ AIR

ˆ Battery fuse

ˆ Pre charge and discharge circuits

ˆ HVD

ˆ Wires

Other devices which are obligatory according to FSAE rules are not dis-
cussed in this thesis, mostly because they are not directly connected to the
battery pack, which is indeed the core of the work. As explained later,
a state of the art analysis is performed in order to understand how other
teams had realised their car, and couple their choices with rules restriction,
to limit the boundary of our project. Analysing SAE rules, however, some
important electric considerations which lead to the first design choice can
be outlined: the maximum allowed voltage is not limited by rules, but each
competitions have its own limitations. Traditionally, Italian and German
competitions are the reference ones to which our team participate, so 600 V
could be the ideal target to become the maximum traction system voltage.
In addiction, to obtain the same amount of power, the higher the voltage the
lower the current. This is an important feature for the whole traction sys-
tems; reducing the current lead to a weight reduction of the whole vehicle,
which is an important feature for a racing car. Summarising, the maximum
traction system voltage is chosen to be 600 V.
FSAE rules analysis explain another important limitation: the maximum
amount of power which can be drawn by the battery is 85 kW, and this limit
the maximum current on the traction system. This value, however, is indeed
excessive for mechanical reasons: thinking to drawn 85kW from the battery,
even if the efficiency of motor, controller and mechanical transmission is not
unitary, lead to an available mechanical power too high to be managed and
transformed in performance improvement for our vehicle. Inside an electric
vehicle, increasing the power lead to weight increase due to additional need
of energy which is obtained with additional battery. A carefully choice in
power limit is then fundamental, and its calculations is performed later on
the text.
2.5. FORMULA SAE VEHCILES ANALYSIS 49

2.5 Formula SAE Vehciles analysis

As soon as general requirements are obtained by rules analysis, the max-
imum traction system voltage is selected, but another important part of
preliminary work is understanding if commercial components with required
voltage level are available, and in case what should be home-made. It is
therefore important the way devices are sized, and in particular understand-
ing the amount of energy needed inside the car is fundamental to battery
sizing and choosing. As soon as the amount of energy is chosen, the maxi-
mum current will be estimated and then wires, fuses and AIR will be chosen.
The work explained in this thesis had never been done before at the
University of Pisa, thus lack of experience about general order of magnitude
is relevant. For example, the amount of energy needed to complete an
endurance event is unknown, and so the optimal power of electric motor
is. In order to fill the gaps and understand energy and power requirements
of cars a state of the art analysis is performed. The results of course are
not used as they are, but they are only a starting point which must be
adapted and validated with other simulations. Formula SAE competitions
are student competitions whose primary goal is improve student experience
with a realistic working experience, and competition itself is just an excuse
to drive students to think, project end experience new ideas. According to
this idea, usually winning teams performs small presentations about their
cars and explain the way they used to project and realise their vehicle. The
analysis thus try to gather data and information to understand the order of
magnitude of power, energy and other design parameters.
Formula Student Germany is the most important SAE competitions, and
then the overall results of two past editions are analysed in order to under-
stand which are the best team, and then focus the attention on their cars.
The overall results of the electric Formula Student Electric competitions
2012 and 2011 are summarised in table 2.13 and 2.14 respectively. It is
easy to understand that the best teams are pretty the same and they are the
subjects of my survey; figure 2.15 and 2.16 summarise the results. Results
evaluated by previously exposed table are interesting: the best team (Delft)
uses, for its last vehicle, a voltage level of 600 V which validate the previous
choice, and teams which in the past chose a lower voltage, moved to higher
voltage during next years. All the teams also chose for their cars LiPo cells,
in order to obtain high power and energy density. This is a predictable
choice in a racing context, where weight reduction and power improvement
are fundamental. Another important aspect of the survey is energy capacity,
which is fairly constant from the whole cars, varying in a range of 5 and 7
kWh. These are interesting values which must be indeed especially fit on
each car, mostly because the energy capacity is tightly related to vehicle’s
power and weight. The analysis however covers and expose values used by
top teams which are able to produce light cars, using particular details in
50

Figure 2.13: 2012 FS Germany results

Figure 2.14: 2011 FS Germany results

2.5. FORMULA SAE VEHCILES ANALYSIS 51

Figure 2.15: Comparative table

Figure 2.16: Comparative table

52

layout, chassis and aerodynamic design; this technology are extremely ex-
pensive and unaffordable for our team which must necessary use traditional
ones, reflecting on vehicle’s weight improvement. Energy requirement has
been evaluated with software simulations: as previously explained German
competitions is the most important on SAE events and it has been used as
a test bench. In fact, the ideal geometric trajectory of Hockeneim circuit
has been calculated by Vehicle Engineering students and used as input of a
vehicle models: the other electric parameter are the maximum power avail-
able at the wheels and the amount of energy regenerated during braking.
The first one has been evaluated with parametric sweep analysis whereas the
amount of regenerated energy has been calculated as the 20% percentage of
the delivered power, which is a pretty standard literally value. The other
parameter used inside the model are mechanical, layout and dynamic ones
and are not further explained on the text. Results shown the amount of
energy needed is about 7 kWh with a delivered maximum power of about 40
kW. The ideal power value is refined, as explained next in this work, in or-
der to complete the whole endurance event, as soon as an accurate electrical
battery simulation is performed. Figure 2.17 shows simulation results: the
black line expounds the power required to complete a single race, whereas
green line shows regenerated power during braking. Maximum power levels
both in charge and discharge situations can be set, and orange and red lines
expound regenerated and provided power limits respectively. On the bot-
tom side of figure 2.17, energy requirements are explained: on the left side
the energy provided by the battery is shown, and on its right side regener-
ated one is displayed. Their difference is shown in the middle, as ”Energia
Netta”, whereas ”Energia Lorda” expound the energy necessary to complete
an endurance event, including regeneration e and also an additional safety
energy rate of about 20% which is necessary to be inside the battery at the
end of the race.
Summarising the boundary conditions analysis performed, it is possible
to sum up the following electric choice useful to continue with the battery
pack design:

ˆ Maximum Voltage = 600 V

ˆ Amount of energy ≈ 7 kWh

ˆ Maximum power ≈ 40 kW
2.5. FORMULA SAE VEHCILES ANALYSIS 53

Figure 2.17: Single race simulation results

54
Chapter 3

Components Selection

At the end of rules and state of the art analysis, components used within
the High Voltage circuit and the battery pack are highlighted and also volt-
age, energy and power levels are fixed, thus essential requirements on device
choice are pretty highlighted. In order to get a device, there are typically
two opposite solutions: searching on the market for commercial products or
developing new ones. Both solutions have advantages and disadvantages:
searching for commercial products typically imply higher costs and lower
performances compared to the optimization achievable by custom solutions.
Developping new products, however, require experience and time. Due to
the lack of experience of all team members about electric vehicle, and in
order to reduce development time, all the power electric and electronic com-
ponents are commercial solutions, and on this chapter their selective crite-
rion are explained, starting from vehicle requirements and moving through
the whole project space, searching for the optimal solutions in terms of per-
formances, costs, weight and safety.

3.1 Motor and Motor Controller selection

After rules and comparative analysis, the amount of energy and power are
highlited. Energy is fundamental and involves only with battery design,
whereas the maximum power provided by the electric motor is a parameter
”shared” with dynamic and mechanic layout. From an electronic point of
view, the best choice in order to obtain high power and torque density,
low weight and high reliability is a brushless motor, even if their control is
more complicated than other motor types. The electric motor choice reflects
with layout and mechanic engineering, for example on motor numbers: if a
single motor is used then a mechanic differential gear must be used, and the
vehicle’s weight increase. The maximum total power have to be limitated
according to simulation results (which satisfy rules) and even if powerful
motors are available on the market, such as the Yasa 750H which is able

55
56 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

to produce a peak power of 150 kW and a peak torque of 700 Nm with

a total weight of 25 kg, in order to reduce the weight of the vehicle, a
single motor with differential gear is not used but two motors acting on
the rear wheels with fixed reduction gear are chosen. Using two separate
motors less powerful than the Yasa one leads to an optimizitation of cost
and weight: in fact the total power is significantly lower than the Yasa one,
but suffiecient to meet simulation results. Enrmax 200 motors is choos: it
is able to provide about 35 kW of continuous power with a singluar weight
of 8,7 kg and abot 31 kg including two motor and their related controller.
In addiction the total cost of motors and controllers is lower than Yasa one.
According to the aim of this thesis, motor choice is not further examined, but
the attention moves on the motor controller, which are directly connected
to the battery pack. Enrmax motor are sinusoidal brushless motor, thus a
generic controller could be used; Enrmax suggest to couple their motor with
a Bamocar D3 700 V controller, which has been carefully characterized with
Enrmax motor, and whose paramter are available to Enrmax customers. The
whole characteristics of the controller are not exposed, but some particular
ones are evaluated next during the text. Figure 3.1 and 3.2 shows Enrmax
200 and Bamocar D3.

Figure 3.1: Enrmax 200

3.2. CELL SELECTION 57

Figure 3.2: Bamocar D3

3.2 Cell selection

3.2.1 Physical and electrical requirements
Cell choice is obviously one of the most important aspect involved in battery
pack design and lots of characteristics have to be carefully evaluated. First
of all, vehicular aspects lead to power improvement and weight reduction,
which is pretty easy to understand in a racing vehicle. Contrary to tra-
ditional electric vehicles, energy density is not a really important bond on
cells choice, because a Formula SAE vehicle is typically involved in short
competitions, which last up to half an hour. This lead to highlight the first
desired characteristics: cells should be an high power model, instead of an
high energy one. In fact, if an energy oriented is chosen, the total weight
of the vehicle could be increased, firstly because the higher the energy, the
heavier the cell, and also because in order to reach 7 kWh of energy, few
cells are needed, reducing the voltage to a value lower than 600 V, which
increases wires and motor weights, due to the additional copper. In order to
meet these constraints, Lithium chemistry, which is the state of the art so-
lutions in contemporary EVs should be chosen, and in particular LiPo ones,
due to their high power density compared with other Lithium batteries.
Cells connection is also an important aspect of battery pack design; it
is pretty obvious that series connection improves voltage whereas parallel
connection improves current. In the past, when high power batteries with
related capacity greater than 10 Ah were not available, parallel connection
were used. Parallelling cells is a problem: in fact, a cell can be thought
as a voltage generator whose voltage and series equivalent resistance levels
depend on its SoC. When two voltage sources are connected in parallel, if
58 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

voltage levels are not the same, there may be an inrush in current. Different
voltage across a cell are directly related to different state of charge levels, and
unfortunately, as explained during part one, it is a really frequent situations
in practical application, due to the unavoidable mismatch in cells production
that leads to different parameters. This may be a critical conditions, as
explained in figure 3.3 where an empty cell is connected in parallel to other
fully charged cells.

Figure 3.3: Inrush in current due to different voltage levels

The inrush in current produces two negative aspects: it may damage the
cell if the current amplitude is higher than its safety limits, and secondly
there is an amount of energy wasted as heat. Connecting cells in parallel is
also possible, but it must be carefully done: first of all parallel connections
should be done by cell manufacturer, checking the individual voltage and
resistance, in order to reduce the inrush amplitude, and then each group
of parallel cells can be connected in series with other cells. During the
operation, however, unbalance in cells are inescapable, and balancing tech-
niques have to be used. In conclusion, series connection is always preferred
if possible, and it is the way cells are connected on this text.
If Lithium chemistry and series connection are used, the amount of cells is
definitively fixed; in fact, if the maximum voltage is 600 V and the maximum
cell voltage is 4,2 V the amount of cells n could be easily calculated as:

600
n=
4, 2

the result is 142 cells, but this value will be fit as soon as cell capacity is
chosen.
To understand the amount of current flowing through the battery, and
then choose cell capacity, output power, traction system voltage and battery
chemistry have to be considered. In fact, if Lithium chemistry is used, in
order to obtain 40 kW of mechanic power with an average efficiency of
motor and controller of about 10% as the producer suggests, about 45 kW
of power is drawn from the battery. This power requirements leads to a
3.2. CELL SELECTION 59

Model Nominal Capacity Continuous C Rate Pulse C Rate Dimensions Weight

Kokam SLPB70205130P 12Ah 15 20 220x132x7,5 mm 340g
Kokam SLPB60205130H 13Ah 8 15 220x132x7,3 mm 332g
Tenergy 9759156 10Ah 7 10 157x59,5x9,8 mm 210g
Eig F104 14Ah 5 10 222x129x7,1 mm 383g

Table 3.1: List of potential cells and related characteristics

spread in current values: in nominal conditions, using 142 series connected

cells with a nominal voltage of 3,7 V the flowing current amplitude is:
45000
i= = 85, 65A
3, 7 · 142
and with similar calculation, the highest current value is
45000
i= = 113, 17A
2, 8 · 142
and the lower value is
45000
i= = 75, 45A
4, 2 · 142
which correspond to a fully discharged and fully charged battery pack re-
spectively. Calculated current values are useful to understand the shape of
the desired cell. In fact, summarising, the potential cell could be a LiPo one
and in order to obtain the required energy of 7 kWh with a total voltage of
600 V, cell capacity should be
7000
Cn = = 11, 67Ah
600
with at least a C rate of 11. At the end of these calculations both physical
and electric target requirements are obtained, and they are used to find on
the market a cell that meets required characteristics.

3.2.2 Market Analysis

This section explain the way the ideal cell identified during last section is
fitted into a real one. Various configurations are examined and discussed,
in order to find the best trade off between performances and cost, which
is always a strong bond in all the engineering projects, especially in an
innovative one. Analysing market solutions to find the ideal cell is quite
difficult because producers have a wide portfolio which may not include
target capacity or current ratings. Table 3.1 summarize research results,
showing only prospective cells. Other producers such as A123, Minamoto
and Yok have been examined, but their cells do not fit our capacity rating,
thus they are not summarised in table 3.1.
Observing results shown in table above, Eig cell’s capacity is a little bit
too high than the target value of about 11 Ah, whereas Tenergy one show
60 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Model Maximum Voltage Cells number Continuous Current Pulse current Total weight
Kokam 12Ah 583V 138 180A 240A 46.9Kg
Kokam 13Ah 538V 128 104A 195A 42.5kg
Eig 14Ah 500V 119 70A 140A 45.6kg

Table 3.2: Potential battery pack and related characteristics

lower capacity value than the desired one. In fact if Eig is used, in order to
reach the required energy value of 7 kWh, about 120 cells are needed and
the maximum total voltage is about 500 V, whereas using Tenergy one, is
not possible to meet the energy target with a voltage limit of 600 V using
only series connection. Thus, only Kokam and Eig cells can be used. The
first Kokam cell (SLPB70205130P) seems a pretty ideal solution; in fact its
nominal capacity is very similar to the target value and it also shows high
C rates, which easily allows to meet previously calculated current limits of
75 A and 113 A during the best and worst case respectively. The second
Kokam cell (SLPB60205130H) shows a capacity higher than the target value
which reflects into the voltage level. In fact, keeping the total energy con-
stant (the energy is related to the total weight, thus its value should not
be higher than the needed one) , with 13 Ah capacity, the total voltage is
538V obtained by 128 cells. The voltage level is close to the ideal one, then
Kokam SLPB60205130H should be a prospective cell. Summarising, three
prospective battery pack are designed, keeping total energy constant to 7
kWh value, using Kokam and Eig cells in table 3.1 and the results are shown
in table 3.2.
The first battery pack better approximates the ideal electric character-
istics: even if the real voltage is 583 V and the real current during the worst
case is:
45000
i= = 116, 46A
2, 8 · 138
it can easily provide the required current, thanks to the high C rate. The
second battery built by Kokam 13 Ah cells could be a good solutions, but
in this case, the real current flowing during the worst case is:

45000
i= = 125, 56A
2, 8 · 128

which is higher than the desired continuous current. Analysing the third
solutions, current requirements increase: in fact during the worst case the
flowing one is:
45000
i= = 135, 05A
2, 8 · 119
that is a really high value, close to Eig maximum pulse current and then
automatically lead to discharge Eig cell.
In conclusion, Kokam SLPB70205130P is selected thanks to its high C
rate which allow to provide current, limiting stress to the cell. In fact,
3.3. AIR SELECTION 61

due to the racing application, the battery pack is typically susceptible to

fast and heavy discharges during short period of time (about half an hour),
creating electrical stress cells: if stress is reduced cell life cycle increases.
This solution has the drawback of higher weight compared to the other
one, which is always not attractive in racing application. The alternative
battery pack solution using Kokam SLPB60205130H, even if lighter than
the previously explained one, improve the electric stress to the cell and then
is not selected. The choice of improving life time, even if creating an heavier
battery pack is preferred because batteries are the most expansive parts of
an electric vehicle, and then they must be used for at least two or three years.
Choosing the lighter battery pack could be an alternatively solution, which
leads to a reduction in weight of about 7 kg, but it is not performed due
to the limited percentage weight reduction referred to the total estimated
weight of the vehicle, which is about 270 or 280 kg. Figure 3.4 shows Kokam
SLPB70205130P cells.

Figure 3.4: Kokam SLPB70205130P cell

3.3 AIR selection

As rules explain, each battery pack must be protected by two normally open
relays. Due to voltage and current ratings, contactors are used. In fact, a
contactor is basically a relay which is capable of carrying large amount of
current. A number of objectives for finding suitable battery contactor are
62 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Model Maximum Voltage Continuous Current Electric Life (cycles) Coil Power Weight Cost
Tyco EV200 900V 500A 4800 1,7W 430g 193$
Tyco EVC135 Up to 900V 135A 2700 3W 190g 110$
Gigavac GX11 750V 150A 15600 8W 460g 193$
Gigavac GX14 750V 350A 77000 3W 500g 179$

Table 3.3: Potential contactor and related characteristics

set: the most important one, and it is pretty obvious, its related to electric
characteristics that must fit with the traction system one; in addiction the
way the low voltage inductor is activated is examined: in fact the low voltage
circuitry inside the vehicle is chosen to be a 12 V system, thus the contactor
must be controlled by a 12 V coil. The presence of an economizer, which is
a device used to reduce the amount of current necessary to keep energised
the low voltage coil when the contactor is closed, is also a desirable char-
acteristic. Other characteristics such as maximum break or make current,
voltage contact insulation, electric life etc. are also carefully examined.
In order to find the best compromise between electric, mechanic and
economic characteristics, some of the most important electric producers such
as Tyco and Gigavac which provide especially Ev designed contactors are
examined, and the result are shown in table 3.3, which only shows normally
open contactors with 12 V primary coil. Analysing table 3.3 the best choice
could be the Tyco EVC135, which shows proper voltage and current limits
and it is also the lightest and cheapest solutions examined. Unfortunately,
in order to reach the 600 V requirement, Tyco approval should be asked
by submitting a formal proposal to their technical division and wait for
their approval. This increase project complexity and costs, thus in order
to simplify the job and reduce costs, this solution is not further examined.
Looking to remaining contactors in table 3.3, Gigavac ones are not ideal
solutions because are heavier and show worse electric characteristics in terms
of voltage, current and power compared to the Tyco EV200, which is indeed
the chosen device, thanks to its high electric quality, low power consumption
and cost, which is equivalent to the other ones.
As soon as Tyco EV200 is chosen, its electric characteristics are deeply
analysed, in order to confirm the choice. In fact the AIR must protect the
whole traction system, than it must be a reliable and affordable component
to avoid damaging to the battery pack or the traction system and then
relevant economical losses. As previously explained Tyco EV200 is able to
continuously carry up to 500 A (both in make or break operation) with
a maximum break current of 2000 A. In addiction, the maximum make
current to avoid welding current is 650 A which is significantly lower than
the expected current rating, thus welding effects between wires and contactor
terminal are avoided, even during fast transitions. The maximum allowed
voltage between terminals before an electric arc set off is 2200 V an also to
reduce arc detrimental effect on contacts, which inevitably reduce their life
time, magnetic blow outs are used. Contact resistance of about 0.2 mΩ lead
3.4. TRACTION SYSTEM WIRE SELECTION 63

to a voltage drop out of 25 mV if 125 A are carried: this is a negligible value

compared to other voltage levels inside the traction system. It is therefore
important to notice that all the additional characteristics exposed about
Tyco EV200 are quite always better than the other contactors ones. Figure
3.5 shows Tyco EV200 contactor.

Figure 3.5: Tyco EV200 view

3.4 traction system wire selection

Choosing the correct wire for a battery electric vehicle is fundamental be-
cause wires must carry a huge current that leads to reach high temperature.
As previously explained, FSAE rules require traction system wires are or-
ange (this is a standard colour for traction system wires in EVs) with a
minimum temperature rating of 90‰ and correctly sized for the continuous
current flowing into the system. If a normal operating condition is consid-
ered, then the continuous current is
Preq 45000
I= = = 88, 13A
Vnom 138 · 3, 7
but if a worst situation is analysed, that is if full power is required to a
discharged battery pack, than the current become:
Preq 45000
I= = = 116, 45A
Vnom 138 · 2, 8
The last calculated current is the reference one used in wire sizing.
In order to correctly size wires, that is mainly choose the correct wire
section according to current, maximum allowed temperature, and operating
conditions, from an electric point of view, two parameters are used:
ˆ Maximum allowed temperature
64 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

ˆ Maximum voltage drop

The maximum voltage drop is pretty used if wires directly supply motors
that may provide deeply voltage drops due to their relevant inductance, or
in case long wires have to be used. In this project wires directly supply the
motor controller instead of motors, and wires length are less than one metre,
then maximum voltage drop method is not used. The maximum allowed
temperature method, which is used in this text, provide the ideal diameter of
wires when wire material, maximum current and temperature are chosen. In
fact, is pretty obvious that when current flows in wires, an amount of power
is wasted as heat increasing wires temperature. When thermal transients
are finished and stationary situation is reached, the amount of power wasted
as heat on wires must be equal to the heat exchanged with the surrounding.
In mathematical expression:

Pt = R · I 2 = Pexch = λ · A · ∆Tmax

with:
ˆ R=conductor resistance

ˆ I=DC or RMS value of current flowing through the wire

ˆ λ= global thermal transmission coefficient, including convective and

radiation exchange

ˆ ∆TM ax = maximum allowed temperature difference between wire and

surrounding ambient

ˆ A= thermal exchange area between wire and surrounding ambient

On the last expression, designers can act modifying a few parameters such
as conductor resistance and ∆TM ax , whereas I and λ are fixed by operating
conditions. In order to modify conductor resistance, if the same wire shape
is used, typically two different materials such as copper and aluminium can
be chosen. Copper is pretty a traditional solution, whereas aluminium can
be an interesting alternative in order to reduce wire weight: in fact it is quite
kg
lighter than copper, showing a density of about 2.6 dm 3 , about a quarter
kg
of the copper one which is 8.9 dm3 . Unfortunately aluminium is also less
conductive than copper, with a resistivity of about 2,75 ·10−8 Ωm, higher
than the copper one (1,7 ·10−8 Ωm). It is evident that using aluminium
wires a little reduction in weight is possible, but also dimension and costs
increase, thus in this project traditional copper is chosen.
The ideal diameter of wire can be calculated expounding power balance
shown before, as: s
3 4ρI 2
d=
π 2 λ∆TM ax
3.5. HVD SELECTION 65

which lead, if a traditional circular copper conductor is chosen, with a

W
typical value for λ of 15 K·m 2 and ∆TM ax = 30 [28] to an ideal diameter
d=6,2 mm and a cross sectional area of 30,5 mm2 . This area correspond to
an AWG 2 wire size, that in fact, according to table conversion, carries about
115 A at 75‰ with PVC insulator and copper conductor. The maximum
area corresponding to AWG 2 wires is 33 mm2 , which is really close to the
value calculated before; thus AWG 1 wire is selected. In order to commer-
cially found an appropriate wire corresponding to desired characteristics,
some producers solutions is investigated: Tecnofuture SRL is recognised to
be a prospective producer and its H05V2V2-F wire is an interesting solu-
tion, providing desired temperature and electric characteristics. In order to
improve temperature limits choosing wires designed to sustain higher tem-
perature and then higher current than the chosen one, different insulator
material are used: just to give an example, Coroplast 9-2611 that has been
especially designed for electric vehicle power train, uses Silicone insulator
and then is able to reach up to 180‰, allowing higher ∆TM ax and higher
current. Due to its high cost (about 22$ metre) it is not the choice for this
project.

3.5 HVD selection

A High voltage disconnect (HVD) is necessary for electric race cars like
Formula SAE-Electric ones as required by rules. The HVD must be able
to disconnect at least one pole of the traction system, providing insulation
between the battery pack and traction system and protection for users work-
ing during downtime situations or rescue operation after an incident, thus
to achieve this it must be manually activated. Analysing market finding
suitable solutions for the project has been incredibly difficult: lots of de-
vices do not meet our voltage or current levels, or in case they meet them,
they are typically expensive and heavy solutions like big circuit breaker.
The only one, but reliable and perfectly compliant with rules and electric
requirements device found is the TE AMP 800, which is an especially de-
signed solution for battery connection inside EVs, with 1000 V and 250 A
limits in voltage and current respectively. The only possible drawback is
that TE AMP 800 works only with a limited range of wires area, from 16
up to 50 mm2 . Fortunately, this is not a problem, because selected wires
are included within the range. Figure 3.6 shows TE AMP 800.

3.6 Fuse selection

The main purpose of a fuse is battery protection during a short circuit
situation, with secondary protection for controller or motor failure. There
are many different types of fuses available on the market, from Slow Acting
66 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Figure 3.6: TE AMP 800 view

to Very Fast Acting fuse, making selection somewhat daunting. Bamocar,

which is the the motor controller producer suggests to include a 250 A fuse
in series connection with battery pack, in order to protect a single electric
motor. In fact, the maximum allowed current for Enrmax motor is 240 A,
so a 250 A fuse is suggested. The main fuse task however, as previously
explained, is providing protection to the battery pack. Thanks to the high
C rates of Kokam SLPB70205130P cells, up to 240 A of current can be
provided by cells without damaging, so this must be the maximum current
allowed to be delivered by battery, and also the fuse melting current.
Market analysis performed in order to find desired fuse shown lack of
devices combining good electric characteristics, light design and affordable
price. The analysis is performed searching for fast act fuses, which reduces
the amount of time needed to melt, and then the stress to the battery pack.
The selected model is the Cooper Bussmann PVS-R-125 one, a 600 V, 125
A fast acting fuse. Its melting time characteristics that is used to choose the
fuse current rating, is shown in figure 3.7: the melting plot for 125A fuse
model is not shown, but it can be easily extrapolated by 100 A and 200 A
ones and the melting time for over-current situations (about 300 A) is about
12 seconds, reducing up to 3 second for 500 A current, avoiding potential
risks for battery pack. The 125 A rating is not limiting for normal battery
operations because the highest current value flowing through the traction
system in absence of fault or short circuit is:

45000
i= = 116, 45A
2, 8 · 138
3.7. BATTERY CHARGER SELECTION 67

a value lower than the fuse current rating. It is also important to realise

Figure 3.7: Melting time characteristics at various current rating

that the selected fuse also gives protection to the motor, because its current
limit is 240 A which is the same of the battery pack, thus the same current
limitations can be used. Figure 3.8 shown Bussmann PVS-R-125 fuse.

3.7 Battery charger selection

Charger is required to recharge the battery pack once its available energy
is near depletion due to usage. A number of objectives for finding suitable
battery charger for the vehicle are set. Firstly, the charger must be suitable
for charging the accumulator packs of 600 V and it must also be able to
provide desired current to the battery pack, which is limited to 12 Ah (1C)
as Kokam suggests, even if lower C rates are typically used during slow
68 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Figure 3.8: Bussmann PVS-R-125 fuse

charging. In addiction weight is not considered as the charger will not be

mounted inboard as this will add an additional weight to the vehicle and
could affect its performance. Meeting these mandatory requirements is not
difficult so a set of secondary ones is also used in choosing the most suitable
charger and they are as follow:

ˆ Programmable: A charger with a fully programmable charging profile

for complete control of the output voltage and current could be the
ideal solutions, because the typical CC-CV charging profile is adapted
and fitted to selected cells.

ˆ Control input: Charger could be controlled through a dedicated input

such that it can stop from charging when the battery is fully charged.
Finding a charger with a standard interface (RS 232 or CAN) allows
to connect it with the BMS, ensuring full cell protection.

ˆ Price: chargers are typically expensive devices, with prices up to a few

thousand Euro for the most ”intelligent” ones. As explained later, the
most ”intelligent” the charger, the higher the price.

ˆ Efficiency: The higher the efficiency, the faster the charging and also
the lower energy is wasted as heat, reducing fan requirements.

Finding commercial solutions fitting desired requirements is not really

difficult; some interesting charger such as Brusa NLG5 and Elekto Au-
tomatik BCI8000 are found: they are both completely programmable so-
lutions able to set and act specified CC-CV profiles, fitted on the desired
3.7. BATTERY CHARGER SELECTION 69

cell. The electric characteristics are fully compliant, with voltage ranges up
to 700 V and power size between 1,5 and up to 15 kW of power and also they
both have RS232 and CAN interfaces. Their drawback is cost: in fact their
prices are higher than 2500 $. In order to find the best compromise between
performances and costs, another solution is possible: as explained at the
end of part 1, choosing a smart intelligent charger inside a vehicle where
a BMS is also available could lead to an excessive amount of ”intelligence”
inside the car. In fact, if a battery management system is available, there is
no need to dispose of custom charging profile fitted on the particular kind
of cell: a simple CC-CV charger, without the possibility of making custom
profile, connected with the BMS is also an interesting solutions, at a reduced
price. According to BMS producer, fully charging a Lithium battery pack
with a CC-CV (Constant Current / Constant Voltage) charger and a BMS
requires three stages:

ˆ Full charge: charger is fully on (full current: CC), until a cell reaches
its maximum voltage

ˆ Balance: charger goes off and on (full current: CC), while BMS bal-
ances cells, until all reach 100% SoC

ˆ Top off: charger stays on (full voltage: CV), while the current is re-
duced exponentially down to 0

Figure 3.9 shows charging stage, where HLIM is a digital dedicated signal
provided by the BMS, in order to highlights if a single cell reach its fully
charged voltage. Finding reliable dumb charger fitting on desired electric
levels is not really easy; in fact lots of products are available at lower voltage
level, but few solutions reaches 600 V of voltage. FSAE rules also require
during charging activity the whole battery pack is supervised by the BMS
in order to avoid potentially dangerous situations. In order to do this, the
battery charger must also provide a 12 V output used to supply the BMS
and a relay connected in series with the AC line, which is used by the BMS
to directly interrupt charging process and allow balancing process. Figure
3.10 explain this.
Ennebi elettronica, a specialised solar system producer has been con-
tacted and selected as a prospective partner: they traditionally works on
solar energy systems, and fortunately, the desired voltage level fits perfectly
with a standard solar system one. This allow them to provide us a dumb
charger, which is basically an AC-DC converter with output current control
at a reduced price compared to the smart charger previously explained, thus
it is the selected charging device. In order to power the low voltage system
of the car, including cooling fans, low voltage relay, electronic control board,
safety light etc, a 12 V source must be available inside the vehicle. This lead
to another problem; in an EV there is no electric generator connected to the
70 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Figure 3.9: Charging phases with constant CC-CV charger and BMS
3.8. PRE CHARGE AND DISCHARGE CIRCUITS 71

Figure 3.10: Charger-BMS connection during charging phase

crankshaft as in traditional cars, thus there is no way to refill a traditional

12 V Lead-Acid battery. To overcome this problem a fairly easy solution is
used: the low voltage battery is recharged by a step down DC-DC converter
(600 V to 12 V) connected to the main battery charger. The connection be-
tween converter and battery is managed by a NC serially serially connected
and open as soon as the charging process is terminated and the 12 V battery
supply the whole low voltage systems.
The low voltage consumption is estimated to be about 130 W thus the
DC-DC converter power is about 150 W. Test activities will be done as soon
as the car is physically realised to explain if partially energy refilling are
necessary during endurance events, so the serially connected relay have to
be closed again by the low voltage systems. Figure 3.11 explain the low
voltage charging connections, highlighting the GLMS switch, the manual
switch included to start the low voltage system.

Figure 3.11: Main battery and DC DC converter connection

3.8 Pre charge and discharge circuits

When initially connecting a battery to a load with capacitive input, there
is an inrush of current as the load capacitance is charged up to the battery
72 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

voltage. Using large batteries with low source resistances, the inrush in
current can easily peak 1000 A. Formula SAE rules require to create a pre
charge circuit able to pre charge the traction system to at least 90% of the
traction system voltage before closing the main AIR. A discharge circuit
is not obligatory, but FSAE rules require that if the shutdown buttons are
open, the voltage across the traction system must drop to under 40 V DC or
25 V AC RMS in less than five seconds after opening the shutdown circuit.
According to motor controller datasheet, the input capacitance of a single
controller is 400 µF, whereas the DC link between battery and controller has
a total capacitance of about 275 µF. In this project two motor are supplied
in parallel, thus a total capacitance of 1200 µF is present. In order to reach
at least 90% of the total traction system voltage in a reasonable time of 5
second, the time constant τ of the equivalent RC network is about 1 second,
thus the resistor value is 833 Ω. The pre charge resistor needs to dissipate
as much energy as the energy stored in the input capacitors, so with a total
capacitance of 1200 µF and a voltage level of approximately 600 V at the
end of the pre charge, the total energy stored inside the capacitor is:
C · V2
E= = 216J
2
which is equivalent, if the charging time is 5 second, to an average power
of 43,2 W. At the very beginning of charging process, however, the instan-
taneous power dissipated by the resistance is higher than the previously
calculated value: the capacitance can be thought to act as a short-circuit
and the instantaneous power dissipated by the resistance is:
V2
P = = 432W
R
So, during pre charge phase, the resistance is stressed by an sudden, high,
power.
In order to find commercial power resistance fitting electric and power
requirements, lots of devices are evaluated, and the Ohmite L50J800E is
selected. In fact, it is a 50 W 800 Ω resistor, which is able to bear power
10 times higher the nominal power rating for 5 second. In order to simplify
the whole project, due to the chosen pre charging time, it is also possible to
reuse the same component both for charging and discharging circuits. Pre
charge and discharge circuit also require an auxiliary relay that needs to be
rated for the full battery voltage, because when the system is off, the full
battery voltage appears across its contacts. The relay needs to be able to
handle the peak of the inrush current; but, since the average current is low,
and the breaking current is nearly zero, the current rating of the relay is not
critical. In this project the maximum inrush of current, which happens as
previously explain at the beginning of the pre charging phase, is 0,75A. A
suitable commercial relay is the Meder LI12-1A85 one, a 1 A, 1000 V DC
3.9. BMS SELECTION 73

PCB mount relay, with a current limit of about 2,5 A and a 12 V primary
coil, that is perfect to fit inside the low voltage system. Figure 3.12 and 3.13
show pre charge relay and resistor respectively.

Figure 3.12: Precharge resistor

Figure 3.13: Precharge relay

3.9 BMS selection

Finding a suitable and reliable battery management system is pretty one
of the most important tasks during battery pack project. In fact, batteries
are one of the most expansive component inside an electric vehicle, thus
their operating life must be properly checked and supervised by a reliable
electronic circuit. The most important characteristics required to a BMS
are:

ˆ Voltage monitoring of each cell, to prevent undervoltage or overvoltage

situations

ˆ Temeperature monitoring of a cell or groups of cells

ˆ Cell balancing, typically passive one

ˆ Cell parameter (SoC, SoH, internal resistance) calculation

ˆ Distributed architecture, to the purpose of reducing wires and connec-

tion obtaining tidy systems

ˆ Communication between BMS and other devices inside the car via
serial bus, typically CAN or RS232
74 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Finding commercial solutions for battery management system up to 600 V

and 7 kWh of power is not very difficult and interesting devices are made by
Orion, Elithion, Elektromotus and Kokam. All examined products fit elec-
trically to the project, thus selection is based on different criteria: Kokam
systems are custom made solutions especially designed by Kokam engineers
and their cost is about four times higher than commercial solutions, thus
Kokam battery management systems are not selected and further examined.
Orion BMS is an interesting solution: the system is a distributed one includ-
ing passive cell balancing, voltage fault protection, digitally communication
etc. as explained in figure 3.14. Its cost is aligned with traditionally mar-

Figure 3.14: Orion BMS overview

ket ones, but it is not selected due to an important drawback: in order to

measure cells temperature, on a basic configuration, it uses 4 thermistor
measuring the average temperature inside the battery pack. FSAE rules
require the temperature of at least 30% of cells inside the pack is measured,
thus additional sensors have to be used. In fact it is possible to include
external auxiliary thermistor, even if the whole circuit is more complicated
than the basic one, and also costs increase. Other systems perform all mea-
surements without additional component at lower costs, thus Orion BMS is
not selected. Elektromotus BMS is another interesting solution that per-
fectly meets all desired requirements at affordable price, thus it could be the
selected device. Elithion, a leader company on battery management systems
produces two different BMS models, named Lithiumate Lite and Lithiumate
Pro. The first one is a basic and economic BMS model which can not be
used in this project, because it works only with prismatic cells, and Kokam
cells are pouch ones. Lithiumate Pro is an expensive systems, whose main
3.9. BMS SELECTION 75

features are:

ˆ Plug and play installation

ˆ Distributed (a cell board is mounted on each cell: measures voltage

and temperature, balances the cell)

ˆ Minimum number of wires in HV pack, single wire to adjacent cell

boards

ˆ Up to 256 cells (about 900 V), in up to 16 banks, and up to 16 strings

in parallel

ˆ Supports all cell form factors: prismatic, small large cylindrical, pouch

ˆ Protects cells from over current, under/over voltage, under/over tem-

perature

ˆ Dissipative (passive) balancing

ˆ Ensure control of each cell voltage and temperature

ˆ CAN and RS232 communications

ˆ Fully configurable

ˆ Cable mount Hall Effect current sensor

ˆ Contactor, fan and pre charge relay drivers

ˆ Optical isolation between pack and low voltage circuit

ˆ Graphics User Interface

This system is an ideal solutions that of course meets all desired character-
istics and include some extra facilities such as logic drivers for relay, fan and
contactor and also a GUI which allows to easily control the whole system.
The most important drawback of Lithiumate Pro is cost; in fact it is the
most expansive solutions examined, so it could not be selected. Fortunately,
due to sponsorship, the total cost required by Elithion become the lowest
between all the examined systems, thus battery management system choice
become easy to do; Lithiumate Pro combine highest performance and lowest
cost and it is the selected system. The basic Lithiumate Pro system consists
of a controller, cell boards and current sensor as explained in figure 3.15.
Detailed connection are explained in next chapter. Figure 3.16 and 3.17
show Lithiumate Pro controller and pouch cell board respectively.
76 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Figure 3.15: Lithiumate BMS overview

Figure 3.16: Lithiumate Pro controller

Figure 3.17: Pouch cell board

3.10. COMPONENTS CONNECTIONS 77

3.10 Components connections

In order to realise the battery pack for a Formula SAE vehicle, lots of dif-
ferent components have to be selected an connected each other. Component
selection has been previously explained, whereas how components are con-
nected each other is explained in details during this chapter. Low voltage
connections, that are of course necessary to properly supply traction system
components are not examined.

3.10.1 Battery connections

Battery pack external connections are pretty easy to understand: two power
connectors have to be included in order to provide voltage to the traction
system. FSAE rules require that each connector inside the traction system
circuit must include an interlock to avoid undesired disconnections. Lots of
connectors are available on the market; for example Bamocar motor con-
troller uses Pfisterer P1 connectors: they have high electric and thermal
rating (1250 V DC up to 400 A and 150 ‰ as maximum allowed temper-
ature) that seems a little bit over sized for the designed battery. However,
power connectors are expensive components; prices for high quality ones are
really high, about 40e both for plugs and socket. In order to reduce costs
buying a large amount of connectors, Pfisterer P1 connectors, which include
a safety interlock as FSAE rules require, are used even for the battery pack.
Figure 3.18 shows Pfistere P1 plug and socket.

3.10.2 BMS connections

BMS controller manages high voltage connections through opto-isolated de-
vices, and low voltage ones related to cell monitoring. Even if low voltage
connections are not related to traction system, BMS ones are explained in
order to understand how controller works. In figure 3.16 the controller is
shown; lots of connectors are available, and on the upper side of it, bank
connections, which are the ones used to check cells parameter are shown.
Lithiumate Pro BMS can handle battery packs with up to 256 cells in se-
ries, but for technical reasons, and for reliability, the BMS views the battery
pack as composed of a number of groups, called ”banks”. This does not
mean that the pack itself is physically divided in sections: it only regards
the way the BMS sees the pack. A Bank is a set of cells wired in series
that communicates with the controller through its own communication ca-
ble. So, if the pack is divided into 3 banks, there are 3 cables between the
BMS controller bank output and each of those banks. While it is convenient
to divide a pack into banks of equal number of cells in series, that is not
necessary, and indeed is not always possible. When choosing the number of
cells per bank, two opposing criteria must be considered: for reliability it
78 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Figure 3.18: Pfisterer P1 plug and socket

3.10. COMPONENTS CONNECTIONS 79

is preferred to use many banks: if one bank fail to communicate, the other
ones can be used to guess the state of the broken bank. On the other hand,
for convenience, it is preferred to use few banks: fewer banks require fewer
cables, and the assembly time and the cost are lower. As a rule of thumb,
more than 8 banks should be used. All cells inside a bank are serially con-
nected each other by 2 signal wires as in a daisy chain connection, then the
first and the last cells are connected to the controller. In fact, for N cells
in series 1 positive end cell board, N-2 mid bank cell boards and 1 negative
end cell board are needed. This refers to communication signals, but each
board also has two connectors used to monitor battery behaviour. Figure
3.19 explain how 4 cells are checked by four slave boards before series con-
nection is performed: signals ends are named C- and C+, whereas electrical
terminations are named B- and B+. Green areas are N cell boards, light
blue lines are the N-1 communication wires, dark blue lines are the N+1
terminal taps and yellow areas are spacers. Figure 3.20 shows how cells
board are connected to folded cells. Another important BMS connection

Figure 3.19: Top view of cell stacks, before cells tabs are folded to form
series connection.

related to the battery pack regards how currents are measured. Inside an
electric vehicle there are mainly two current to be measured: the charging
and discharging ones. In order to properly measure both the currents, two
current sensors are needed: due to levels available on this project, a 20 A
and a 200 A sensors are used. Both of them are Hall effect sensors produced
by Tamura, and Elithion suggests the way they have to be connected to
80 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Figure 3.20: Top view of cell stacks, after cells tabs are folded to form series
connection.

the controller. First of all, current sensor input are placed in front of the
BMS controller, and are named ”EXT CURR SNSR”. How sensor output
are connected to the controller through a shielded cable is shown in figure
3.21 If two current sensors are needed, it is impossible to connect both o

Figure 3.21: Current sensor connections to the BMS controller.

them to the specific socket, thus a general purpose input have to be used.
Figure 3.22 explain the connection. Other important BMS features related
to the battery pack involves fans, contactors and pre charge relays. All these
components are directly managed by the BMS via two open drain dedicated
connectors, which can provide up to 5 A of output current.

3.10.3 TSMP, AIR, precharge and discharge circuits connec-

tions
Other components previously chosen do not require particular connector
except for the BMS; for example the AIR electric high power ends are me-
3.10. COMPONENTS CONNECTIONS 81

Figure 3.22: Two current sensors connections to the BMS controller.

chanically connected to the high voltage wires by screw and nut, which are
also used to fasten its external frame to the battery pack case. In particular
M8 screws are used as suggested by Tyco.
As rules suggests other safety devices have to be included into the trac-
tion system such as pre charge and discharge circuits, fuses and TSMP. As
explained during last section, these circuits are mainly composed of relays,
fuses and resistors, thus they do not have mechanically prepared connec-
tion to the frame. In order to safely fasten components, simple PCB are
used, and their electrical connections to high voltage wires is achieved by
M8 screws and nuts, which are also used to safely fasten boards to the bat-
tery pack frame. In order to mechanically connect high voltage wires up to
35 mm2 in area with desired voltage and current, Phoenix MKDSP 25 can
be used, as they are rated up to 1000 V and 125 A in current. Airs and
PCB are physically arranged in front of the cells, with a separation barrier
between components and cells as explained later during next chapter. Just
to provide a global view of connections between components included inside
the traction system, an electric plot is shown in figure 3.23
82 CHAPTER 3. COMPONENTS SELECTION

Figure 3.23: Electric schematic of the whole traction system

Chapter 4

Battery pack mechanical

design

As soon as components are selected and connections involving the battery

pack are explained, the next important step is to analyse how cells are con-
nected each other to realise a rules compliant battery pack. In this chapter
two different structures are examined: the first one which is a standard so-
lution if pouch cells are used is not deeply explained, whereas the second
one, that has been completely designed from scratch, is deeply explained by
three-dimensional CAD drawings. Creating battery pack do not only refer to
serially connect cells but other practical problems have to be examined: for
example how BMS cell boards are positioned inside the module to properly
check cell behaviour and also the way cells are electrically connected each
other are important tasks during mechanical design. Due to the amount
of electric current flowing through cells tabs, electric connection is a fun-
damental aspect of battery pack design: for example, if one tab connection
is not perfect a parasitic resistance of 5 mΩ may be obtained and if 100 A
flows through the contact, a drop out of 0,5 V across each cell is achieved,
thus the electric behaviour of each cells is irreparably compromised.

4.1 Single segment traditional layout

As explained during previous chapter, 138 cells have to be serially connected
in order to fulfil electric requirements and FSAE rules also require each
module contains a maximum static voltage of 120 V DC and a maximum
energy of 12 MJ. Just to obtain a symmetrical structure and observe FSAE
rules, 6 segments composed of 23 cells are created: the maximum voltage of
each module is about 100 V, and the energy stored is 4,32 MJ, thus they are
perfectly rules compliant. The general shape of the battery pack is pretty
highlighted: 6 segments have to be included and serially connected inside a
container. The easiest way to obtain series connections is to arrange cells

83
84 CHAPTER 4. BATTERY PACK MECHANICAL DESIGN

with alternating polarity, so that the ’+’ terminal of one cell is adjacent to
the ’-’ terminal of next cell. This method is used in both the battery pack
examined during this chapter.
Using pouch cells, the easiest and traditional way to create a battery seg-
ment is explained in figure 4.1: cells are arranged with alternating polarity
and connected each other by short metal bar between close cells, tightened
by a long bar to obtain good electric connections. A thin plastic insulator
is placed between adjacent cells to avoid undesired electric connections and
BMS cells boards are included between each cell, as explained in figure 4.2
This solution guarantees good electric connection and allow to obtain tidy

Figure 4.1: Traditional arrangement of pouch cells

battery pack, thus it may be used during this work. Unfortunately, this
solutions is afflicted by two drawbacks: first of all it is difficult to perform
maintenance operations; if a single cell is broken and has to be replaced, the
metal bar have to be removed and all the cells become free because electric
connections are removed. In addiction this solution may become a little bit
too expansive if it is used in huge volume productions. In fact connections
between cells board and tabs have to be manually made adding wires on
each cell board and then welding them on each tabs. Every FSAE team
during competitions have to simulate an industrial production of its vehicle,
thus during a new design an important aspect is reducing costs, for example
creating symmetrical and repetitive structure whose costs can be reduced
by serial production. It is important to realise that FSAE competitions are
not only composed of racing activities, but an important part of total scores
achieved by each team is obtained by project and cost analysis. In order to
4.1. SINGLE SEGMENT TRADITIONAL LAYOUT 85

Figure 4.2: Detailed view of cell boards between tabs

86 CHAPTER 4. BATTERY PACK MECHANICAL DESIGN

create an alternative solutions, overcoming drawbacks previously explained,

another arrangement is created.

4.2 Single segment innovative layout

Even on this new mechanical design, cells inside a segment are arranged
with alternating polarity to simplify series connections, but the way cells
are electrically connected is completely different: cells are organised close to
each other, and a thin layer of holed plastic material is used as a separation
between cells and the electronic circuitry positioned above. Tabs of each cell
are then slightly folded to obtain a symmetrical structure (it is important
to notice that selected cells are not symmetrical, because tabs are not posi-
tioned on the middle of the cell, but at the end of it) and serially connected
with the near tab by a short metal bar. In addiction, to reinforce electric
connections, the short metal bar may be screwed directly to tabs. Metal
bars have to sustain the whole electric current flowing through the battery
thus it is important to check if safety current level density are overcame. For
example, if the bar is made of copper whose safety current density could be
A
approximately thought to be 6 mm 2 in order to avoid overheating, thanks to
2
its huge area (about 4000 mm ), a short bar is perfectly able to sustain 117
A of current. In figure 4.3 the holed plastic layer is shown, whereas figure
4.4 shown the metal bar used to push down and connect two near tabs. As

Figure 4.3: Separation layer between cells and electronic circuitary

soon as all tabs are electrically connected, BMS cell boards have to be in-
cluded inside the container. The easiest way to do this is to put them on the
middle of the plastic layer, creating a sequence of cell boards, as explained
in figure 4.5. This mechanical design ensure good electric contact and also
4.2. SINGLE SEGMENT INNOVATIVE LAYOUT 87

Figure 4.4: Metal bar used as electric connector.

allow to replace broken cells because the long bar moving through cells ar-
ray is replaced by single short metal bar, which can be removed in case a
cell brake, and the cell can be easily replaced removing it from the bottom
side of the pack. The most important drawback of this arrangement is tab
bending which may lead to mechanical stress due to limited tabs thickness
which is about 0,3 mm. As an alternative, cells connections can be easily
obtained by a single metal bar which is not used to push down two near
tabs, but is interjected between two tabs and screwed at the end of them.
This solution increases costs; in fact due to the asymmetric design of tabs
in each cell, two different metal connections have to be used for near and far
tabs. As explained at the beginning of this chapter, the higher the cost, the
less score is achieved during cost analysis event: this is the most important
motivation leading to tab bending; if tabs are folded, a symmetric design is
achieved and a single metal connection can be used, reducing costs. Regard-
less to cells connections, this mechanical design has another drawback: lots
of wires are used to connect cell boards to related tabs, obtaining an untidy
design. In FSAE competitions during ”static events” design solutions are
also analysed and discussed by judges and the more innovative and organised
they are, the higher score is obtained. In order to create innovative and tidy
solutions avoiding to use strewn wires, different connections for cell boards
are studied.
The main idea is using short metal bar as electric connections for cell
boards, managing signal connections by a PCB. As previously explained,
creating symmetric and repetitive structures allows costs reductions in huge
88 CHAPTER 4. BATTERY PACK MECHANICAL DESIGN

Figure 4.5: Top view including cell boards

4.2. SINGLE SEGMENT INNOVATIVE LAYOUT 89

volume productions (the same Formula SAE tries to simulate) and also
achieve higher score during cost events, thus a PCB is used to connect metal
bar to cell boards. The advantages of a PCB are pretty evident: as soon as
a board is created to manage signal connections between board and copper
traces, costs related to link each cell board to a tab by wires are avoided.
On the PCB bottom side electric connections are managed and symmet-
rically arranged to the middle of the board where cell boards are included.
The bottom view of the board is shown in figure 4.6 whereas a more de-
tailed view which emphasize how cell boards are connected to copper traces
is shown in figure 4.7 and 4.8. As explained in figure 4.8 thanks to the

Figure 4.6: PCB bottom view including cell boards

alternating arrangement, electrical terminations of each board are always

precisely oriented to the predetermined via, then welding process can be au-
tomatized reducing costs. On the upper side of the PCB a plastic threaded
bar is located to mechanically screw cells, as shown in figure 4.9. Using a
PCB as explained during this new mechanical design is possible to reduce
costs, even if further reduction are possible. In fact, as explained in figure
4.9 electric connections between cells and copper traces have to be manually
realised, whereas if cell boards are turned, their electric connections can be
electrically managed by another PCB. Daughter boards can be used to lo-
cally manage connections between cells, and a motherboard may be used to
connect copper traces to daughter boards. If this layout is used, no spare
wire are present and no human actions are required, thus a complete serial
production is possible.
As soon as two mechanical designs are explained, it is difficult to choose
what could become the ideal one for the project: traditional design guar-
antees good electric connections and preserves cells from mechanical stress,
90 CHAPTER 4. BATTERY PACK MECHANICAL DESIGN

Figure 4.7: Bottom view detailing cell boards connections

4.2. SINGLE SEGMENT INNOVATIVE LAYOUT 91

Figure 4.8: Bottom view without 2 cells showing how cells are connected to
tracks

Figure 4.9: PCB upper view

92 CHAPTER 4. BATTERY PACK MECHANICAL DESIGN

whereas it may become too much expensive to be used in serial produc-

tions as Formula SAE require. The new design, which reduces production
costs creating tidy systems, has a mechanical drawback: as previously ex-
plained, tabs on each cell have to be bended creating mechanical stress on
them. Practical experience could suggest the best design: as soon as cells are
bought and are available for tests, practical experiments can be performed
in order to evaluate if mechanical stress created by bending is extremely
damaging for tabs. If tests confirm excessive mechanical problems on tabs,
the first solutions have to be performed, whereas if stress is not damaging,
the new mechanical design is chosen. Another solution is also possible, com-
bining both traditional and innovative layouts: a short metal bar with an L
shape may be used to serially connect cells and a long bar can be used to
tighten connected cells. Thanks to the L shape, short bar connect cells to
the upper PCB. Both solutions are fused and a third one; power connections
are managed as in traditional layout but thanks to the L shape, small metal
bar are also used to connect cells to the upper PCB that manage cell board
connections. If the third solution is used, serial production is even more
possible and costs are further reduced.

4.3 Battery pack layout

All the segments building up the new mechanical design have been individu-
ally explained and in figure 4.10 and 4.11 cross sectional views of a segment
is shown, while in figure 4.12 an isometric view is presented. The main
battery accumulator is then composed of six segments serially connected
and included inside a battery pack container which is shown in figure 4.13:
all the segments are included inside the main box whereas electric and elec-
tronic circuitry connected with the battery pack are put into the triangular
prism located above the box. Prism positioning is indeed variable according
to the electric power train arrangement inside the vehicle: it may be possible
to locate it upright with electric motors and their relative controller on its
back as explained in figure 4.14 or it may be possible to lye the battery pack
under the seat and arrange motor controllers over it, locating electric motor
on the back as shown in figure 4.15.
4.3. BATTERY PACK LAYOUT 93

Figure 4.10: Cross sectional view of a segment

94 CHAPTER 4. BATTERY PACK MECHANICAL DESIGN

Figure 4.11: Cross sectional view of a segment

4.3. BATTERY PACK LAYOUT 95

Figure 4.12: Isometric view of a segment

Figure 4.13: Battery pack accumulator view

96 CHAPTER 4. BATTERY PACK MECHANICAL DESIGN

Figure 4.14: Possible power train positioning

Figure 4.15: Possible power train positioning

 Part III

Simulations and Validations

97
 99

At the end of a project validating performed choices by practical mea-

surements on real devices is extremely important. In case there is no pos-
sibility to validate the whole design by practical experiences, simulations
become the most important way to control design quality. In this project
two kind of simulations are performed: first of all electric simulations are
used to check battery behaviour during an endurance event, for example
understanding the maximum power that should be delivered to the wheels
in order to complete an entire race without damaging cells, and also sug-
gests alternative solutions to reduce power consumptions, such as dynamic
power reduction. Another fundamental aspect involved in battery pack de-
sign is cooling: even if batteries energetic efficiency is traditionally high
(about 90%), a huge amount of energy is wasted as heat, leading to cells
over-temperature, which may become detrimental. Three dimensional FEA
analysis is performed in order to understand good cooling methods, and
then as soon as an efficient method is found, thermal simulations is refined
by CFD analysis.
100
Chapter 5

Electric Simulations

5.1 Cell model and simulation setup

In order to evaluate the electric behaviour of the whole battery pack, mod-
elling activities are performed to create reliable electric models of the single
cell. Thevenin model with two time constants, as shown in figure 5.1, is
used in order to precisely represent transient response of the battery.

Figure 5.1: Cell electric model

The main difficulty during modelling activities is obtaining cell param-

eters by laboratory measurements, which cannot be performed in this case,
due to two different problems: first of all cells are unavailable then, of course,
they cannot be characterised. The second problem is pretty a practical one:
in order to characterise selected cells at high discharge rates, high current
levels (more than 200 A) have to be managed and this is possible only with
tools and machinery which are not available at the electronic department of
the University of Pisa. Fortunately, within the department characterisation
of small capacity Lithium Polymer high power cells produced by Kokam has
been performed in the past, and then results are available. Cell parame-
ters mainly depends on chemisrty and energy rating and it is possible to
extrapolate parameters for cell with different capacity starting from mea-
sured ones. In fact, for example, it is reasonable to suppose a 12 Ah cell as

101
102 CHAPTER 5. ELECTRIC SIMULATIONS

the union of 6 cells with a capacity of 2 Ah if they are made of the same
chemistry, thus it is possible to suppose that equivalent resistance value are
reduced on high capacity cells, whereas time constants are kept constants,
thus capacitance value increases. So, starting from measured value [30] pa-
rameters are extrapolated and collected on table 5.2. As soon as parameter

Figure 5.2: Cell model parameters

are obtained, other decisions are necessary in order to perform electric sim-
ulation. First of all, using electric model an electric simulator such as Spice
should be thought to be the ideal solution. This is not true mainly for two
reasons: the first one rely on the way parameters are available; table are not
easy to be included in Spice like simulator, and the second one rely on the
particular type of simulations needed. In fact, as explained later, arbitrary
current profile dependant on vehicle parameters have to be used to perform
endurance simulations, thus an object oriented, multi domain simulator is
preferred. In specific, Dymola software, which is very used in automotive
environment is chosen, due to the possibility of connect electric domain (for
example the battery one) with mechanical or dynamic ones.
The electric cell model created by Dymola software is shown in figure
5.3 and it is pretty easy to understand; variable resistance, capacitance and
voltage source depending on the SoC are used to represent the schematic
shown in figure 5.1. SOC calculation using simple coulomb conunting tech-
nique is performed by another module called BMS, which is also responsible
of over-voltage and under-voltage detection by a digital error signal called
”Charge-Error”.
In order to simulate and check the electrical behaviour of the battery
pack during an entire formula SAE event, simulations with custom load
current is performed. To obtain desired current profiles, first of all, the
ideal path, based on geometric calculation of Hockeneim Formula SAE cir-
cuit is performed, and then it is used as input of a dynamic model of the
E 2 T 1, the new Formula SAE car of the University of Pisa, whose battery
pack is studied during this thesis. The model is customised by lots of me-
chanical and dynamic variable, and in addiction other parameters such as
5.1. CELL MODEL AND SIMULATION SETUP 103

Figure 5.3: Dymola model of a single cell

104 CHAPTER 5. ELECTRIC SIMULATIONS

the maximum power delivered to the wheels and the amount of power re-
generated during regenerative braking can be selected in order to simulate
various hypothetical situations. Calculation have been performed by other
team members obtaining a table representing the instant power delivered
to the wheels during the race, and these value are used to simulate battery
behaviour. In fact, if mechanical power provided to the wheel is known,
it is easy to reconstruct the electric power drawn from the battery if the
efficiency of electric motor and inverter is generally about 90%, according
to Enstroj. Then, if the electric power drawn from the battery is known, in
order to obtain the current extracted by the battery, it is possible, on first
approximation, to suppose the battery voltage is constant. This hypothesis
is supported by the slight OCV dependency to the SoC, so if the voltage
provided by each cell is supposed to be 3,7 V, which is an average value for
Lithium chemistry, it is possible to obtain a good approximation of the time
dependant current provided by the battery during a race. These current
values are gathered into a table which is used as a current load to the cell
model. The experimental setup is composed of cell model, BMS and current
generator, as shown in figure 5.4.

Figure 5.4: Experimental setup

5.2. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 105

5.2 Performed simulations

The first simulation is performed to verify if the maximum amount of me-
chanical power delivered to the wheels (about 45 kW) that has been esti-
mated at the beginning of the text, is greater than real battery capabilities.
With a maximum mechanical power of 45 kW, assuming to regenerate 10
kW during each braking (the value is about 22% of delivered power, thus it
is pretty a standard value), simulations are performed and results are not as
desired: at the end of the race the amount of energy available inside the bat-
tery is less than estimated one. Figure 5.5 shows the simulated SoC through
which it is possible to realise that, at the end of the race, the amount of
energy is lower than 20%, a safety value which should not be passed, in
order to protect Lithium cells. Even if 45 kW of mechanical power could be
a value a little bit higher than the real one, because it is obtained supposing
the driver is able to drive following the ideal geometric shape, it could not
be possible to complete an entire race in real situations, thus the power to
the wheels have to be reduced. Other simulations are then performed with

Figure 5.5: SoC simulation with a maximum power limit of 45kW available
at the wheels

reduced power limits: the first one is performed supposing to be able to

provide 40 kW of mechanical power to the wheels, and the SOC slightly
changes, as shown in figure 5.6. At the end of the race, the available energy
is a little bit lower than 20%; it may be possible the real driver uses a little
bit less energy than the ideal one, thus the energy could be sufficient to
complete the whole race but it is not cautious to rely on this suppositions.
Another simulations, with a mechanical power limit of 35 kW is performed
and results are pretty interesting: as shown in figure 5.7 the SOC at the
end of the race is higher than 20% and cell voltage during the race varies as
shown in figure 5.8. No potential damaging situations such as over-voltage
106 CHAPTER 5. ELECTRIC SIMULATIONS

Figure 5.6: SoC simulation with a maximum power limit of 40kW available
at the wheels

Figure 5.7: SoC simulation with a maximum power limit of 35kW available
at the wheels
5.2. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 107

Figure 5.8: Cell voltage variations during a race supposing a maximum

power limit of 35 kW available at the wheels

(cell voltage higher than 4,2 V) or under-voltage (cell voltage lower than
2,8 V) are highlighted, thus the real power to be provided to the wheels is
thought to be a value within 35 and 40 kW.
As soon as the maximum mechanic power provided to the wheels is high-
lighted, electric simulations are refined. In fact the hypothesis performed
before through which it is supposed the voltage of each cell is constant to a
value of 3,7 V is correct only if the SoC is about 50%, whereas at the begin-
ning of the simulation cell voltage is higher than 3,7 V (because the SoC is
higher than 50%) and current is lower than calculated value. In contrast, at
the end of the simulation, cell voltage is lower than 3,7 V then current may
be higher than obtained value and under-voltage may occur. In order to
refine simulations and achieve reliable simulations, Dymola model has been
complicated: the power drawn from the battery is used as a simulation in-
put, and it is divided by the actual measured voltage across electric endings
of the battery pack, in order to let the software calculate the current flowing
out from the battery depending on the measured voltage. Refined simula-
tions are performed with a mechanical power of 35 kW, which is thought to
be the maximum allowed value in order to complete the endurance event.
SoC and cell voltage are highlighted and shown in figure 5.9 and 5.10 respec-
tively and it is possible to realise that performing more realistic simulation,
the SoC at the end of the race is slightly lower than the previously calculated
value, assuming the voltage is constant. Fortunately, SoC value is 0,2 at
the end of the endurance event, thus it must be possible to complete the
race, even because a real driver could use less power than the ideal simulated
driver.
Just to understand differences between current calculated supposing a
constant voltage and on-line calculated one, a single lap simulation is per-
108 CHAPTER 5. ELECTRIC SIMULATIONS

Figure 5.9: SoC simulation supposing a maximum mechanic power limit of

35kW, without constant voltage hypothesis

Figure 5.10: Cell voltage variations during a race supposing a maximum

mechanic power limit of 35kW, without constant voltage hypothesis
5.2. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 109

formed supposing two different SoC: if a fully charged battery is used, cell
voltage is higher than 3,7 V and the real current flowing out from the battery
have to be lower than the value calculated supposing a constant voltage. In
contrast, if the battery is discharged the real current have to be higher than
the approximated one. Both these considerations are shown in figure 5.11,
where a single lap with a unitary SoC value is performed and in figure 5.12
where the SoC is supposed to be 0,3. Blue line refers to refined simulation
whereas red line is about constant voltage simulation. Analyzing figure 5.11

Figure 5.11: Single lap comparison beween simplified and run-time calcu-
lated currents, with fully charged battery

Figure 5.12: Single lap comparison beween simplified and run-time calcu-
lated currents, at SoC=0,3

and 5.12 it is possible to confirm suppositions about current level previously

110 CHAPTER 5. ELECTRIC SIMULATIONS

done, and also estimate the error performed by constant voltage hypotesis:
if a fully charged battery is simulated, the differences between current levels
is about 5,5 A which correspond to a relative error of 7,7%, whereas if the
SoC is supposed to be 0,3, the absolute error is 7,2 A and the relative one is
10%. These results confirm that in order to perform a first order analysis,
supposing the voltage to be constant does not lead to unacceptable errors,
compared to model and simulator inaccuracy.
Chapter 6

Thermal Simulations

6.1 Cells thermal parameters

In order to design the battery pack of an electric vehicle, an important aspect

involves thermal management. In fact, even if energy efficiency of Lithium
cells is in general about 90%, due to the amount of energy provided, a huge
quantity of it is wasted as heat, thus thermal behaviour of the battery pack
have to be studied to avoid cells damaging. In fact, as explained during part
one of this thesis, Lithium chemistry does not allow temperature higher than
60‰ then a reliable and efficient cooling system have to be realised.
The first part of thermal analysis concerns how a cell exchanges heat
with the surrounding, thus thermal characterisation have to be performed.
However, cells are not available at the moment, thus they cannot be ther-
mally characterised. Luckily, thermal parameter regarding Lithium pouch
cells whose dimensions are like selected ones are literature known and pretty
standard [29], and are summarised in table 6.1. These values form a param-

Figure 6.1: Thermal parameters of Lithium pouch cells

eter called thermal diffusivity, which measures the ability of a material to

conduct thermal energy relative to its ability to store it, whose expression
is:
k
α=
ρ · Cp

111
112 CHAPTER 6. THERMAL SIMULATIONS

6.2 Comsol model

In order to obtain thermal characterisation of the whole battery pack find-
ing efficient cooling techniques, the way cells are physically arranged inside
the pack is fundamental: as explained during part two of this text, cells are
arranged within a battery container and divided into six equal segments.
Cells have to be kept as close as possible to each other inside each segment
in order to avoid the creation of a thin air layer between them that acts as a
thermal insulator, increasing temperature in the middle of the pack. Unfor-
tunately, due to packaging error and battery physical behaviour (each cell
has a natural variation in thickness of about 0,5 mm between fully charged
and fully discharged states) it is not possible to realise a solid mechanical
structure, but a parasitic thin air layer is always present. With the purpose
of study three dimensional structures a FEA software called Comsol is used
and a simplified model of a battery segment is realised: cells are represented
using their real dimensions and are arranged in parallel, with a 0,5 mm air
layer between close ones. An isometric view of the model is shown in figure
6.2. ”Heat transfer in solids” module included in Comsol simulator is used

Figure 6.2: Isometric view of the segment model

and boundary conditions are changed according to different simulations.

Each cell is thermally characterised with typical values of parameters sum-
marised on table 6.1, whereas power generation varies according to different
simulations. This model is used to understand thermal behaviour of the
battery pack combining accuracy and computational cost: in fact boundary
conditions between solids and fluids are modelled by dimensionless analysis
and lumped parameters instead of solve fluid dynamics equations. As soon
as simulations are performed, and an efficient cooling technique is designed
6.3. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 113

and CFD simulations are performed to check model accuracy.

6.3 Performed Simulations

The first simulation performed is a steady state analysis with the purpose
of understand the maximum temperature obtained if a constant power is
dissipated as heat. The selected value is 8 W for each cell, which is the
average value of the time dependant power dissolved as heat during the race
by each cell building up the battery pack. Natural convection is selected
to be the boundary condition between cells and air, the initial temperature
is set to 300 k and in figure 6.3 an isometric view of the model with local
temperatures reached at the end of the race is shown. It is therefore easy to

Figure 6.3: Isometric view of the model exploiting temperatures in steady

state conditions

understand that cooling techniques are necessary, even if a simple constant

power is used, in order to protect Lithium cells.
During next steps, simulations are made more complex and realistic. In
fact, according to the electric model shown during previous chapter, each
cell wastes an amount of power both during charging and discharging phases
which can be expressed as the power dissipated by the series resistance
Rseries . If the current drawn from the battery i(t) is known, the amount of
power wasted as heat by each cell can be calculated as :

P (t) = Rseries · i(t)2

114 CHAPTER 6. THERMAL SIMULATIONS

. The Rseries value is selected to be 3 mΩ which is a value a little bit higher

than the one that is possible to calculate as the average between SoC=100%
and SoC=20% of values shown in table 5.2. This choice has been performed
to introduce safety margin during approximated simulations. If the mechan-
ical power is 35 kW, and the efficiency of inverters and electric motors is
90%, a time dependant power generation function is obtained, and an entire
race can be simulated. Figure 6.4 shows the time dependant power wasted
by each cell during a race. As shown by steady state simulations, an effective

Figure 6.4: Time dependant power wasted as heat by each cell

cooling system have to chosen, and forced air convection seems to be the
easiest technique. The most important choice to be taken is air direction;
in fact, depending on the way air collide with cells, it can stroke a cell and
continue chilling the other ones or it can collide with the first cell becoming
useless to chilly other cells. According to cell datasheet shown in figure 6.5,
small thins, that seems to be especially included to cool down the cell, are
included on the back of it, thus the ideal direction for cooling air flow is
thought to be downwards, moving parallel to fin. In order to try perfor-
mances provided by this cooling technique during an endurance event the
time dependant power shown in figure 6.4 is used as stimulus for each cell,
whereas boundary conditions are set to replicate the cooling system; both
sides of each cell are stroked by air at the speed of 2 ms moving downwards,
whereas the thin layer between close cells are modelled as stagnant air. The
starting temperature is chosen to be 305 K, in order to simulate races during
6.3. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 115

hot seasons. In order to check spatial gradient without increasing hardware

Figure 6.5: Kokam SLPB70205130P two dimensional drawing

requirements and simulation time, three distinctive cells (the leftmost, the
rightmost and the central one) are observed during the whole simulation,
and their temperature plots are shown in figure 6.6, 6.7 and 6.8 respectively.
Figures 6.6, 6.7 and 6.8 shown important features: the problem is pretty
symmetrical and temperatures of the leftmost and the rightmost cells are
equal during the race as expected due to homogeneous power generation in-
side each cell and symmetrical cooling. In addiction the temperature of the
central cell is higher than the other one, as expected due to the absence of
air flux on cell sides. Steady state temperature is never reached during the
race and temperatures plots are pretty monotonic except for a sudden drop
after about 1000 seconds, which may result from numerical error. In fact,
if residuals calculated by numerical solver during simulations are analysed
their values are steady to a value of 3 · 10−6 except for time values close to
1000 seconds of simulation when an inrush is shown, reaching an error of
about 4 · 10−4 that is one hundred times higher than the other residual. The
spatial gradient inside each cell is therefore fundamental in order to under-
stand how temperature increases inside each cell, and highlights potential
116 CHAPTER 6. THERMAL SIMULATIONS

Figure 6.6: Time dependant temperature of the leftmost cell during the race

Figure 6.7: Time dependant temperaure of the central cell during the race
6.3. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 117

Figure 6.8: Time dependant temperature of the rightmost cell during the
race

damaging situations for Lithium cells, thus at the end of simulations, when
maximum temperatures are reached, three spatial slices of the leftmost, the
central and the rightmost cells are performed and shown in figure 6.9, 6.10
and 6.11 respectively.
The simple model created by Comsol simulator involves heat transfer
in solids, and mould solid and fluid interfaces using dimensionless analysis,
which is typically used for simple, first order calculations. Even if dimen-
sionless analysis is able to provide rough solutions, thermo fluid dynamics
phenomena are too complex to be simply evaluated by a single scalar quan-
tity, thus CFD simulations with Fluent software are performed. The main
scope of CFD simulations is to deeply understand interactions between air
moving downwards at an average speed of about 2 ms and cells.
The geometric model used during CFD simulations is pretty the same
used on Comsol ones: cells are arranged in parallel with thin undesired air
layers between adjacent cells, and a rectangular pipe made of air of about 2
cm in thickness is used to mould convective forced air moving downwards.
The temperature obtained at the of the race inside the central cell is shown in
figure 6.12, that also provide additional interesting information: the ending
temperature is a little bit higher than the value calculated by Comsol simu-
lations and spatial gradient is very similar, except for the high temperature
area inside the cell that is smaller than the one obtained by Comsol. This is
an interesting result obtained thanks to the improvement in solid and fluids
118 CHAPTER 6. THERMAL SIMULATIONS

Figure 6.9: Spatial gradient of the leftmost cell at the end of the race

interfaces study provided by CFD simulator. Figure 6.13 shows the area
inside the cell where temperature is betwen 334 K and 335 K, which are the
highest temperatures reached inside the cell. An interesting characteristics
obtained by CFD analysis, that can not be obtained by Comsol simulations
is air pressure: in fact according to figure 6.14, the air moving downwards
reduces its pressure and become stagnant before reaching the end of the cell,
reducing cooling effects. The mechanical layout of the battery pack may help
air to stroke the whole cell length; in fact, if the battery is laid as shown in
figure 4.15 and holes are open through the body of the vehicle, fresh air is
is provided on the upper side of the battery and it is moved down by fans.
If in addiction small holes are open on the bottom side of the vehicle, where
a low pressure area is established during the race, air may be accelerated
and it can reach the bottom of the cell without become stagnant, improving
cooling effect.
Analysing figures 6.6, 6.7 and 6.8 and CFD simulation results, it is possi-
ble to appreciate temperature reduction obtained thanks to air flow: even if
temperatures are close or a little bit higher than Lithium safety range, their
reductions highlight that cooling by air with downward direction may be-
come an efficient way to chill the entire segments. Other cooling techniques
may refer to improve air speed or create an additional cooling channel for
6.3. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 119

Figure 6.10: Spatial gradient of the central cell at the end of the race

air on the bottom side of each cell. Liquid cooling systems, such as heat
pipes can be an interesting solutions but they are not further examined.
Even if each segment is chilled by air, an additional cooling system have to
be realised in order to cool each segment inside the container. This may be
easily obtained by forced air if a gap of about 2 cm is created between close
segments, allowing to obtain a laminar air flux between them.
120 CHAPTER 6. THERMAL SIMULATIONS

Figure 6.11: Spatial gradient of the rightmost cell at the end of the race

Figure 6.12: Spatial gradient of the cell cell, calculated by CFD analysis, at
the end of the race
6.3. PERFORMED SIMULATIONS 121

Figure 6.13: Area inside the cell with temperatures between 334 K and 335
K

Figure 6.14: Pressure drop on cell side

122 CHAPTER 6. THERMAL SIMULATIONS
Conclusions and future work

During this thesis the battery pack of a Formula SAE vehicle has been de-
signed, providing complete and detailed reports about how the battery pack
should be realised and connected with other components that are necessary
to respect Formula SAE rules. At the beginning of the project, in order
to reduce degrees of freedom introducing boundary conditions limiting the
design space, FSAE rules are analysed and the general shape of the electric
traction system they require has been highlighted. In addiction, necessary
devices have been put in evidence, creating a list of components to be in-
cluded inside the vehicle. As soon as devices are categorised, a state of the
art analysis about other Formula SAE vehicles has been performed, with
the purpose of understand general order of magnitude for vehicle require-
ments, such as power and energy, and then computer simulations have been
performed to adapt these value to the vehicle under design.
With fixed electric requirements it has been possible to analyse the mar-
ket in order to find commercial solutions and then the attention has been
focused on components interconnections, providing detailed informations
about how devices are connected each other both inside the battery and the
traction system. The mechanical layout has been explained later, exploit-
ing two different solutions: the first one which is a standard solution using
pouch cells is provided as an example, but is not further examined, whereas
an innovative layout has been developed in order to create a mechanical ar-
rangement that allows serial industrial production. This solution has been
deeply explained by three-dimensional drawings and it is an innovate part
of the whole text; if a serial production of the battery pack is necessary, as
Formula SAE event requires, costs reduction is made possible by introduced
innovations.
As soon as the layout is created, the project of the battery pack may be
finished. However, at the end of each design, confirming provided solutions
by experimental setup is fundamental, so, during the third part of the text,
simulations have been performed. Each cell building up the battery pack
has been modelled by an equivalent electric circuit and then the operation
of the whole battery pack has been simulated during an entire endurance
event, in order to check its behaviour during a realistic situation. Sweep
analysis at various power levels has been performed to check the maximum

123
124 CHAPTER 6. THERMAL SIMULATIONS

mechanical power allowed at the wheels to complete the endurance event.

In addiction, thermal behaviour during an entire race has been simulated by
fine element analysis, with the purpose of control the maximum temperature
reached inside the battery pack, avoiding potential damaging of Lithium
cells. Cooling techniques are necessary and a simple and reliable air method
has been simulated to demonstrate that the temperature inside the battery
pack may be kept below Lithium safety limits. To refine thermal simulations
without using lumped models for fluid dynamic effects, a CFD analysis of
the battery pack during an entire event has been performed, and results
have been compared to the ones obtained by finite element analysis.
At the end of this thesis, a complete engineering project is provided,
including component selections, mechanical layout, and simulations. This
work is pretty complete and explain how the battery pack should appear
as soon as it is realised. However, due to the high cost of cells it may be
wise to check the behaviour of a real battery (or segment of battery), in
order to verify simulated results. This is the obvious next work to do, and it
must be done as soon as possible, prior to physically realise the real battery
pack. When real simulations are performed, the battery pack may be realise
and connected with selected devices, and then the global functioning of the
traction system can be controlled in a real situations.
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