ION Energy's BMS improves safety, halves production time and accelerates innovation for a cross-country off-road EV
A European original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that designs, innovates and builds new modes of off-road travel. The customer manufactures fully electric recreational, cross country vehicles that create incredible driving experiences for all types of terrain and environment.
The company’s off-road electric 4-wheeler has a niche fan base of thrill-seekers, adventure enthusiasts and outdoorsy travelers. These light, stable and flexible EVs work smoothly on snow, sand, hills, rocks, and have multiple uses ranging from adventure, leisure, emergency to scientific research.
Deployed
Deployed
Served
Challenge for Maxwell
One of the major challenges faced by the customer was the lack of knowledge and expertise in battery technology/ energy storage domain. This led them to employ low-quality Chinese battery management systems (BMS) for their electric 4-wheelers. Over a period of time, they realized that the BMSs constantly caused problems and weren’t even reliable or safe. This triggered a chain of events, majorly impacting their production, assembly, and operations.
Right from assembling the batteries to understanding the technical difficulties, the customer was looking for a partner who could bring in a team of electronic engineers, an integrated BMS solution, tech expertise and the capability to be agile and innovative. Considering that the customer already lost over 2 years as a result of this unprecedented crisis, a quick turnaround solution, more like a disruption was needed to get production and operations back on track.
Our Solution
Given ION Energy’s experience in solving BMS and battery life challenges, the customer approached ION to oversee and help them identify product and quality inefficiencies.
Our engineering team monitored the performance of the battery and the existing BMS and was able to diagnose the key concern areas. They concluded that the existing BMS was not integrated well, not suited for high-risk activities, and lacked any configuration that was needed for the smooth functioning of the electric vehicle.
At this point, the team introduced ION’s BMS FS-LT, which improves battery safety, to the customer to fix the core problem. The FS-LT is suitable for light electric and hybrid 2, 3 and4-wheelers. The team optimized the FS-LT for automotive applications in-house and retrofitted it as per the structure and requirement of the electric vehicle.
Lithium-ion batteries that power EVs have one of the highest energy densities of any battery technology, a relatively low self-discharge, & require low maintenance. On the other hand, these batteries have a limited life that could be affected by usage, charging patterns and the environment in which they operate, etc. A smart BMS like ION’s FS-LT is equipped with watchdogs and self-diagnostics safety systems. The FS-LT accurately helps estimate the State of Charge (SoC) and State of Health (SoH) of the battery, based on advanced algorithms.
Typical 48V Application
Edison Analytics, ION’s disruptive battery intelligence platform was also introduced to thecustomer to improve performance and extend the life of Lithium-ion batteries. Edison blendsbattery data with software analytics and artificial intelligence to remotely monitor, predict andimprove battery life. Edison is being leveraged by Battery pack manufacturers, OEMs, andelectric mobility fleet operators around the world to help them build world-class batteries.
Our battery management and intelligence platform solution combines ION’s deep domainexpertise in energy storage with advanced electronics, machine learning software and AI.
Coupled with Edison, ION’s battery management system was the key enabler in improving safety and cutting down the production time in half. ION’s integrated battery management solution steered the cross-country, off-road EV right back on its roadmap
Product deployed
System voltage range 12 - 900VDC
Cells managed per board 9-15 cells (FSLT-15S)
Cells managed per system 6-340 cell modules in series
Communication CAN 2.0 A&B for system integration Bluetooth 4.1 for Android dashboard
Customer Testimonial
We are thrilled with the response to our launch! We found ION Energy to beextremely reliable and their solution was smarter and technologically advanced.We’ve seen compelling improvement in cell balancing and battery performance.ION’s platform worked exceptionally well and was 5x better than our existing BMS!
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