Texas Instruments has introduced a new automotive battery cell monitor & battery pack monitor, maximizing electric vehicle (EV) drive time and enabling safer operation. As EVs grow in popularity, advanced battery management systems (BMS) are helping overcome critical barriers to widespread adoption.
The BQ79718-Q1 battery cell monitor and BQ79731-Q1 battery pack monitor are the newest products in TI’s comprehensive BMS offering. The BQ79731-Q1 and BQ79718-Q1 devices provide accuracy and precision in measuring battery voltage, current and temperature. They effectively determine the true range of a vehicle and increase the overall life and safety of the battery pack.
“Automakers aim to get the most range possible out of their EVs, and accurate state-of-charge estimations are vital to achieve this,” said Sam Wong, general manager for BMS at TI. “Our new devices bring substantially higher precision to voltage and current measurement, giving automakers confidence to accurately measure an EV’s true range.”
Effectively increase drive range with the industry’s leading precision
Even a slight change in temperature can have a significant impact on an EV’s range. Colder weather can impact battery range by up to 40%. Such variations can create considerable uncertainty in battery voltage and the expected EV range.
The BQ79718-Q1 battery cell monitor allows automakers to maximize the true range of their EV. It allows battery cell voltage measurements down to 1 mV of accuracy. The BQ79731-Q1 battery pack monitor allows measurement of the battery pack current down to 0.05% of accuracy.
These innovations will provide the clearest picture possible to measure accurate state of charge and state of health. This will be done at the individual cell and pack level, effectively reflecting true remaining mileage.
Enhance state-of-charge estimations with pack voltage and current synchronization
In addition, industry-leading voltage and current synchronization (64 µs) enables instantaneous monitoring of battery pack power. Thus providing a real-time snapshot of battery health. This level of synchronization enables electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, which provides vital insight into the cell core. It can provide information on temperature, battery aging and state of charge of the battery.
Read the technical article, “How to design an intelligent battery junction box for advanced EV battery management systems.”
Enable higher levels of safety and performance with holistic BMS offering
The battery cell monitor achieves an unprecedented Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) accuracy (main path, redundant path and residual error seeking).
The BQ79718-Q1 battery cell monitor and BQ79731-Q1 pack monitor join TI’s portfolio of high-precision battery monitors and balancers. Additionally, the family includes the BQ79600-Q1 SPI/UART communication bridge device. It enables reliable and fast daisy-chained communication using an isolated communication protocol.
This family adds to TI’s holistic offering for BMS, which also includes the CC2662R-Q1 wireless microcontroller (MCU) for wireless BMS, TPSI3050-Q1 isolated switch driver and TPSI2140-Q1 isolated switch device. TI also provides a BMS design suite that includes a reference board, emulator and Automotive Open System Architecture complex device driver.
Package, availability and pricing
The battery cell monitor BQ79718-Q1 evaluation module (BQ79718EVM-049) is available on TI.com for US$399. The 18-channel BQ79718-Q1 comes in a 10-mm-by-10-mm, 64-pin thermally enhanced thin quad flat package (HTQFP), and is priced at US$8.39 in 1,000-unit quantities.
Also available is the battery pack monitor BQ79731-Q1 evaluation module (BQ79731Q1EVM-060), which is available on TI.com for US$199. The battery pack monitor BQ79731-Q1 comes in a 7-mm-by-7-mm, 48-pin thermally enhanced thin quad flat package (HTQFP), and is priced at US$8.39 in 1,000-unit quantities. All products featured for HV BMS are immediately available for purchase on TI.com.
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