There are too many restrictions on the hardware, just from the software.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “TopMove” (ID: topmove2020) , author Zhao Zikai.
Cheng also battery, defeated battery.
This sentence is good for electric cars. Environmental protection, low maintenance costs, and performance are the great advantages of new energy vehicles. They are also highly praised by the state. On the other hand, problems such as cruising range, charging time and battery life are a major cause of many people’s satisfaction.
In terms of battery life, the basic standard given by each car is 1500 charge cycles. For example, Tesla, according to its official statement, Tesla power battery has a minimum service life of 1500 charge cycles, equivalent to 480,000 km (standard version) to 800,000 km (long battery version).
This is not to say that the car will not be used after it has been recharged 1500 times. Instead, the battery will be worn out and the performance will be degraded. The standard given by the general manufacturers is that after 1500 charge cycles, the battery capacity is not less than 80% to ensure the battery life. But there is one point worth discussing here. The 1500 charge cycles did not separate the fast charge and the slow charge. In theory, fast charging has higher requirements on speed and charging efficiency, so the damage to the battery is relatively large.
A company in the United States, Qnovo, saw such a pain point and created an “adaptive charging system” for electric vehicles. Nadim Maluf, CEO of Qnovo, explained that the current charging process is an “open loop system” that does not feed back the results of the control to affect the currently controlled system. The car is plugged into a charging gun and the charging station starts to work, charging in a fixed process regardless of the current state of the battery.
In contrast to Qnovo’s approach, this adaptive charging system first detects the main chemical processes inside the battery, taking data from the battery, such as voltage, current and temperature, directly related to the various chemistry inside the battery. Reaction related. The data also enables them to assess early characteristics of battery degradation. “We constantly measure different temperatures, different operating conditions and different driving conditions, and then change the charging current according to the characteristics to match the battery,” Malouf said.
It is worth mentioning that the system does not require special hardware. The software can be used for diagnostic evaluation of each battery module in the electronic control unit of the car. Once a weak battery module is found, the software will automatically adjust the charging current. . This adjustment may make the charging speed a few percentage points slower, but it canTo significantly extend the life of the battery.
Generally speaking, car manufacturers can be divided into several categories for battery protection. One is to limit the capacity of the battery, which is what we usually call “hidden electricity.” A part of the car’s power is not available, so that the battery will not be fully charged and discharged, and full charge and discharge will not be beneficial to the overall condition of the battery.
Many car companies will use “hidden electricity” to extend battery life | Network
Tibetan can guarantee the battery life is extended, but when used, the cruising range will be shortened, causing some consumers to be not satisfied with this measure.
The other is the use of the Battery Management System (BMS). An efficient battery management system not only ensures safety during driving, but also functions as input current and voltage during charging. Reduce damage to the battery.
Qnovo is also true, Maluf mentioned that Daimler, GM, Volkswagen and other car companies are studying similar solutions, but small and medium-sized car companies do not have enough strength to build this system, which is Qnovo. The opportunity is there.
Qnovo uses algorithms to control the battery well | Qnovo official website
At present, Qnovo has worked closely with German car manufacturers and has been involved in car production in about two years. The technology is ready, but traditional car manufacturers need longer product cycles. Malouf said automakers are interested in Qnovo’s fast-rechargeable battery management strategy as it will help reduce the cost of electric vehicles.
In fact, battery technology has not grown tremendously for a long time, and more advanced technologies such as solid-state batteries are still in their infancy, and there is still a long way to go before commercialization. When hardware conditions don’t get huge growth in the short term, software can really alleviate some of the pressure, especially forSome special areas and special consumers.
Maluf said that to make electric vehicles mainstream, especially in the densely populated urban centers of Europe and Asia, where many people do not have private garages, almost daily fast charge is essential. At that time, battery life was a problem that we must focus on.