Future General Motors electric vehicles will use “an almost completely wireless battery management system,” which will enable the automaker “to ultimately power many different types of electric vehicles from a common set of battery components.”
The new wireless battery management system was developed by supplier Analog Devices Inc. By reducing the number of wires within the battery by up to 90 percent, the system negates the need for GM to develop specific wiring schemes for each new EV it produces. Additionally, less wiring means less weight, which translates into more range. Lastly, the system can conduct real-time battery pack health checks and is capable of refocusing the various battery modules and sensors based on the current condition of the battery (ie. discharge rate, temperature etc.) which helps to safeguard battery health over the vehicle’s lifespan.
“Scalability and complexity reduction are a theme with our Ultium batteries – the wireless battery management system is the critical enabler of this amazing flexibility,” said GM’s director of electrification and battery systems, Kent Helfrich. “The wireless system represents the epitome of Ultium’s configurability and should help GM build profitable EVs at scale.”
The wireless battery monitoring system will be standard on all GM vehicles powered by Ultium batteries. All of these vehicles will also feature advanced cybersecurity measures to protect from attacks on the battery’s wireless communication system.
“General Motors is paving the way toward an all-electric future, and Analog Devices is proud to work with this highly respected automotive leader on the next generation of electric vehicles,” concluded Analog Devices senior vice president, Greg Henderson. “Our collaboration is aimed at accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and a sustainable future.”
Earlier this week, GM announced it had entered a partnership with electric truck maker Nikola to build its new Badger pickup truck and supply the company with Ultium batteries. The automaker has also linked up with Honda to supply the Japanese brand with its Ultium batteries and other tech such as OnStar and V2X.
The first GM vehicle to arrive with Ultium batteries and the aforementioned wireless battery management system will be the Cadillac Lyriq electric crossover, which will go on sale in the United States in late 2022.
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Comments
A wireless battery monitor system is a great benefit to future battery builders, since each cell may contain its own module with sensors and transmitters, allowing faster and easier battery integration into future electric vehicles with no wiring and simple programming. I wish Analog Devices publishes their technical notes so even a DIYer, such as myself, can use that module for our own designs and builds.
What kind of ICE-driving simpleton would down vote your post? Oh wait,I know.
This is built for GM and GM only, not for any other company or DIY. Get real.
I know GM technology since 1969, and they do share technology as simple as they sell crate engines. I bet this module will be in use by other companies in less than five years.
I’m sure the motivation was not ‘weight reduction’ since the cell battery voltage wires were #24 AWG at best (like the thinnest telephone wires you’ve seen). The big advantage here is much fewer connections, at the expense of slightly larger parasitic losses.
The big reason, I think, this is a great idea is the fact drivers will know the overall condition of the battery in live time translating into peace of mind. It will also simplifies maintenance by not having to second guess which cell is going bad by alerting the driver for potential problems. I think this is a game changer!
Its a choice of making them cheaper to build and to please the investor. Whatever will please the investor and make them cheaper to build will always win out. There not designed to last anymore. Just designed to be more profitable. Most companies these days are more concerned with pleasing the investor than the customer. Been headed in that direction for awhile now.
The article states that the “system can conduct real-time battery pack health checks which helps to safeguard battery health over the vehicle’s lifespan.” GM has already said the ultium batteries should last close to 1 million miles traveled. I don’t think GM is just focused on the investor, but seems to have an interest in making the costumer happy.
P.S. If GM was only interested in making investors happy, my GM stock would be doing a LOT better right now 😀
Dave, I do not believe that statement to be true. GM simply has no tools left to help their stock price.
Everything since around the 2014 product line is just cheap GM junk !
So the development of this product was years before with no money !
Now some of the later product around 2016 and later got a slight better but its still the majority of the GM junk on the road and the HORRIBLE GM customer support that has held their stock down !
Almost everyone in the US now personally knows someone who has had a HORRIBLE personal experience with GM customer support !
To me this problem is a simple fix, yet GM is still under the impression that they are a leader in something, and that is simply not the case and has not been for years !
This problem can be fixed at a personal level with the customer, and that is the ONLY way GM can make this better. GM needs to simply go through the case #s called in and reply with some knowledge to some how help the CUSTOMER with the GM known faulty issues !
Most customers do NOT want something for nothing !
Yet MOST customers after researching a well known GM known faulty issue, DO think it is GMs problem to fix !
So it is NOT the ” known faulty ” issues that are the problem. The customer in todays world are aware that parts will fail. Its GMs lack of ownership, morals, responsibility, that has the younger investor turned off to invest !
You see, GM is trying, they give money to this organization, start STEM programs do to the lack of talent that wants to work for them, ETC.
But just like the GM product line !
Its is GM smoke and mirrors !
Instead of using the exact same amount of money they spend on lawyers, and programs, and promising the best will get here in two years ” you just wait ”
Why not just
————————– DO SOMETHING NOW !!!—————————–
There ” systems ” of handling the very customer they need, are simply old and out of date, for the customer of today !
Both the owner customer !
And the stock customer !
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