Modeling and Simulation Analysis of Cell Voltage Balancing Techniques for Lithium-Ion EV Battery

The performance of Lithium-ion batteries utilized in Electric Vehicles (EVs) is impacted by a range of factors, including undervoltage, overvoltage, overcharge, over discharge, cell voltage imbalance, & thermal runaway. Among these, cell voltage imbalance is particularly significant as it varies among cells within battery pack. This imbalance, along with extended charging & discharging times, leads to a rapid decrease in battery capacity. To prolong the lifespan of a battery pack, it's essential to regularly equalize the cell voltages to minimize differences between cells. Various techniques for cell voltage balancing exist, broadly categorized as passive & active methods. This study undertakes modeling and simulation analysis using fixed resistor, switched shunt resistor passive cell voltage balancing, & inductive shuttling method for active cell voltage balancing for 4-cell Lithium-ion EV batteries using MATLAB. A comprehensive analysis is carried out for the proposed methods.