SOC-based and voltage-based balancing strategies were implemented in a battery management system to evaluate their effect on maximizing available battery pack capacity.
This engineering study compares voltage-based and SOC-based balancing strategies for passive cell equalizers to maximize the available capacity of battery packs.
As the use of large-capacity battery packs increases, passive cell equalizers have become an essential function of battery management systems (BMS) to mitigate cell-to-cell imbalance. However, the operating criteria of passive cell equalizers have been determined empirically, and although comtrol methods based on state of charge (SOC) have recently been proposed. direct comparisons with conventional voltage-based operation remain limited. Moreover, few studies have examined the effect of these operating criteria on maximizing the available capacity of battery packs. This study develops a BMS integrating a passive cell equalizer and implements dedicated firmware to evaluate these strategies. Flowcharts for voltage-based and SOC-based balancing are designed and embedded in the actual BMS to compare and analyze the available capacity of the battery pack after imbalance mitigation. The comparative analysis presented in this study is expected to support the determination of optimal cell equalizer operating criteria and contribute to the design of battery packs that maximize their available capacity.
Bae et al. (2026) studied Battery cell-to-cell imbalance. SOC-based balancing vs. Voltage-based balancing was evaluated on Available capacity of the battery pack after imbalance mitigation. SOC-based and voltage-based balancing strategies were implemented in a battery management system to evaluate their effect on maximizing available battery pack capacity.