With the popularity of Electrical Vehicles (EVs), Lithium-ion battery industry is developing rapidly. To ensure the battery safe usage and to reduce its average lifecycle cost, an accurate State of Charge (SOC) tracking algorithms for real-time implementation are required for different applications. Many SOC estimation methods have been proposed in the literature. However, only a few of them consider the real-time applicability. This paper reviews recently proposed online SOC estimation methods and classifies them into five categories. Their principal features are illustrated, and the main pros and cons are provided. The SOC estimation methods are compared and discussed in terms of accuracy, robustness, and computation burden. Afterward, as the most popular type of model based SOC estimation algorithms, seven nonlinear filters existing in literature are compared in terms of their accuracy and execution time as a reference for online implementation.

As a critical indictor in the Battery Management System (BMS), State of Charge (SOC) is closely related to the reliable and safe operation of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Model-based methods are an effective solution for accurate and robust SOC estimation, the performance of which heavily relies on the battery model. This paper mainly focuses on battery modeling methods, which have the potential to be used in a model-based SOC estimation structure. Battery modeling methods are classified into four categories on the basis of their theoretical foundations, and their expressions and features are detailed. Furthermore, the four battery modeling methods are compared in terms of their pros and cons. Future research directions are also presented. In addition, after optimizing the parameters of the battery models by a Genetic Algorithm (GA), four typical battery models including a combined model, two RC Equivalent Circuit Model (ECM), a Single Particle Model (SPM), and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) battery model are compared in terms of their accuracy and execution time.

The performance of model based State-of-Charge (SOC) estimation method relies on an accurate battery model. Nonlinear models are thus proposed to accurately describe the external characteristics of the Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery. The nonlinear estimation algorithms and online parameter identification methods are needed to guarantee the accuracy of the model based SOC estimation with nonlinear battery models. A new approach forming a dynamic linear battery model is proposed in this paper, which enables the application of the linear Kalman filter for SOC estimation and also avoids the usage of online parameter identification methods. With a moving window technology, Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression is able to establish a series of piecewise linear battery models automatically. One element state space equation is then obtained to estimate the SOC from the linear Kalman filter. The experiments on a LiFePO4 battery prove the effectiveness of the proposed method compared with the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) with two Resistance and Capacitance (RC) Equivalent Circuit Model (ECM) and the Adaptive Unscented Kalman Filter (AUKF) with Least Squares Support Vector Machines (LSSVM).

An off-board dc fast battery charger for electric vehicles (EVs) with an original control strategy aimed to provide ripple-free output current in the typical EV batteries voltage range is presented in this article. The proposed configuration is based on modular three-phase interleaved converters and supplied by the low-voltage ac grid. The ac/dc interleaved three-phase active rectifier is composed of three standard two-level three-phase converter modules with a possibility to slightly adjust the dc-link voltage level in order to null the output current ripple. A modular interleaved dc/dc converter, formed by the same three-phase converter modules connected in parallel, is used as an interface between the dc link and the battery. The use of low-cost, standard and industry-recognized three-phase power modules for high-power fast EV charging stations enables the reduction of capital and maintenance costs of the charging facilities. The effect of coupling on the individual input/output inductors and total input/output current ripples has been investigated as well, considering both possible coupling implementations, i.e., inverse and direct coupling. Numerical simulations are reported to confirm the feasibility and the effectiveness of the whole EV fast charging configuration, including the proposed control strategy aimed to null the ripple of the output current. Experimental results are provided by a reduced scale prototype of the output stage to verify the ripple-free output current operation capability.

This paper proposes a novel fast open circuit voltage prediction approach for Lithium-ion battery, which is potential to facilitate a convenient battery modeling and states estimation in the energy storage system. Open circuit voltage measurement suffers from a long relaxation time (several hours, even days) to reach the thermodynamic equilibrium of the battery. On the basis of the feedback control theory, the proposed multiple correction approach utilizes the constrained nonlinear optimization of the power function in each curve fitting step. The voltage measurement in a short period is divided into several segments to correct the voltage prediction multiple times with the feedback errors after each curve fitting. The similarity between the shape of the power function and the variation of the terminal voltage during the relaxation time is utilized. The proposed method can speed up the time-consuming open circuit voltage measurement and predict the open circuit voltage with high accuracy. Experimental tests on a LiFePO4 battery prove the validation and effectiveness of the proposed method in accurately predicting the open circuit voltage within a very short relaxation time (less than 15 min).