On-line equalization for lithium-ion battery packs based on charging cell voltages: Part 1. Equalization based on remaining charging capacity estimation

Because of the inevitable inconsistency during manufacture and use of battery cells, cell variations in battery packs have significant impacts on battery pack capacities, durability and safety for electric vehicles (EVs). To reduce cell variations and increase pack capacity, cell equalization is essentially required. In the series of two papers, we discover that dissipative cell equalization (DCE) using dissipative resistances is a feasible on-line equalization method for battery packs in EVs. We subsequently propose on-line equalization algorithms for lithium-ion battery packs based on charging cell voltage curves (CCVCs). The objective of these algorithms is to maximize pack capacities by conditioning CCVCs.