Linear Technology demonstrates what it calls the industry’s first wireless automotive battery management system (BMS) concept car, developed with Linear’s design partner LION Smart. It combines Linear’s battery stack monitors with its LION Smart’s SmartMesh wireless mesh networking products in a BMW i3. The BMS essentially replaces the traditional wired connections between the battery packs and the battery management system. Reportedly, this addresses the persistent reliability issues associated with automotive wiring harnesses and connections in electric and hybrid/electric vehicles, and simplifies the BMS design and manufacture.
The wireless BMS concept car, featuring the BMW i3, shows the promise of wireless technology to significantly improve reliability and simplify the design of automotive battery management systems, while providing performance advantages. A reference design to demonstrate wireless BMS capability, including the LTC6811 battery stack monitor and SmartMesh wireless sensor network, will be available in the first half of 2017. More info is available at http://lt.linear.com/07c