CHARGE EQUALIZATION FOR AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE-BATTERY SYSTEM

Charge equalization for series connected battery strings has important ramifications on battery life. It enhances the uniformity of the batt ery cells and hence improves the life of the battery as a whole. A new charge equalization technique for a series string of battery cells ha s been recently proposed by the authors. The basic technique utilizes a simple isolated dc-to-dc converter with a capacitive output filter a long with a multiwinding transformer. The possibility of integrating t he trickle charge function with the charge equalization function is po tentially very attractive, as it can lead to an efficient and low cost implementation.