IP Library › Granted Patent US 12673581
Granted Patent B2
US 12673581 · App. 17/578,880 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Vehicle battery cell balancing

Inventors: Hesam Zomorodi Moghadam (Ypsilanti, MI); Xu Wang (Northville, MI); Rui Wang (Irvine, CA); Andrea Cordoba Arenas (Ann Arbor, MI)
Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
B60L58/22B60L50/60B60L58/13H02J7/342H02J7/54H02J7/82
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12673581
App. No.
17/578,880
Granted
Jul 7, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A controller initiates discharging of at least some cells of a traction battery based on data indicative of cell state of charge and cell capacity such that, upon completion of the discharging, states of charge of at least some of the cells are different, and after charging the cells with a same current for a same period of time, the states of charge fall with a predefined range of values.

Claims (18)

1 . A power system for a vehicle comprising:

a traction battery including a plurality of series connected cells; and

a controller programmed to initiate discharging of at least some of the cells such that, upon completion of the discharging, states of charge of at least the some of the cells are different, and after charging the cells with a same current for a same period of time, the states of charge fall with a range of values.

2 . The power system of claim 1 , wherein after the charging, the states of charge have a same value.

3 . The power system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to initiate the discharging based on data indicative of cell state of charge and cell capacity and, for each of the cells, a product of the capacity and a difference between a maximum state of charge value and a current value of the state of charge.

4 . The power system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further programmed to initiate the discharging responsive to a difference between the product and a reference value being greater than a threshold value.

5 . The power system of claim 4 , wherein the reference value is a maximum of the products.

6 . The power system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further programmed to, for each of the cells, stop the discharging responsive to a difference between the product and a reference value being less than a threshold value.

7 . The power system of claim 6 , wherein the reference value is a maximum of the products.

8 . A method comprising:

discharging at least some cells of a traction battery based on data indicative of cell state of charge and cell capacity such that, upon completion of the discharging, states of charge of at least some of the cells are different; and

following the discharging, charging the cells for a same period of time such that at an end of the period of time, the states of charge fall with a predefined range of values.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein after the charging, the states of charge have a same value.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the discharging is further based on, for each of the cells, a product of the capacity and a difference between a maximum state of charge value and a current value of the state of charge.

11 . The method of claim 10 further comprising initiating the discharging responsive to a difference between the product and a reference value being greater than a threshold value.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the reference value is a maximum of the products.

13 . The method of claim 10 further comprising, for each of the cells, stopping the discharging responsive to a difference between the product and a reference value being less than a threshold value.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the reference value is a maximum of the products.