Method of controlling battery charging

1. A machine implemented method for controlling the charging of a battery comprising:

receiving current and voltage output information for the battery during a charging/discharging cycle at a certain time interval,

using a model to determine charging efficiency of the battery and the overpotential for a side reaction,

determining whether the charging efficiency is less than a first given value,

determining whether the overpotential of the side reaction is less than a second given value, and

suspending the charging of the battery if either charging efficiency or overpotential is less than their respective given values.

2. The machine implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the battery comprises a lithium ion battery.

3. The machine implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the side reaction comprises an irreversible side reaction.

4. The machine implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein the irreversible side reaction comprises the formation of deposits at the negative electrode.

5. The machine implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein the deposits at the negative electrode comprise lithium-containing components.

6. The machine implemented method according to claim 3 , wherein the deposits at the negative electrode comprise the reduction products of ethylene carbonate.

7. The machine implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein if charging is not suspended, then the receiving of current and voltage output information at a certain time interval is repeated until charging is suspended.

8. The machine implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the model comprises the single particle battery model.

9. The machine implemented method according to claim 8 , further comprising

determining additional internal parameters comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of:

surface ion densities at each of the negative and positive electrodes,

overpotentials for the main charge transfer reaction at each of the positive electrode and negative electrode,

overpotential for the side reaction,

current densities for the main charge transfer reaction at each of the positive electrode and negative electrode,

current density for the side reaction,

equilibrium potentials for the main charge transfer reaction at each of the positive electrode and negative electrode, and

equilibrium potential for the side reaction.

10. A battery charging device for a battery comprising:

a battery;

a battery charger for charging the battery; and

a charging control means comprising

receiving current and voltage output information for the battery during a charging/discharging cycle at a certain time interval,

using a model to determine charging efficiency of the battery and the overpotential for a side reaction,

determining whether the charging efficiency is less than a first given value,

determining whether the overpotential of the side reaction is less than a second given value, and

suspending the charging of the battery if either charging efficiency or overpotential is less than their respective given values.

11. A battery charging device for a battery according to claim 10 , wherein the battery charger for charging the battery comprises a generator.

12. A battery charging device for a battery according to claim 10 , wherein the battery charger for charging the battery comprises a generator for a hybrid electric vehicle.

13. A machine implemented method for controlling the charging of a battery comprising:

receiving current and voltage output information for the battery during a charging/discharging cycle at a certain time interval,

using a model to determine charging efficiency of the battery,

determining whether the charging efficiency is less than a first given value, and

suspending the charging of the battery if the charging efficiency is less than the first given value.

14. The machine implemented method according to claim 13 , further comprising:

using the model to determine the overpotential for a side reaction,

determining whether the overpotential of the side reaction is less than a second given value, and

suspending the charging of the battery if either charging efficiency or overpotential is less than their respective given values.

15. The machine implemented method according to claim 13 , wherein the battery comprises a lithium ion battery.

16. The machine implemented method according to claim 13 , wherein the side reaction comprises an irreversible side reaction.

17. A machine implemented method for controlling the charging of a battery comprising:

receiving current and voltage output information for the battery during a charging/discharging cycle at a certain time interval,

using a model to determine the overpotential for a side reaction,

determining whether the overpotential of the side reaction is less than a first given value, and

suspending the charging of the battery if the overpotential is less than the first given value.

18. The machine implemented method of claim 17 , further comprising:

using the model to determine charging efficiency of the battery,

determining whether the charging efficiency is less than a second given value, and

suspending the charging of the battery if either charging efficiency or overpotential is less than their respective given values.

19. The machine implemented method according to claim 17 , wherein the battery comprises a lithium ion battery.

20. The machine implemented method according to claim 17 , wherein the side reaction comprises an irreversible side reaction.