Sensata Launches New Battery Management System for Heavy Commercial Vehicles

Sensata Technologies introduced a Lithium Balance n3- a new battery management system (BMS), for high-voltage applications, especially for battery makers and manufacturers of electric trucks, buses, and other heavy commercial vehicles. Lithium Balance n3-BMS supports power up to 1000 volts/2000 amps.

There has been an increasing demand for ISO 26262-certified components as battery packers, and electric commercial vehicle OEMs look for functional safety in their platforms and strive for quick turnaround time. Lithium Balance n3-BMS is an off-the-shelf, Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL C) certified solution. It has a reduced development time and is cost-effective. It has a layered software structure that allows customers to customize the battery management system with their code and algorithms without impacting the ASIL C certification.

Like its previous generation, the n-BMS, Lithium Balance n3-BMS is a distributed system comprising up to 30 Cell Monitoring Units (CMUs). This helps monitor individual cells. It is also equipped with a Master Control Unit (MCU), which consolidates the information and controls the battery functions. n-BMS is easily upgradable to n3-BMS with the replacement of a single PCB board in a battery system of any size. A new upgrade is expected to be launched by early 2023 for heavy electric vehicles that expect the need for an ISO 26262-certified system.

The BMS market is expected to boost with a hike in demand for electric vehicles. EV batteries are expected to get less complicated and easy to charge in the future. BMS will aid in saving energy and accelerating performance.