Optimization of a 12V dual-battery system for micro-hybrid vehicles

The lead-acid batteries mainly used for energy storage in conventional vehicles today have to handle both high power applications and charge acceptance. Supporting the lead-acid technology using a small, high power lithium-ion battery connected in parallel yields great benefits. Besides battery properties, the batteries' connection to the power network is crucial for the overall system performance. Given that there is a close interaction between these factors, we present in our study a simulation-based optimization method to obtain the best trade-off between performance, charge acceptance, system size, weight and costs. Vehicle measurements prove the ability to simulate scaling of the battery and wiring harness and help in developing new and optimized vehicle power systems regardless of topology or voltage level.