Electric vehicle battery parameter identification and SOC observability analysis: NiMH and Li-S case studies

In this study, a framework is proposed for battery model identification to be applied in electric vehicle energy storage systems. The main advantage of the proposed approach is having capability to handle different battery chemistries. Two case studies are investigated: nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), which is a mature battery technology, and Lithium-Sulphur (Li-S), a promising next-generation technology. Equivalent circuit battery model parametrisation is performed in both cases using the Prediction-Error Minimization (PEM) algorithm applied to experimental data. The use of identified parameters for battery state-of-charge (SOC) estimation is then discussed. It is demonstrated that the set of parameters needed can change with a different battery chemistry. In the case of NiMH, the battery's open circuit voltage (OCV) is adequate for SOC estimation. However, Li-S battery SOC estimation can be challenging due to the chemistry's unique features and the SOC cannot be estimated from the OCVSOC curve alone because of its flat gradient. An observability analysis demonstrates that Li-S battery SOC is not observable using the common state-space representations in the literature. Finally, the problem's solution is discussed using the proposed framework.