METHOD FOR BATTERY COLD-TEMPERATURE WARM-UP MECHANISM USING CELL EQUILIZATION HARDWARE

摘要

A method and apparatus for warming up cold temperature lithium chemistry batteries employs a temperature sensor configured to generate a temperature signal indicative of a temperature of the cells of a multi-cell battery. The cells are coupled to a respective balancing circuit having a dissipative resistor that is selectively shunted across the cell for dissipating charge to achieve cell-to-cell balancing. When the temperature is below a temperature threshold, the battery controller engages the balancing resistors to dissipate energy and generate heat to warm up the cells. The cold-temperature shunting is discontinued when a warm-up threshold is reached.