LG Energy Solution, the parent firm of Windsor’s NextStar Energy battery plant, announced Wednesday it has developed new safety diagnostics software that it says detects battery defects with an accuracy rate exceeding 90 per cent.
The software will be mounted on the battery management systems (BMS) in vehicles and is also compatible with batteries made by other manufacturers.
“We will continue to provide irreplaceable and differentiated customer value, not only in battery manufacturing but also in the field of BMS solutions to ensure the highest levels of safety and performance,” said David Kim, CEO of LG Energy Solution.
With the development of the system, LG Energy Solution also confirmed it was creating a battery safety diagnostic software business. LG already has 8,000 BMS-related patents.
The company analyzed 130,000 battery cells and 1,000 modules in developing the software and has tested it in over 100,000 vehicles.
The software diagnoses battery conditions more accurately by continuously upgrading its algorithms via AI computing technology.
In addition, LG Energy Solution is using cloud technology to analyze battery data in real time using the data from over 12,000 thousand vehicles to date.
The system analyzes the battery for defects such as voltage drop during charging, battery tab failure, micro internal short circuit, abnormal degradation and discharge, cell capacity and excessive lithium precipitation.
The software also preemptively detects abnormal signs that could lead to potential future issues such as thermal incidents and can predict a battery’s future capacity to within a one per cent error rate.
“Although automakers are starting to shift their attention to safety diagnosis technology, it takes time and resources to develop and apply reliable software,” said Hyuksung Chung, vice president of the business development group at LG Energy Solution.
“LG Energy Solution has already developed diagnostics software with capabilities that overwhelm the competition. Backed by various battery patents and vast amounts of empirical data, this leading vehicle software can be applied to an automotive BMS today.
“This move aligns with our commitment to actively collaborate with our clients to ensure EV batteries are safe to use.”
Currently, nine global automakers are already using LG’s new battery safety diagnostics software in their vehicles.
LG Energy Solution is also developing BMS software for software defined vehicles that will use the platform’s system-on-chip computing capabilities to enhance battery performance through more sophisticated battery algorithms.