General Motors to debut wireless Battery Management System

General Motors (GM) will be the first automaker to use an almost completely wireless battery management system, or wBMS, for production electric vehicles. According to the company, this wireless system – developed with Analog Devices, Inc. – will be a primary driver of GM’s ability to ultimately power many different types of electric vehicles from a common set of battery components.   

The wBMS is expected to drive GM’s Ultium-powered EVs to market faster, as time won’t be needed to develop specific communications systems or redesign complex wiring schemes for each new vehicle. Instead, the wBMS will help to ensure the scalability of Ultium batteries across GM’s future lineup, including different brands and vehicle segments, from heavy-duty trucks to performance vehicles.

According to GM, the wBMS’ basic structure will be able to easily incorporate new features as new software becomes available. With GM’s all-new Vehicle Intelligence Platform, the system may eventually be able to be upgraded via smartphone-like software updates.

“Scalability and complexity reduction are a theme with our Ultium batteries – the wireless battery management system is the critical enabler of this amazing flexibility,” said Kent Helfrich, GM executive director of global electrification and battery systems. “The wireless system represents the epitome of Ultium’s configurability and should help GM build profitable EVs at scale.”

GM’s wireless battery management system is protected by cybersecurity measures that are foundational to the company’s all-new electrical architecture or Vehicle Intelligence Platform. It is expected to be standard on all GM vehicles powered by Ultium batteries.

Photo : General Motors