An IoT Based Battery Condition Monitoring System for Electric Vehicles

A brushless DC (BLDC) motor-based three-wheeled vehicle, known as three-wheeled battery-operated vehicles (TWBOVs), is a suitable alternate to public transportation. The TWBoVs are not only providing efficient short-distance transportation but also are a source of employment generation since 2008 in rural India. The TWBoVs operate mainly through the flooded lead-acid battery. To get the full benefit of lower operating costs, the life, and efficiency of the battery are important aspects. In such a scenario, battery monitoring and management for battery-operated vehicles are a prime aspect. Proper battery management and monitoring enhance the durability of the lead-acid battery in TWBoVs. In this chapter, the monitoring and management of Lead-acid batteries using the Internet of Things (IoT) is capitalized. Depending on the survey in rural Bengal, it is observed that the battery life cycle depreciation process needs to be decreased by properly monitoring the condition of drive-train of TWBoVs and the lead-acid battery ampere-hour discharge in the random drive cycle. A newly applicable design regarding the state of charge (SOC) estimation of the batteries along with terminal voltage and current measurement under different depths of discharge phase has been implemented through IoT-based real-time monitoring system. This developed system relates the distance traveled (in kilometers) by the TWBoVs with the condition of the battery concerning its SOC on an online basis via a Wireless battery management system (WBMS). Experimental analysis through hardware setup and simulation proves the feasibility of the approach in terms of battery utilization and monitoring.