Battery Energy Storage Systems and Electric Vehicles Power Systems 
A New Battery Model for use with 
H.L. Chan, D. Sutanto 
Department of Electrical Engineering, 
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 
Hung Hom. Hong Kong. 
FCZX : (852) 2330-1514 
eesritantG3ii)oolvu edu hk 
Abstract: This paper  will  initially present  a review  of the  several 
battery models used for Electric Vehicles and Battery Energy Storage 
System applications. A  model  will  be  discussed which  takes  into 
account the  non-linear  characteristics of the  battery with  respect to 
the  battery’s state of charge.  Comparisons between simulation  and 
laboratory  measurements will  be  presented. The  effects  of  high 
frequency  switching  on  the  battery  performance  will  also  be 
discussed.  A  strategy to  reduce the  high  frequency charging and 
discharging curre‘nt will be proposed. 
Keywords: Battery Model, Battery Energy Storage Systems, Electric 
Vehicles, Battery Management. 
I. INTRODUCTION 
The development  of electric vehicle  has been  accelerated by 
the recent “California  Initiative”  which has required  increasing 
proportions of new  vehicles  in  Los  Angeles area to  be  Zero 
Emission  vehicles.  Similar legislation  has now been passed  in 
several  other US states. This has  impelled  car manufacturers 
throughout the world  to have  Electric Vehicles ready  for the 
market  when  the  legislation  is  enforced. General Motors,  for 
example,  has  recently  released  the new  EV  1  in USA. The 
possibility  of  large amounts of Electric Vehicles on the road, 
has  also  created  interest  in  making  better  use  of the  spare 
batteries that  each  Electric  Vehicle  must  have.  It  has  been 
suggested that a Battery  Charging station be made available by 
the electric utilities, so that  cars  can come into the charging 
station and have they batteries replaced in a short time. 
While extensive research has been carried out to develop new 
types of batteriks and converters to convert the batteries output 
into useful  work,  very  little work  has been  done in  modeling 
the battery  itself.  The fact that most power converters are now 
switched  at relatively very high  frequency (much  higher  than 
50Hz), will  require  new  model  of the batteries  to  take  into 
account the operation of the battery  under this high  switching 
mode. This paper will initially  present the current state-of-the 
art of battery modeling for use in Electric Vehicles and Battery 
Energy  Storage  System.  A  new  model  will  be  introduced 
which  takes into account the response of the batteries to high 
frequency  switching  in  the  converter.  Impact  of  battery 
chargers  will  be  also  be  discussed.  Comparisons  between 
simulation  and  laboratory  measurements  will  be  presented. 
Some of the issues that will be considered are given below. 
11.  FACTORS DETERMINING BATTERY CAPACITY 
To have better performance  of EV,  the energy utilization  of 
battery capacity  must  be  ensured. The following  factors are 
critical to determine battery  capacity and must be  considered 
in any battery model: 
1.  Internal Resistance 
Self-discharge  Resistance  which  takes  account  of 
resistances in  (a) electrolysis of water at high  voltage 
and (b) slow leakage across the battery terminal at low 
voltage. This resistance  is  more temperature-sensitive 
and inversely proportional to the temperature change. 
Resistances for Charge and  Discharge:  These are the 
resistances associated  with electrolyte resistance,  plates 
resistance  and  fluid  resistance,  however  all  these 
resistances  can  be  different 
in  charging  and 
discharging. 
Overcharge and  Overdischarge  Resistance: When  the 
battery is  overcharged or overdischarged, the  internal 
resistance  will  be  increased  significantly  due  to  the 
electrolyte diffusion. 
2.  Discharge Type: 
- _  
- 
Continuous  Discharging:  When  battery  continuously 
delivers  energy  to  load  without  rest,  and  the  battery 
capacity is dropping continuously. 
Intermittent  Discharging:  When a battery  drives a load 
for a period  and is disconnected  from the load for some 
time,  then  voltage  recovery will  be  took  place  in  the 
battery to increase its voltage with some amount. When 
the battery  is  operating  in  this  intermittent manner,  it 
will give a longer discharge time. 
3.  Discharge Mode: 
Constant Load:  When  a  battery  delivers  energy to  a 
load  of  constant  resistance,  so  the  load  current  is 
decreasing as battery voltage does. 
Constant Current:  Current drawn from a battery  is kept 
constant  to  a  load  that  continuously  reduces  its 
resistance,  the  discharge  duration  in  this  mode  is 
shorter  due  to  the  average  current  is  higher.  The 
voltage drops more faster than that in constant load. 
Constant Power:  A  constant electrical power  is  drawn 
by  load  from a battery,  such that the load current will 
be increasing to compensate  for the decreasing battery 
voltage. This mode has the shortest discharge time. 
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4.  Rate  of Charge/Discharge:  To  extend  the  service  life  of 
battery  the  rate  of charge  and  discharge can  not  be  too 
high.  Excessive  overcharging  and  over-discharging  can 
reduce  battery  life.  Further,  the  frequency  of  switching 
needs to be  taken  into account, particularly  now when  the 
EV  or  BESS  batteries  are  subjected  to  high  switching 
frequency  associated  with  the  converters  in  the  control 
system. 
111. BATTERY MODEL 
In the following section, six battery models will be  described 
briefly. One of these is found to be simple and yet represents 
many of the important features of the EV batteries. 
A.  Simple Battery Model 
This model has been used  by  many battery manufacturers for 
battery monitoring purposes. 
C. Thevenin Battery Model 
The  other  commonly  used  model  is  the  Thevenin  battery 
model, which consists of an  ideal no-load battery voltage (Eo), 
internal  resistance  (R),  capacitance  (CO) and  overvoltage 
resistance (Ro).  CO represents the  capacitance of the parallel 
plates and  Ro represents the non-linear resistance contributed 
by the contact resistance of plate to electrolyte. 
CO 
I 
"O 
The most commonly used battery model  is shown in Figure  1. 
This  model  consists  of  an  ideal  battery  with  open-circuit 
voltage Eo and a constant equivalent internal series resistance 
ESR. Vo is the terminal voltage of battery. 
Figure 2. Thevenin Battery Model 
The main  disadvantage of the Thevenin  battery model  is that 
all the elements are  assumed to be constant, but  in fact all the 
values are functions of battery conditions. 
ESR 
'--i.-4 
-- 
Eo 
I 
v0 
Figure I .  Simple Battery Model 
0 
Vo  can  be  obtained  from  the  open  circuit  measurement  and 
ESR can  be obtained from both  the open circuit measurement 
and  one  extra  measurement  with  load  connected  at  the 
terminal  when  the  battery  is fully charged.  While this model 
has  been  extensively  used,  it  does  not  take  into account the 
varying characteristic of the internal impedance of the battery 
with  the varying state of charge, electrolyte concentration and 
sulfate  formation.  Such  a  model  is  only  applicable  in  some 
circuit simulations where the energy drawn out of the battery 
is assumed to be  unlimited or where the state of charge is of 
little importance. Clearly, for electric vehicle applications, this 
model is not appropriate. 
B. Modified Battery Model 
Jean Paul Cun  [I]  proposed  an  improved battery model based 
on the configuration given  in  Figure  1.  In this  battery model, 
the  battery's  state  of  the  charge  is  taken  into  account,  by 
making the  ESR  of battery  no  longer  constant,  but  varies  in 
accordance with  its state of  charge. A  common formula is to 
set ESR = Ro/Sk, where Ro = initial battery internal resistance 
calculated when the battery is full charged and S = 1 - Ah/Clo, 
where  Clo is  the  ten-hour  capacity  (Ah)  at  the  reference 
temperature (this  value  varies  as  the  battery  ages).  S varies 
from  0  (battery  discharged)  to  1  (battery  charged).  k  is  a 
coefficient that  is  a function  of the discharge  rate, calculated 
on the basis of kl, k2, and  k3. kl. k2 and  k3  are coefficients 
determined using the  curves  provided  by  the  manufacturers. 
They correspond to three discharge rates. 
D. Dynamic Battery Model [7-91 
An  empirical  mathematical  model  is  developed  in  [7,8]  to 
model  lead-acid traction battery: 
K 
e t b   =  - (Rb  +=litb 
= charge dependent open circuit voltage 
where 
etb  = battery terminal voltage 
V, 
RI,  = battery terminal resistor, typically OAohm 
K  = polarization constant, typically 0.1 ohm 
i,b  = battery discharge current, amps 
SOC = state of charge 
The  improvement  of  this  model  is  to  account  for  the  non- 
linear  characteristic  of  both  the  open  circuit  voltage  and 
internal resistance represented by the WSOC component. 
E.  Fourth Order Dynamic Model [ 1 I] 
Giglioi  [I  I]  proposed  a  dynamic  model  shown  in  Figure 3. 
The  battery  model  is  comprised  of two  parts:  (a) current  Ip 
flowing  through  RP (electrolyte  reaction),  Rd  (Ohmic  effect) 
and  its associated  leakage capacitance  Ca and  RW (waste  of 
energy) and its associated leakage capacitance CW; (b) current 
Is flowing through RS (self discharge). 
Although  this  model  is  sophisticated  and  accurate  for 
simulation purpose, it  still has some drawbacks  in that: (a) a 
longer time is required for computation due to the high order 
of  model;  and  (b)  modeling  procedure  is  too  complicated 
because  it involves a lot of empirical data. 
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47 1 
F. Over-Current Battery Model [IO] 
G.  Improved Battery Model [2,4] 
Figure  4  shows  a  SPICE  battery  model.  It  has  a  variable 
current source, a variable voltage sources, a variable resistor 
and a capacitor. 
Figure 5  shows a battery  model that we believe is the simplest 
and  at the same time  meets all  the requirements for a  good 
battery  model.  It  takes  into  account  most  nonlinear  battery 
elements  characteristics  both  during  charging  and  during 
discharging  as well  as their dependence on the state of charge 
of the battery.  fiji 
Current 
Sensor 
L 
Figure 3. Fourth Order Dynamic Model 
I 
. 
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1
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2
 
Battery 
Voltage 
Gb 
t+ - I 
T  J E m L  
* -  
Y 
Evb A 
vb 
4- 
Figure 4. Over-Current Battery Model 
where 
Gb =variable current source to model  the battery current and 
is  defined  by  Peukert  relationship:  Battery  Capacity, 
C = A ~  x I*' 
EVb=  variable  voltage source to model  the battery  voltage and 
is  defined  by  Nernstian  relationship:  Battery  Voltage, 
VOC =Ad+As+log(C) 
ERI,= variable  voltage  source  characterizing  voltage  drop 
across the  battery,  it  is  actually modeled  as the  internal 
resistance, R 
constant AI 
R =  internal resistance including RI, R2 and Rs 
RI = resistance  of grid,  group bar and  lug material,  which  is a 
R2 = resistance of electrolyte=Az/C 
R3 = resistance of plate surface sulfation=AJ*(l-C) 
Cb =capacitor, the voltage across Cb  which  is  scaled to  1V 
when  100% of SOC and OV when 0% of  SOC 
Vb =current sensor of zero voltage for SPICE simulation 
A,-, are constants and obtained by experiments. 
This  model  provides  a good  representation  of both  variable 
internal  drop in the battery and changes in the output voltage 
due to the  state of charge.  However one of its drawbacks is 
that too many parameters are required. 
Figure 5 .  Improved  Battery Model 
All  the elements  included  in  this model  are functions of the 
open-circuit voltage of battery, which  in turn relates to state of 
charge. The characteristic of these elements are described as 
below: 
Self-Discharge  Resistance  (Rp):  It  takes  account  of 
resistances  in  (a) electrolysis of water at high  voltage and 
(b) slow leakage across the battery terminal at low voltage. 
This resistance is a function of the open circuit voltage. 
Resistances for Charge and  Discharge (Rc and  Rd):  These 
are the resistances associated  with  electrolyte resistance, 
plates  resistance  and  fluid  resistance,  however all  these 
resistances can be different in charging and discharging. 
Overcharge and Overdischarge Resistance (Rco and Rdo): 
When  the  battery  is  overcharged  or  overdischarged,  the 
internal resistance will be increased  significantly due to the 
electrolyte diffusion. 
Battery  Capacity  (Cb):  A  battery  delivering  or  storing 
energy  behaves  as  a  large  capacitor.  However,  it  i s  
modeled  as a voltage  source, VOC in  SPICE  model  which 
is function of state of charge. 
The following table tabulates  the relationships  of the battery 
elements described  above  as VOC changes and extracted from 
[2] and manufacturer's  data. 
Because  the  model  takes  into  account  the  variation  of the 
elements with the open circuit voltage. and these relationships 
are  obtained  either  from  measurements  or  data  sheet,  the 
model  is  very  accurate,  and  errors  between  actual tests  and 
simulation  will  be  minimised.  Therefore,  it  provides  a 
relatively simple but accurate structure. 
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47 2 
Table I. Parameters of Battery Elements - 
voc I  Rp  n  voc I  Rc  I  voc  I  Rd  I  soc, 
O.OOoc( 
195.d O.OO@  0.1164 4.0000(  4 . 0 4  
0.d 
3% 
0.000 
5.450 
5.700 
5.8 IO 
6. I87 
6.406 
6.718 
3.437 
voltage of the battery, the constant current supply and provide 
constant current discharging of battery. 
Microcomputer m 
, 
Load 
i [ . l   .......... 
Constant Chent 
, 
Figure 7. Battery Testing System 
-- 
The results obtained from  laboratory measurement are shown 
in  Figure  8  which  is  identical to  that  in  Fig.  6. This  can  be 
expected as the variations of the model with the state of charge 
are  now  well  represented  both  from  measurements  and 
manufacturer's data sheet. 
However, it should be noted that the battery tests carried out in 
both  simulation  and  experiment  are  under  constant  DC 
condition.  in  order  to  verify  the  battery  performance  under 
high  frequency switching condition, a possible application of 
EV  battery  as an  active  filter  and  power  factor correction is 
simulated,  first  using  the  ideal  battery  model  with  constant 
voltage and then withthe proposed battery model. 
'I 
*mm 
0" 
,mm  I" 
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2" 
Tine 
Figure 8. Experiment Result 
VI. BESS PROVIDING ACTIVE FILTERING AND 
POWER FACTOR CORRECTION 
A  PSPICE simulation  of  an  active  filter  using  a  Battery 
Energy Storage system is shown in Figure 9. 
poood 
0.d 
I 
I 
IV. SIMULATION 
To  test  the  model,  a  PSPICE  simulation  program  using the 
improved  battery  model  was  carried  out  and  the  results  are 
compared with  the laboratory experiment. In  the laboratory, a 
6V sealed lead-acid battery  is used and  is subjected to (a)  1.5 
hours  of  constant  current  discharge  at  1.5A.  then  (b)  15 
minutes of rest, and (c) another  1.5  hours of constant current 
charge  at  1.5A.  The experimental  set-up  is  discussed  in  the 
next Section. The results from the simulation are shown in Fig. 
6.  The  non-linear  characteristics  of  the  battery  terminal 
voltage  during  charging  and  discharging  can  be  clearly 
observed. 
1. 
V. EXPERIMENT 
The experimental  set-up  is shown  in  Figure 7. It comprises a 
microcomputer, a constant  current  supply.  a constant current 
load demand, circuit selector, current and voltage sensors. The 
microcomputer is  used  to  control  and  record  the current and 
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473 
.............................................. 
Active Filter 
Figure 9. Active Filtering System 
8 
The current drawn  from the non-linear  load contains a lot of 
harmonics,  it  will  definitely  degrade  the  power  factor  of 
electricity  supply  if  the  active  filter  is  not  installed.  The 
Battery  energy. storage system  is  used  to  provide  alternating 
positive and  negative current to ensure that the input  current 
source will  have a perfect  sinusoidal  waveform  and  in-phase 
with  the supply voltage. The circuit configuration is shown in 
Figure 9. The Capacitor  in parallel  with the battery is intended 
to  provide  filtering  in  that  it  will  take  most  of  the  high 
frequency  component  of the  switching devices allowing  the 
battery 
low  frequency  charging  and 
discharging..  The  active  filter  was  implemented  with 
hysteresis control strategy[3],  where the input source current is 
controlled  within  a  tolerance  band  or  hysteresis  band.  The 
switching frequency is as high as several kHz. 
to  experience 
Two  studies  were  carried  out  for comparison,  the first  case 
using  an  ideal  battery  as energy  storage and  the second  one 
made use of the improved  battery  model. Both two cases were 
simulated using PSPICE. 
VII. ACTIVE FILTER USING IDEAL BATTERY 
Figure  10.a shows the supply current (Is), 
load current (IL)  and 
active  filter  current  (IF).  The  non-linear  load  demanded  a 
current containing high  harmonics and the active filter current 
was  controlled  by  referencing  the  ideal  sinusoidal  supply 
current, such that the actual supply current is IS = I t  - IF. 
However,  it  can  be  seen  from  Figure  1O.b  that the  battery 
voltage  remains  constant  and  no  current  flows through  the 
capacitor.  The high  frequency component  is  absorbed  by  the 
battery,  a  very  undesirable  situation  as this will  shorten  the 
battery life. 
Clearly  such  a  result  is  not  realistic  and  does  not  reflect  the 
true performance of the battery. 
0 
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0
1
,
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.
 
Tim (nu) 
Figure 10.a Active Filter Using Ideal Battery 
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4 1  
0 
2 
Tinu! (nu) 
I 
4 
------+ 
Figure 10.b Active Filter Using Ideal Battery 
VJII. ACTIVE FILTER USING IMPROVED BATTERY 
MODEL 
Using the improved  battery  model  instead of the  ideal  model, 
the  PSPICE  simulation  generated  quite  a  different  result 
illustrated  in Figure  1 1 .a and  1 1 .b. 
Nevertheless, the battery  voltage and capacitor current shown 
in Figure 10.b are not the same as those shown in  Figure  10.b. 
The  capacitor  now  absorbs  most  of  the  high  frequency 
component  and the battery  only needs  to absorb or generate 
the low frequency component. 
IX. CONCLUSION 
The paper  has  presented  a review  of several battery  models 
used  in the industry.  One particular model  was found to best 
represent the non-linear  characteristic  of the battery  elements 
with  respect  to  the  state  of charge  very  well.  The  battery 
model  is then  used  to simulate  the application of BESS as an 
active filter. Super-capacitor  was used to take care of the high 
frequency component.  The use  of the proposed  model  of  the 
battery allows a better understanding  of the battery  behaviour 
when  used  in  conjunction with  Electric  Vehicle  or  Battery 
Energy Storage System. 
0-7803-5935-6/001$10.00 (c) 2000 IEEE 
474 
Ziyad  M.  Salameh, Margaret A. Casacca and William 
A.  Lynch,  "A  Mathematical  Model  for  Lead-Acid 
Batteries",  IEEE Trans. on  Energy Conversion. Vol. 7, 
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Control,  Operation  and  Management, November 
199 1, Hong Kong. 
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1992 
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and  Morgan,  C.,  "A  N e w  
Jayne,  M.G., 
Mathematical  Model  of a  Lead  Acid  Battery  for 
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Fenton, J.E.,  "Computer  Modeling of Automotive 
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Jayanths,  M.S.,  Hayhoe,  G.F.,  and  Henry,  J.J., 
"Modeling  and Digital  Computer Simulation of an 
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University,  University Park Pennsylvania, August, 
1979. 
Robbins,  T.;  Hawkins,  J.  "Battery  model  for 
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Di s t r i but i o n  System S", 
INTEL E C .  S i x t e e n t h 
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Conference, p307- 14. 
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Order Dynamic Model of the  Lead  Battery",  10Ih Int'l 
Electric Vehicle Symposium, Hong Kong,  1990, p. 1-9. 
4
 
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Figure  1 1 .a Active Filter Using Improved Model 
The  supply  current,  load  current  and  filter  current  in  Figure 
10.a follows similar pattern as before. 
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Figure  1 I .b Active Filter Using Improved Model 
X. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial contributions 
of the Hong Kong University Grants Committee and the Hong 
Kong  Polytechnic  University  to  the  project  and  to  Mr.  Jim 
McDowall, Chair,  PES  Stationary Battery Committee for his 
comments on the abstract of the paper. 
XI. REFERENCES 
[I] 
Jean  Paul  CUN,  Jean  No  FIORINA,  Michael 
FRAISSE,  Henri  MABBOUX, "The  Experience  of a 
UPS  Company  in  Advanced  Battery  Monitoring", 
MGE  UPS  Systems,  Grenoble,  France,'http://www- 
merlin-gerin.eunet.fr/news/techpap/tp02us.ht' 
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475