Battery knowledge · Units and electrical basics
Internal resistance
The resistance a cell presents to current, from its foils, electrolyte, interfaces and the reactions themselves. It converts part of the delivered energy into heat, sets the voltage drop under load, and rises as the cell ages; a large automotive cell has about a milliohm, a small cylindrical cell tens. [1]
- Abbreviation
- IR
- Also called
- DC resistance, DCIR
- Unit
- mΩ
Example
Voltage under load
5 A through 20 mΩ gives 0.1 V ohmic drop.
Chosen OCV curve; no chemistry calibration, hysteresis or voltage cutoff.
Explore the graph
Discharge current creates an ohmic drop below open-circuit voltage.
5 A through 20 mΩ gives 0.1 V ohmic drop.
V_terminal = OCV − I_discharge R
Illustrative model. Chosen OCV curve; no chemistry calibration, hysteresis or voltage cutoff.
Use in Lemonergy
Lemonergy Studio blocks
Connect SOC and voltage
The battery integrates charge and combines OCV with resistance.
Blocks to use
- Battery with SOC-dependent OCV
Stores charge and supplies terminal voltage
Inputs & settings
- capacityAh
- initialSoc
- emptyVoltageV / fullVoltageV
- resistanceOhm
- Electrical ports p and n
- Regulated CC/CV charger
Regulates current and voltage
Inputs & settings
- currentA
- voltageV
- cutoffCurrentA / cutoffHoldS
- Electrical ports p and n
- Electrical reference
Sets zero potential
Inputs & settings
- Connect p to reference net
This overview identifies the components to use. Follow the example in Lemonergy for their connections and settings.
- Inspect capacity, initial SOC and OCV endpoints.
- Compare OCV with terminal voltage.
Example. OCV endpoints of 300 and 420 V give 360 V at 50% SOC. Charging at 10 A through 0.08 Ω adds 0.8 V.
Observe. At unity coulombic efficiency, 10 A for 1 h adds ten percentage points to 100 Ah.
Internal model SOC is not an estimate of an unknown physical battery. OCV is linear and resistance fixed.
Open the Studio example →References & further reading
Technical references
- Extended Kalman filtering for battery management systems of LiPB-based HEV battery packs: Part 2. Modeling and identification
Gregory L. Plett · Journal of Power Sources · 2004
Technical reference · Battery charge balance, open-circuit voltage, ohmic loss, polarization dynamics and model identification; parameters require cell-specific data.
Further reading on this topic
These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.
- The International System of Units (SI), 9th edition
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures · 2026
Topic background · Definitions of SI units and coherent derived units; 2026 revision.