Battery knowledge · Modules, packs and battery management

Split pack

A pack built as two halves that contactors can connect in series or in parallel, so the same battery works at two voltages. GM’s Hummer EV drives at 400 V with its halves in parallel and switches them to series for 800 V fast charging; other designs split an 800 V pack to use 400 V chargers.

Also called
switchable pack, reconfigurable pack, 400/800 V switching

Example

Series voltage and parallel capacity

4S2P: 8 cells, 14.8 V, 10 Ah, 148 Wh.

Identical 3.7 V, 5 Ah cells; ideal equal current sharing and no losses.

Explore the graph

Count series and parallel connections separately.

Voltage along one series string
Voltage along one series stringSeries cells versus Voltage (V). 3.7 V per cell. Interpretation follows the graphs.0011.1322.2633.3944.412Series cellsVoltage (V)
3.7 V per cell
Capacity from parallel cells
Capacity from parallel cellsParallel cells versus Capacity (Ah). 5 Ah per cell. Interpretation follows the graphs.007.51.515322.54.5306Parallel cellsCapacity (Ah)
5 Ah per cell

4S2P: 8 cells, 14.8 V, 10 Ah, 148 Wh.

V_pack = Ns V_cell; Q_pack = Np Q_cell

Illustrative model. Identical 3.7 V, 5 Ah cells; ideal equal current sharing and no losses.

Use in Lemonergy

Make series/parallel architecture explicit.

This is a reference concept. No executable Lemonergy block has been verified for this term.

References & further reading

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

  1. 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

    Topic background · Battery charge balance, open-circuit voltage, ohmic loss, polarization dynamics and model identification; parameters require cell-specific data.

  2. Getting Started with the BQ76925

    Texas Instruments · 2019

    Topic background · A concrete BMS analog front-end example: cell voltage, current, temperature measurement and MCU integration.