"Applied to Other Companies' Batteries"... LG Energy Solution Expands Battery Safety Inspection Business

LG Energy Solution announced on the 21st that it will apply its electric vehicle battery safety diagnosis software to products from other manufacturers as well.

Until now, the safety diagnosis software was provided only when purchasing its own cells, but the company accepted requests from automakers to apply it to vehicles equipped with batteries from other companies.

Key Features of LG Energy Solution Battery Safety Diagnosis Software.
[Photo by LG Energy Solution]

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The decision to expand software supply was made because requests from automakers have significantly increased following recent electric vehicle fire incidents. A company official stated, "Interest in safety diagnosis technology among automakers is growing, but developing or applying reliable software independently requires a lot of time and resources," adding, "We will actively collaborate with customers to ensure the safe use of electric vehicle batteries."

LG Energy Solution possesses technology based on over 20 years of accumulated design capabilities and empirical data in the BMS (Battery Management System) field. Currently, it holds more than 8,000 patents related to BMS and has developed technology through empirical data obtained by disassembling and analyzing over 130,000 battery cells and more than 1,000 battery modules.

In particular, LG Energy Solution’s safety diagnosis software provides the capability to detect various types of defects such as voltage drops during charging, battery tab defects, and micro internal shorts with over 90% accuracy in advance. It can also predict future battery remaining capacity and degradation status based on vehicle driving patterns. This technology has already been applied to vehicles from nine global automakers and is characterized by its applicability not only to vehicles with its own batteries but also to those equipped with batteries from other manufacturers.

The specific method of software supply is still under review. However, the company explained that there should be no major issues in applying the software to vehicles equipped with batteries from other manufacturers, as the operating mechanisms do not differ significantly by battery manufacturer, making the safety diagnosis methods similar.

By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) computing technology to enhance algorithms, accurate battery status diagnosis has been made possible. The algorithm is continuously updated and supplemented with battery cell information from various electric vehicles, reducing the error rate of battery degradation diagnosis to the industry's top level of around 1%. As of last year, battery data from 12,000 vehicles, corresponding to about 2.2% of domestic electric vehicles, was collected and analyzed to advance the technology. Cloud technology is used to analyze the vast amount of battery data in real time.

LG Energy Solution is also developing BMS hardware and software optimized for software-defined vehicle (SDV) platforms. Utilizing the vehicle’s system-on-chip (SoC) computing performance enables the implementation of more sophisticated battery algorithms. It also allows the provision of new battery services to users by leveraging additional information directly obtained from the vehicle.

In March, LG Energy Solution began collaborating with Qualcomm to develop advanced BMS diagnostic solutions based on SoC, continuing efforts to strengthen BMS capabilities. The company also signed a business agreement with semiconductor company ADI to cooperate on the stable supply and technology development of high-performance battery management chips.

Kim Dong-myung, CEO of LG Energy Solution, said, "We will provide the best and irreplaceable differentiated customer value not only in battery manufacturing but also in the BMS solution field for safe and healthy usage."

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