Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
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Multi-Flex™ Electric Vehicle Power Management

The problem facing the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle market is that there is no single type of battery that can meet both cost and performance criteria necessary for many commercial applications. While there is no single battery that can meet most price and performance targets, a combination of different types of batteries can often provide a solution. Using the Multi-Flex™ battery blending technology, battery pack cost can often be reduced by 40% to 50% in Hybrid and Battery Electric Vehicles.

The Multi-Flex™ is a hardware and software package that can optimize the price and performance of different battery chemistries. This is accomplished by blending energy from multiple battery packs as desired. Energy can be blended in any proportion and in either direction. Indy Power Systems’ technology has been covered by MIT Technology Review and was named as #19 of the 100 Top Stories of 2009 by Discover Magazine.

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The goal of a vehicle battery pack can be performance capable of large amounts of current quickly stored or released, cost with low-cost energy storage being the primary objective, or something in between. An example of the cost savings potential of a hybrid battery pack is illustrated in the Hybrid Battery Pack chart on right. Energy density and volumes will also be considerations in pack selection, but to keep the table simple, these have not been factored.

In the table, all savings are compared to a 30kWh Li-ion “standard” battery pack. By blending Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) at a cost of $600 per kWh with Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries at a cost of $1,000 per kWh, the cost savings is $8,000 over Li-ion batteries alone. By blending Lead-Acid (Pb-A) batteries with Li-ion, the cost savings would be $16,000.

Any combination of batteries, including various Li-ion chemistries and ultracapacitors can be blended to hit specific performance targets. In addition, with the Multi-Flex, the battery pack is both scalable and upgradeable. Once sized for the motor and controller, the same platform can manage 10kWh, 30kWh, or 60kWh. The total amount of energy can be modified at any time. Because the Multi-Flex is upgradeable, battery chemistry can be changed at any time as well. With the rapid development of battery technology, an advanced chemistry today could be outdated technology tomorrow. With the Multi-Flex, new technology can be integrated with only a software upgrade.