Electrochemical Terminology | Adaptive State-of-Charge (SoC) Determination

There is an increasing demand for rechargeable batteries, ranging from low-power applications such as autonomous devices to high-power applications such as electric vehicles. In many applications the accurate prediction of the SoC and the remaining time of use is crucial. This article gives an overview of SoC-indication methods, and practical implementation issues. For any SoC-indication system to be accurate, it is important to take battery behavior and aging into account in a proper way. As an example the lithium-ion battery technology is described. Hybrid SoC-indication systems have emerged that combine the advantages of several methods, mostly combining direct voltage measurement through assessment of the cell voltage in equilibrium situations with no or only limited current flow.