SK On develops own BMIC with Autosilicon

South Korean battery maker SK On said on Monday that it has collaborated with local fabless firm Autosilicon to develop its own battery management IC (BMIC).

BMICs are used to increase the stability of battery cells in electric vehicles and energy storage systems by measuring the cells’ voltage and temperature.

They also work to increase charge and discharge efficiencies.

When an anomaly is found, it works with the battery management system (BMS) to better manage the defective cell.

For each electric vehicle, over ten units of BMIC are used and these account for 30% of the cost of installing the BMS.

SK On said its new BMIC received ASIL-D grade more accurately measures voltages than the previous BMIC it used for its batteries.

The chip also works at 125 Celsius, the company said, and can still function when the BMS is down, the company said.

SK On also said the BMIC also uses half the number of components and has double the data transfer rate of previous chips.