Battery management system

A modular battery management system for controlling and monitoring a plurality of battery cells connected in series in a battery connected to a load, the modular battery management system comprising:

• a plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits, each of the plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits including a cell balancing circuit, a slave sensing circuit, at least a first temperature sensor operable to monitor the temperature of a battery cell to determine when a first excessive temperature has been reached in said battery cell during operation of said battery cell, and at least a second temperature sensor operable to monitor the temperature of said cell balancing circuit and said slave sensing circuit to determine when a second excessive temperature has been reached during operation of said cell balancing circuit and said slave sensing circuit, wherein each of the plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits is operable to shut down when the second excessive temperature is reached;
• a central controlling microcontroller operatively connected to each of the plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits and configured for controlling each of the plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits, thereby to control the charging of each of said plurality of battery cells;
• each of the plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits being operatively connected to one or more of said plurality of battery cells such that each individual battery cell of the plurality of battery cells has an electric connection to one of the plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits, whereby each of the plurality of monitoring and controlling circuits is operable to:
• measure a charging state of a respective battery cell during the charging of the respective battery cell;
• and
• upon reaching a preselected charge state before a maximum charging state is reached in the respective battery cell, establish a shunt across the respective battery cell, thereby allowing a continued charging of remaining battery cells in the plurality of battery cells.