Battery section balancing methods and systems

A vehicle system for balancing battery states of charge in a multi-sectioned battery of the vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle battery system comprising a plurality of battery sections;
• and
• a battery balancing system coupled to the plurality of battery sections and configured to redistribute energy between the plurality of battery sections,
• wherein the balancing system is configured to assess states of health of at least a subset of the plurality of battery sections and current states of charge of at least a subset of the plurality of battery sections,
• wherein the balancing system is configured to use the states of health and the current states of charge to apply a balancing algorithm, and
• wherein the balancing algorithm is configured to establish an equilibrium point at which the states of charge of the at least a subset of the plurality of battery sections are at least approximately equal and to balance the states of charge of the at least a subset of the plurality of battery sections around the equilibrium point such that the states of charge of the at least a subset of the plurality of battery sections vary during vehicle operation around the equilibrium point according to their respective states of health.

A vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle battery system comprising a plurality of battery sections;
• a plurality of sensors coupled to the plurality of battery sections, wherein the sensors are configured to obtain data used to determine states of health and states of charge of the plurality of battery sections;
• and
• a battery balancing system coupled to the plurality of battery sections and configured to redistribute energy between the plurality of battery sections,
• wherein the balancing system is configured to receive data from the sensors regarding states of health of the plurality of battery sections and states of charge of the plurality of battery sections and apply a balancing algorithm to the plurality of battery sections to redistribute energy between the plurality of battery sections according to the balancing algorithm, and
• wherein the balancing algorithm is configured to establish an equilibrium point at which the states of charge of the plurality of battery sections are at least approximately equal and to balance the states of charge of the plurality of battery sections around the equilibrium point such that the states of charge of the plurality of battery sections vary during vehicle operation around the equilibrium point according to their respective states of health.