Estimation of charge acceptance capability in a battery assembly

A method for estimating a charge acceptance capability of a battery assembly, the assembly including a controller, a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a battery with first and second electrodes and an electrolyte, the method comprising:

• initializing a timer when at least one enabling condition is met via the controller;
• incrementing the timer by a calculation time interval (Δt), via the controller;
• and
• tracking both accumulation and removal of the discharge product when at least one enabling condition is met, via the controller, the interaction of the electrolyte and at least one of the first and second electrodes producing the discharge product;
• controlling functioning of the battery based at least partially on the estimated charge acceptance capability.

A battery assembly comprising:

• a battery having first and second electrodes and an electrolyte;
• a controller operatively connected to the battery, the controller including a processor and tangible, non-transitory memory on which is recorded instructions for executing a method for estimating a charge acceptance capability of the battery;
• a current sensor operatively connected to and configured to obtain a measured current (Im) of the battery;
• a voltage sensor operatively connected to the controller and configured to obtain a measured voltage of the battery;
• wherein interaction of the electrolyte and at least one of the first and second electrodes produces a discharge product;
• wherein the controller is programmed to track both accumulation and removal of the discharge product in a set of bins when at least one enabling condition is met;
• wherein the controller is programmed to quantize the accumulation and the removal of the discharge product as a discharge quanta and a charge quanta, respectively;
• wherein the controller is further programmed to:
• initialize a timer when the at least one enabling condition is met;
• increment the timer by a calculation time interval (Δt);
• obtain the measured current (Im), via the current sensor;
• if the measured current (Im) is negative, add the discharge quanta to a first one of the set of bins, the discharge quanta being proportional to the measured current (Im);
• and
• obtain a voltage value (V) based at least partially on the measured current (Im), the calculation time interval (Δt) and a predetermined set of parameters.