Marelli announced it was awarded an important contract to supply its Battery Management System (BMS) – a core component of electric vehicles design, also regarded as the “brain” of the battery – for a major global carmaker’s future BEV (Battery Electric Vehicles) small-medium cars, on the market in 2026.
Within the project, Marelli will provide both the hardware and the boot loader software of the Battery Management System for segment A, B, and C full electric vehicles. The supply represents a significant achievement in terms of production volumes.
The awarded Battery Management System will be developed and tested by Marelli Electric Powertrain teams in Italy and Japan. The start of production is planned for 2026, supplying various plants of the carmaker, Marelli says.
“We are glad of this relevant assignment, particularly as this is for a technology which has a key role for energy management in electric vehicles.” said Hannes Prenn, president of Marelli’s Electric Powertrain division. “This further reinforces our collaboration with global carmakers and recognizes the consolidated experience achieved by Marelli over the years in the development of BMS with different architectures, to fit the specific needs of our customers and co-create with them the vehicles of tomorrow.”
Marelli explains the BMS will be based on a distributed architecture, requiring reduced harness. The system – which monitors and controls the battery – incorporates all the lithium battery cell-related hardware on a Cell Module Controller (CMC), that is placed directly on the monitored cell module. This solution alleviates the bulk of the cabling, which are limited to a few sensor wires and communication wires between adjacent CMC modules. Consequently, each CMC is more self-contained, and handles measurements and communications as required.
Marelli’s Battery Management System manages the stored power and capacity of the battery to deliver energy to the vehicle while checking and delivering information on the battery operating conditions and status. This ensures that the battery is monitored, optimized, and protected, according to the company.
