Stop-Start System Made Possible by the Battery Management Chip

Electronic system and gadgets have become something usual in today's mass production vehicles. Almost every car that comes out of a production line is fitted with on-board sophisticated computers and battery management chips. Most of today's cars have some sort of battery management chip installed that monitors how the battery charges and discharges as well as how much of the battery is left.

"It really just takes a smart controller to manage the battery," AutoNews quoted Director of automotive systems integration at Robert Bosch LLC Kyle Williams as saying.

The latest must-have in a car is the fuel-saving stop-start systems that are spreading like rabbits across cars that are produced in Europe and are now making for North America. What does a start-stop system do? Easy, it shuts down the engine when the car stops, then start's it up again when the driver's foot comes off the brake pedal (that could be pretty irritating ). So, if you suddenly see your lights starting to dim, it may be because that system eats up your battery like fries.

Ralf Voss, senior executive vice president of Hella KgaA Hueck & Co. of Lippstadt Germany says “that if the battery is under a full load that could build up to some serious problems. A sophisticated battery management system can anticipate the drain of the battery and shut off the current to the heated seats for two seconds.”

Also some management systems can sense if something in the car that may drain the battery is turned on and switching it off if the driver isn't in the car, tricks that can considerably extend the life of your battery.