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Application Brief
Shunt-Based Current-Sensing Solutions for BMS
Applications in HEVs and EVs

Guang Zhou and Dan Harmon

BMS Topologies and Current Measurement The focus in this document is on non-isolated, shunt-
Methodologies based current-sensing amplifiers (CSA), also called
current shunt monitors (CSM), and digital power
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles
monitors (DPM) for bottom-of-stack or top-of-stack in
(EV) continue to gain share in the overall global
12-V to 48-V BMS subsystems. The advantages of
automotive market. The battery management system
non-isolated shunt-based current sensing include
(BMS) for these vehicles carries out the important
simplicity, low cost, excellent linearity, and accuracy. A
tasks of keeping the battery inside the safe operating
drawback of shunt-based current sensing is the power
area (SOA), monitoring power distribution, and
dissipation requirements for the shunt resistor at the
tracking the state of charge (SoC). In a typical HEV
maximum current levels.
and EV, both high- and low-voltage subsystems are
present. The high-voltage subsystem operates at Current Sense Amplifiers in an HEV or EV Charger
several hundred volts, and interfaces directly with
Battery array is an important component of any HEV
utility grid or high-voltage DC sources. The low-
or EV. There are mainly two types of rechargeable
voltage subsystem generally operates at 48 V and 12
batteries: the lead acid battery that has been around
V.
for over 100 years, and the Li-Ion battery that has only
400-V and 800-V
Charger
48-V Conversion 12-V Conversion been put into practical use since the 1980s. Both lead
acid and Li-Ion batteries follow a certain constant
voltage-constant current charging profile. The CSA
plays an important role in making sure the battery
ISOLATION

Non-isolated Non-isolated

remains within the SOA.

Isolated
CSA CSA CSA

Operational current for the traction inverter and

High-Voltage Load

charging current can be greater than 1000 A in many

48-V Load

12-V Load

systems. However, these BMS systems must also be

able to measure currents equal to or less than 1 A
Non-isolated Non-isolated Non-isolated
when the vehicle is off as many systems continue to
CSA CSA CSA
function such as keyless entry or vehicle-to-world
communications. BMS systems must monitor the
power distribution as accurately as possible during
Figure 1. Topologies of Current Sensing in BMS both operation and vehicle off-state to provide overall
system health and safety information. State of charge
High-voltage battery, top-of-stack measurements (SoC), which is the equivalent of a fuel gauge for the
require an isolated solution. Magnetic solutions battery pack in an HEV or EV, correlates to driving
enable the require isolation, but typically will not be range. Current sensing is one of the important
able to support the full current range. TI offers isolated methods to determine SoC. In addition to the
shunt-based current sensing solutions, such as the precision monitoring of the battery, most automotive
AMC3301-Q1. A summary of other examples of BMS systems will require a redundant measurement
isolated current sensing technology can be found in with relaxed accuracy requirements to enable system
the Comparing Shunt- and Hall-Based Isolated level functional safety goals.
Current-Sensing Solutions in HEV/EV application
The extreme difference between the traction motor
brief. Isolation is not typically required for top-of-the-
current (>1000 A) and the off-vehicle communications
stack 48-V or 12-V battery systems nor in bottom-of-
current (<1 A) creates a multi-decade, high-precision,
the-stack implementations.
bidirectional (charging versus vehicle operation)
current measurement challenge.

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Sizing the Shunt Resistor mA on a 100-µΩ shunt resistor, well below the target
minimum current level of 1 A.
Historically, measuring the high current with shunt-
based topologies has been challenging. However, If even lower current levels are needed to be
with the availability of ultra-low resistance shunts, the accurately measured, system calibration may become
option is now viable. A typical analog current sense necessary. Zero-drift devices enable single-point
amplifier will have a fixed gain between 20 V/V and calibration, and make such challenging designs
200 V/V and operate from a 5-V supply. This 5-V possible by offering stable performance over
supply determines the maximum output voltage temperature.
(ignoring swing to supply limitations), and when we
For current sensing in HEV and EV BMS subsystems,
divide by the two gain extremes, we get a full-scale
the INA229-Q1 or INA228-Q1 are excellent choices
input voltage range of 250 mV to 25 mV. Assuming a
for any bottom-of-stack implementations or top-of-
bidirectional maximum current measurement of ±1000
stack implementations in 48-V or 12-V systems with
A, we can calculate a maximum shunt value of 125
an 85-V common-mode specification and ultra-low
µΩ to 12.5 µΩ. As discussed in the TI Precision Labs
offset of ±1 µV. The industry standard digital interface
- Current sense amplifiers videos, the amplifier offset
can further simplify the design by taking advantage of
will dominate the offset error at the low current range.
an existing communication bus. The INA240-Q1 with
If we use the ultra-precise INA240-Q1 with an offset of
its 80-V common mode voltage range could be used
25 µV, we get an error of 20% and 200% respectively
in 48-V system top-of-stack measurements for either
on the two shunt resistors. Table 1 summarizes these
the redundancy implementation or in applications
calculations along with the power dissipation across
requiring less total dynamic range. All three devices
these shunts at 1000 A.
are manufactured with TI proprietary Zero-Drift
Table 1. INA240-Q1 Shunt Resistor Value, Offset technology, which enable single temperature
Error, and Power Dissipation Calculations for calibration, if needed, to address lower current
±1000-A BMS Application accuracy.
GAIN OPTION INA240A1: 20 V/V INA240A4: 200 V/V
Automotive Device Recommendations
Full scale input 250 mV 25 mV
Maximum shunt 125 µΩ 12.5 µΩ
In addition to the INA229-Q1 and INA228-Q1, TI
offers other digital output current, voltage, and power
Offset error at 1 A 20% 200%
monitors. Some example products and adjacent
PDIS at 1000 A 125 W 12.5 W technical documents are compiled in Table 2 and
Table 3.
Solving the Multi-Decade Challenge
Table 2. Alternative Device Recommendations
This is where an ultra-precise, low-offset solution is DEVICE
DIGITAL
DESCRIPTION
INTERFACE
required. TI’s DPMs are specialized analog-to-digital
85-V, Bidirectional, Zero-Drift, 16-Bit,
converters (ADC) dedicated to measuring current. INA239-Q1 SPI Low- or High-Side, SPI Current/Voltage/
Most can also monitor bus voltage and can calculate Power Monitor
the power as well. The full-scale input range is scaled 85-V, Bidirectional, Zero-Drift, 16-Bit,
down from that of a typical ADC to accommodate the INA238-Q1 I2C, SMBUS Low- or High-Side, I2C Current/Voltage/
Power Monitor
typical small signal voltage drop across a shunt
INA226-Q1 I2C, SMBUS 36-V, Bidirectional, Zero-Drift, 16-Bit,
resistor. The INA229-Q1 (SPI Interface) and INA228- Low- or High-Side, I2C Current/Voltage/
Q1 (I2C interface) are 20-bit DPMs with VOFFSET = 1 Power Monitor
µV and a ±163.84-mV full-scale input range. Having a
defined full-scale input range makes calculating the Table 3. Adjacent Tech Notes
maximum shunt resistor value fairly straight forward, LITERATURE
LITERATURE TITLE
NUMBER
simply divide the full-scale input by the maximum
Current Sensing With INA226-Q1 in HEV/EV Low
current: 163.84 mV ÷ 1000 A = 163.84 µΩ. A more SBAA325
Voltage BMS Subsystems
commonly available 100-µΩ shunt resistor is used to Integrated, Current Sensing Analog-to-Digital
SBOA170
calculate a 1% error at 1 A. Converter

The final error check is to verify that the integrated

ADC is capable of resolving a signal level less than
the offset error level. The INA228-Q1 and INA229-Q1
feature a 20-bit delta-sigma converter with one bit
being the sign bit. Dividing the full-scale input of
163.84 mV by 19 bits of resolution results in 312.5 nV
per least significant bit (LSB). This corresponds to 3.1

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