Editing by Li Panpan

Battery Management System (BMS) chips have become indispensable in consumer electronics, industrial control, and new energy vehicles. They create new opportunities for Chinese chipmakers, but those for new energy vehicles in the country are still supplied by leading international companies, JW Insights reported.    

Batteries used in consumer electronics are usually single-string battery packs with only one to two cells. Multi-series packs of cells in notebook computers, power tools, vacuum cleaners, electric bicycles, and smart homes, while more groups and packs are used in power batteries and energy storage batteries.

The technical threshold for BMS chips is very high. The market was occupied by solid players such as TI and MAXIM. But TI’s products have experienced severe shortages and price increases. Therefore, other players, including Chinese manufacturers, such as Silergy(矽力杰), and Sino Wealth(中颖电子) are entering the market.

Chinese chip companies have occupied the mainstream mobile phone market, dominating emerging consumer electronics applications such as TWS headsets. They are also stepping up verification tests in notebook computers, electric bicycles, power tools, sweeping robots, and small energy storage markets.

A chip company executive said that local devices and lithium battery manufacturers have a strong demand for domestic chips and will launch customized chips for leading customers. 

However, power batteries composed of thousands of cells and BMS chips still need imports.

CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun said his company imports BMS chips from the U.S. Such chips are of 28nm process, which can be produced in China. 

BMS chips in power batteries mainly include AFE, MCU, ADC, and digital isolators, which are mostly supplied by international ADI, TI, Infineon, NXP, Renesas, ST, and Onsemi.

In terms of automobile-grade MCU, Chinese manufacturers such as Autochips(杰发科技), Allwinner Technology(全志科技), Giga Device(兆易创新), ChipOn(芯旺微), Chipways(琪埔维), Chipsea Tech(芯海科技), YT Micro(云途半导体), have products that have successively passed the vehicle-level AEC-Q100 certification. 

However, BMS AFE chips have the greatest technical difficulty and added value, and few Chinese manufacturers have it. BYD has produced a car-grade AFE chip that meets the AEC-Q100 standard; Chipways’ car-grade BMS AFE (meeting ASIL-C level) chip has also been successfully mass-produced. 

Automobile-grade BMS AFE chip products need a verification cycle of 1.5 to two years and at least four years from product definition to prototyping. For harsh automotive application environments, they need to meet AEC Q100 Grade1 in reliability and ISO 26262 automotive ASIL-D certification of safety integrity, making it more difficult for Chinese manufacturers to develop BMS chips.