Importance of Battery Mgmt Systems?

[LimboJim]

My limited understanding of lithium batteries comes from roughly two years of casual "research" as my burgeoning eMTB zealotry developed, and on what industry folks that I respect have told me. That disclaimer aside, I have to wonder why the ebike industry offers so little info about the Battery Management Systems (BMSs) used on ebikes. Aren't they often the cause of the sporadic yet spectacular fires we hear about? I believe that they also regulate the charging/discharging such that lithium batteries never reach true "100%" or "0%" levels, which can dramatically extend lifespan.

 

[LimboJim]

Anyone care to chime in here?

 

[Trail Cruiser]

Battery technology and management has evolved a lot since the era of exploding lithium batteries. Most ebikes now use the latest battery cells similar to that by tesla and have better BMS for a broad range of safety parameters. Lithium polymers fell out of favor except to remote controlled toys and small gadgets.
Here is a guy, Justin Lemire-Elmore, who is very smart and wants the technology to be open to public so anybody can improve on it (as opposed to exclusive / patented / proprietary that can only benefit few companies while stunt the growth of the whole technology itself).