A STRATEGY FOR INTELLIGENT PLATFORM POWER MANAGEMENT WITHIN GROUND COMBAT VEHICLES

As new subsystems are integrated onto existing ground combat vehicle platforms for capability enhancement purposes, the demand for electrical power output increases. In many cases these enhancements exhaust the available output power reserves and leads to performance capability plateau for some of the existing power systems. This increased power demand may sometimes cause the vehicle’s generator to become fully loaded, causing any energy shortfalls to be covered by the battery storage system. When a high percentage of system power is routinely provided by the battery system without optimized battery management, the result is degraded battery capacity that leads to frequent battery replacement. This paper addresses specific limitations of ground combat vehicle power systems related to insufficient power output capacity and deficient battery management practices. Additionally, the paper will discuss concepts that enhance battery management capability and extend the operational life of automotive batteries by applying active battery charge management methods.