Pluggable Battery Charging Station Based on RA6M1/RA6M3 Microcontroller

With the development of new energy vehicles and power battery industries, pluggable battery charging methods may become the future trend of electric vehicle (EV) battery charging. This small charging station is not only highly autonomous but also easy to operate. Under ideal conditions, users can greatly shorten the waiting time for charging with this method.

In order to promote the development of battery charging station infrastructure, Renesas has launched a pluggable battery charging station solution. The solution integrates products such as RA6M1/RA6M3 microcontrollers, DA16600MOD modules, RL78/I1C MCUs, and iW1819 PWM controllers to provide charging services for standard batteries. In addition, this solution is also equipped with a 1KW AC/DC charging module, so it can also provide additional emergency DC charging services for non-standard battery-driven vehicles.

System Block Diagram

System Configuration Introduction

RA6M1/RA6M3 uses the high-performance Arm Cortex-M4 core and provides a TFT controller with a 2D accelerator and a JPEG decoder. The device also provides an Ethernet MAC and a USB high-speed interface with separate DMA to ensure large data throughput. Thanks to the performance of this MCU, the system can achieve intuitive graphic display and touch control to control battery replacement. In this solution, the iW1819 PWM controller is also used to provide auxiliary power for the RA6Mx-based front-end system.

The DA16600 module integrates the low-power Wi-Fi DA16200 SoC and the low-power BLE DA14531 SoC, providing a convenient way for end users to access and help realize mobile battery replacement application control. And the module has the characteristics of low power consumption, which extends the service life of the system.

The RL78/I1C MCU integrates the functions required for smart metering. It includes a 24-bit ΔΣ A/D converter, a 32-bit multiplier accumulator, an independent power supply real-time clock, supports the DLMS standard, and has advanced low power consumption and a variety of on-chip peripheral functions. In this solution, the use of the RL78/I1C MCU can provide users with accurate charging measurement.

In addition, this solution uses CAN for inter-device communication, which can accurately obtain the battery operation status and charging status. And the charging station system can use QR codes to make secure payments through service providers, while the Global Mobile Communication System (GSM) can provide information services for charging stations, thus providing users with a more convenient charging experience.

Not only that, the RAA489206 multi-string lithium-ion battery manager built into the solution is a 16-cell battery front-end (BFE) IC that regularly scans the battery status and operating environment to optimize battery life and prevent catastrophic failures. The device's differential multiplexer and 16-bit ADC can accurately monitor battery voltage, temperature, and load current to manage the overall state of the battery pack.

In addition to the high-performance devices mentioned above, this solution also uses products such as Renesas' low-dropout linear regulator RAA214250 and universal input AC/DC switching regulator RAA223012 with ultra-low standby power, which can provide good power management functions for the system.

New energy vehicles have become an important direction for the development of the automotive industry. In the future, as new energy vehicles become more popular, the demand for car charging will continue to increase. In this context, this solution provides a new way to charge new energy vehicles, which can effectively shorten the waiting time for charging.