Tesla Chargers

We have many years of experience in developing battery chargers according to customer requirements. We produce chargers in power ranges up to 35, 50, 90, 150, and 300W. Currently we are developing a new charger design with a power of 550W. When designing products, we follow the latest trends in the development of specialized circuits and advanced technologies, and when necessary, we consult with manufacturers about the possibilities of their application.

We have been designing and manufacturing protection electronics for Li-Ion batteries for more than ten years. Today, these batteries are among the most widespread and can be found practically everywhere - mobile phones, hand tools, large energy storage for photovoltaic power plants, and electric cars.

We manufacture chargers and electronic battery protections from first-class quality components so that their operation meets both strict safety requirements and requirements for energy consumption in idle mode.

A lithium-ion battery is a type of electrochemical cell that was first introduced in the 1970s. In these batteries, lithium ions move from the anode to the cathode during discharge and back again as the battery charges. These cells have high energy density, no memory effect, and low self-discharge current. However, they also have their negative properties, which mainly include the possibility of explosion or fire, so their chargers need to be developed with this in mind.

When charging lithium batteries, voltage charging is used in a method referred to as CCCV (Constant Current followed by Constant Voltage). This is constant current charging until the battery reaches a predetermined voltage, followed by constant voltage charging.

Charging is terminated when the charging current drops to a predetermined value; in most cases, a current value corresponding to 1.5 ÷ 2% of the nominal capacity is recommended, expressed in current units.

We have many years of experience in developing battery chargers according to customer requirements. Tesla produces chargers in power ranges up to 35, 50, 90, 150, and 300W. A new charger design with a power of 550W is under development. When designing products, we follow the latest trends in the development of specialized circuits and advanced technologies and, when necessary, we consult with manufacturers about the possibilities of their application.

The charging process is controlled by a microprocessor that our team of programmers creates software for. This solution provides great variability both in the types of charged batteries (Li-Ion, NiMH, LiFePO, LeadAcid, Gel, etc.) and in the battery connection options from the simplest two-wire connection (only positive and negative contacts of the battery) to various types of digital communication protocols, typically SMBUS, I2C, HDQ, UART, RS232, etc.

The chargers are designed as high-frequency switching sources (90-150kHz, possibly up to 500kHz). This is a modern solution with both MOSFET and GaN transistors which enables a design with small dimensions in relation to the resulting performance.

Charging is terminated when the charging current drops to a predetermined value. In most cases, a current value corresponding to 1.5 ÷ 2% of the nominal capacity, expressed in current units, is recommended.

The functional safety of the chargers we manufacture is ensured thanks to multiple safeguards for the termination or interruption of battery charging (monitoring of the battery temperature, monitoring of the charging time, detection of a drop in the charging current, measurement of the internal resistance of the battery). The chargers also have a number of protective functions (monitoring the function of the switch-off transistor, protection against polarity reversal, protection against cycling, interruption of charging in case of faulty operation of the control circuits).

With every charger for Li-Ion batteries, an important safety parameter is how to terminate charging after the battery is fully charged (4.1 - 4.15 V / cell). High attention is paid the charging termination function, and it is secured multiple times. While monitoring the parameters for the termination of charging, charging must be ensured even if the temperature of the battery or the surrounding environment causes an interruption in charging. In such cases, the "temperature restart function" is used, meaning that if the battery is not yet fully charged, the charger "waits" for its temperature or the ambient temperature to drop to the permitted value (i.e. less than 42-45°C) and resumes charging. The temperature restart function therefore allows the battery to be charged even in adverse temperature conditions.

When charging the battery, we monitor the PARAMETERS that ensure the termination or interruption of charging. PROTECTIVE FUNCTIONS are closely related to parameter monitoring..

As an example, we present a description of a 35W single-purpose charger. The charger is single-purpose, intended for charging a Li-Ion 4-cell battery (4S1P configuration), connected to five contacts – positive, negative, thermistor 6k8 connected to the negative contact, 1-wire communication, power supply. +5V, where information about the type of battery is transmitted after inserting the battery into the charger.

Start of charging (SOC)

After connecting to the network, the charger is in standby mode - this is the state when the charger has a minimum power consumption in the range of 0.3W - 0.5W; there is low voltage on the contacts; the R-LED is dimly lit. After inserting the battery into the charger, the charger exits standby mode and starts transferring data from the battery. After its regular completion, charging is started according to the current state and at a temperature within the limit. After 1s of charging, the processor tests the Ri of the battery. If its value is greater than 3Ω, the charger signals "DEFECTIVE BATTERY" with a permanent red R/G-LED. If the battery Ri is within the limit, the charger continues charging. After two minutes of charging, the Ri level evaluation parameter is changed to 1Ω – testing takes place once every 16 seconds. with an identical error signal. Charging is signaled by the green flashing of the status LED.

End of charging (EOC)

The information from the transferred data determines the limit voltage from which the processor starts to reduce the value of the charging current with regulation pulses so that the limit voltage does not change. When the charging current drops to 1.4A, the charger starts to signal ""battery full"" but continues to charge until the current drops to 400mA, when it switches to energy-saving mode, in which no current flows into the battery and it is loaded by a voltage divider with a max. 1mA at 30V. This state is signaled in the same way as the end of charging - by the continuous glow of the status R/G LED (green) lasting for approx. 8 hours, after which the charger wakes up again, recharges the battery by the loss caused by the voltage measurement load and again switches to the energy saving mode with the signal ""AKU CHARGED” (R/G LED lights up green) for about 8 hours.From the data transferred via the 1-wire line, the processor evaluates whether the inserted battery is not already charged - if so, charging is not started, but the ""BATTERY CHARGED"" signal is triggered with a transition to the energy-saving mode according to the previous point. If a battery is inserted with a temperature out of tolerance, the charger signals this state by red flashing of the status R/G LED ( interval 1/1 - 0.5 sec. ). After reaching the temperature within the tolerance (approx. 6°C - 42°C), the charger starts charging. In the case of an inserted Li-Ion battery, the charger switches to energy-saving mode - however, the ""TEMPERATURE OUT OF TOLERANCE"" signal remains.