How to design a Motorsport Battery in 7 steps
We use batteries every day to power everything from our electric toothbrushes to our cars. But the batteries used in motorsport are a far cry from the AA?s we slot into the back of our TV remotes. So how do you go about designing a motorsport battery" We spoke to leading experts to find out.
1. Low voltage vs high voltage
There are two main types of batteries on modern racecars:

Low voltage (LV) – a 12V system which powers low voltage electronics and safety systems such as the Battery Management System (BMS), cell monitoring units, isolation monitoring, current sensors and data logging.
High voltage (HV) – powers the electric motors and inverters whilst storing the energy accumulated during regenerative braking. Also runs the Power Distribution Unit (PDU), the busbar network and the Manual Service Disconnect (MSD).
An example circuit diagram for an electric racecar
The motors used in electric and hybrid racing require large amounts of power, which is why a high voltage battery is needed to power them. ?Broadly speaking if you want to deliver the same amount of power, there are two ways you can do it,? explains Dr. Billy Wu, Senior Lecturer in Energy and Manufacturing at Imperial College London. ?Due to Ohms law where power equals the voltage multiplied by the current [P=IV], you can achieve the same power through high voltage, but low current or high current, but low voltage. The problem is, when you...