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AMP’s compact Energy Management Unit helps OEMs save USD 500 per vehicle: Dr Jiaqi Liang

AMP is an LA-based energy management solution provider for e-mobility, and there are more than 1 million vehicles running on the road with their solutions deployed. The company recently announced the closure of its Series A investment round of $17.25 million. We got in touch with Dr Jiaqi Liang, VP – Hardware at AMP, to learn more about the relevance of their work and offerings.

What are the different solutions offered by AMP for electric mobility?

CCS Software Stack – It is the world’s number 1 software stack for e-mobility applications, which is deployed in more than 1,000,000 vehicles globally.

Battery Management System – We have developed battery management solutions for leading OEMs. Our BMS is optimized to deliver maximum range with a solid-state design that provides high current/power and reduces overall system costs, with utmost safety for both low-voltage and high-voltage applications.

Fast Charge Junction Box (FCJB) – A combination of our Combined Charging System (CCS) Software Stack embedded in the Electric Vehicle Charge Controller (EVCC) with high voltage contactor control, which facilitates communication between EVSE and the vehicle.

AMP’s Energy Management Unit (EMU) – EMU integrates ultra-fast DC charging (500A), DC-DC converter, power distribution unit, and bi-directional onboard AC charging into a single platform, providing optimal charging experience, monitoring, care, and performance of batteries. This compact unit saves space and reduces the vehicle’s overall weight, thereby improving range. EMU utilizes the latest SiC and magnetics technologies to drastically reduce the power electronics packaging volume. 

Power Wall on Wheels – Electric mobility applications are increasing the load on the grid by 30% approximately. AMP helps harness the energy on the vehicle and empowers V2G (vehicle to grid) with its innovative technologies. This allows electric vehicles to supply electricity back into the grid. V2G will also generate several new revenue streams shortly.

AMP solutions can be curated as per specific customer needs in micro-mobility, automobiles, ride-sharing, drones, heavy-duty machinery, and high-speed and hypersonic transportation.

Tell us about the need for energy management in electric vehicles and AMP solutions for efficient energy management.

The battery is the heart of electric vehicles and provides energy for transmission. Improper energy management leads to inefficiency and safety issues. The industry, OEMs in particular, takes a huge hit as billions of dollars are wasted in mitigating these problems. A perfect blend of hardware and software with proper control and monitoring systems is vital to energy management.

For EV applications, AMP provides an energy ecosystem that is a combination of hardware and software, backed by cloud technology to continuously monitor and analyze the battery performance, enabling predictive maintenance and optimized energy usage. Our cloud-based system coordinates different demands of battery assets, such as effective charging, recommending optimizations through an integrated digital platform, and enabling real-time monitoring of its health and performance. The battery diagnostics data generated by ampBI (AMP Battery Intelligence) can also support battery life, reuse, and recycling decisions.

Please tell us more about the EMU (Energy Management Unit) and what kind of efficiencies does it help manifest?

EMU is designed to provide system efficiency and performance at lower costs. It saves volume and increases the range of vehicles. Using Wolfspeed’s E-series silicon carbide MOSFETs, EMU unlocks higher power density and efficiency, better platform scalability, and precise load control through improvements in cabin space, load times, and cost reductions. This collaboration allows AMP to optimize vehicle performance, charging, and cost further. 

The EMU saves 67% volume when compared to other OEMs. It also provides more than 95% efficiency even at full load. As a result, we reduce the power electronics packaging volume and enable savings of approximately $500 per vehicle when embedded in vehicle architecture. 

What kind of vehicles are AMP Energy Management solutions suitable for?

AMP’s solutions are suitable for all kinds of two-wheeler and four-wheeler applications, including passenger, commercial and heavy-duty. Our technology is embedded in the top electric mobility giants.

How does the EMU work? Please explain the working principle.

The EMU abstracts out the complex charging communication and power control interfaces into the simple vehicle CAN network and a single DC output to the vehicle high voltage battery. The EMU can accept either AC or DC charging power input and can also deliver power back to the grid or standalone loads through reverse power flow control.

Source: AMP

When a wayside charger is plugged in, the EMU detects the event and starts communicating with the charger. From the received information, the EMU can determine whether it is an AC or DC charger and initiate the corresponding charging sequence. When the V2L (vehicle to load) mode is initiated, the EMU will convert the DC power from the onboard high-voltage battery into an AC V2L output. The leakage current on the V2L output is safely monitored to mitigate any shock hazard.

The EMU also conveniently integrates the power distribution unit and a DC/DC converter to power the vehicle’s remaining high voltage loads, the 12V battery, and electronics. The EMU is at the heart of the energy management of an electric vehicle.

What are the major SaaS services the company is planning to offer its customers?

Being battery experts, AMP is actively curating a cloud-based solution to understand the State of Health (SoH) of the battery pack and optimizing the battery performance to safeguard it from various malfunctioning. ampBI (AMP Battery Intelligence) is going to provide battery analytics as a service to the OEMs and fleet owners enabling them to get the maximum out of the battery pack. Machine learning based optimizations are going to save billions of dollars burnt in recalls by predicting the anomaly in advance, increasing the safety of the vehicle manifolds.

Source: AMP

ampBI is highly flexible. It is easily embedded in modern-day telematics and vehicle data provider applications to provide meaningful insights optimizing the SoH (State of Health) of the battery pack. This ‘easy-to-use’ platform interface is equipped with interactive dashboards enabling the users to take preventive and corrective measures saving irreversible damage to the battery’s health.

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