A battery management system (200, 301,410), comprising: a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers being coupled to a respective battery module and having a driving time counter, wherein the plurality of slave controllers are configured to perform a slave controller identifier allocation operation, such that, the respective slave controller identifiers are allocated to each respective slave controller according to a connection order of the slave controllers, wherein the plurality of slave controllers includes a serial interconnection such that each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers is wired together in sequence by the serial interconnection; a master controller, the master controller being coupled to each of the slave controllers, wherein the master controller is configured to receive the slave controller identifiers from the slave controllers; a control signal transmission means wherein each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers are configured to sequentially receive a control signal on the serial interconnection, to be activated or powered upon receiving the control signal, to start the respective driving time counter and output the control signal after a delay to a subsequent slave controller; and a communication signal transmission means, wherein the master controller is configured to send an ID allocation command to all of the slave controllers by using the communication signal transmission means at the same time, wherein each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers are configured to store a driving time counter value of the respective driving time counter in response to the ID allocation command, to transmit the stored driving time counter value to all other slave controllers of the plurality of slave controllers, to compare the stored driving time counter values with driving time counter values received from the other slave controllers, and to set the slave controller identifier based on the compared driving time counter values. a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers being coupled to a respective battery module and having a driving time counter, wherein the plurality of slave controllers are configured to perform a slave controller identifier allocation operation, such that, the respective slave controller identifiers are allocated to each respective slave controller according to a connection order of the slave controllers, wherein the plurality of slave controllers includes a serial interconnection such that each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers is wired together in sequence by the serial interconnection; a master controller, the master controller being coupled to each of the slave controllers, wherein the master controller is configured to receive the slave controller identifiers from the slave controllers; a control signal transmission means wherein each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers are configured to sequentially receive a control signal on the serial interconnection, to be activated or powered upon receiving the control signal, to start the respective driving time counter and output the control signal after a delay to a subsequent slave controller; and a communication signal transmission means, wherein the master controller is configured to send an ID allocation command to all of the slave controllers by using the communication signal transmission means at the same time, wherein each slave controller of the plurality of slave controllers are configured to store a driving time counter value of the respective driving time counter in response to the ID allocation command, to transmit the stored driving time counter value to all other slave controllers of the plurality of slave controllers, to compare the stored driving time counter values with driving time counter values received from the other slave controllers, and to set the slave controller identifier based on the compared driving time counter values.