Patent ID: 8564246

Claim:
A method for charging Lithium Ion batteries, such method comprising the steps of: applying using a high voltage charger and or group of individual cell chargers, a charge current to a battery including a string of a plurality of battery cells connected in series, the charge current including a high-voltage component applied across the string of battery cells and a low-voltage component applied across each individual battery cell; continually monitoring using a battery management system, the state of charge of each of the plurality of cells; discontinuing the high-voltage component of current when one or more of the cells reaches a predetermined upper voltage limit; discontinuing the low-voltage component of current to the one or more cells that has reached the predetermined upper voltage limit; continuing to apply the low-voltage component of current to each of the plurality of cells that has not reached a predetermined upper voltage limit; selectively discontinuing the low-voltage component of current to each of the plurality of cells that reaches a predetermined upper voltage limit.