Patent ID: 8538614

Claim:
A rechargeable battery system in an electric powered vehicle comprising: a power module in an electric powered vehicle including; a battery set having a plurality of battery cells connected in series between first and second power output terminals; a battery charger powered from an AC power line through a step down transformer in the rechargeable power module, the battery charger being controllable to selectively charge individual cells in the rechargeable power module based on the state of charge of each cell; a power module controller coupled to sense the voltage and the temperature of each cell and for communicating the voltage of each cell, the temperature of each cell and the battery type to a battery management system; the battery management system including; a connector for connecting to a source of power and coupling that source of power to the power module; a battery management controller coupled for communication with the power module controller to read the voltage of each cell, the temperature of each cell and the battery type, and to enable the battery charger for charging the cells in the power module; wherein the battery management system is programmed to monitor the voltage on the first and second power output terminals when the battery management system is not plugged into a source of power, and to reduce the top speed of the vehicle if the voltage on the first and second power output terminals decreases to a minimum voltage threshold, and to shut down the vehicle if the voltage on the first and second power output terminals reduces to an empty battery threshold.