Patent ID: 8476864

Claim:
A battery monitoring system for monitoring a battery used to power a number of electronic devices in a vehicle, the system comprising: a vehicle chassis providing a vehicle ground for grounding the electronic devices powered with the battery; a terminal adapter having one end compressively connected to a negative conducting post of the battery; a cable attached to an other end of the terminal adapter to electrically connect the terminal adapter to the vehicle chassis, the electrical connection connecting the battery and the electronic devices to the same vehicle ground; a battery monitor connected between the cable and the vehicle chassis at a distance along the cable extending beyond the battery, the battery monitor including a shunt and a processing element electrically connected to the shunt, the shunt connected at one end to the cable and at another end to the vehicle chassis for passing current from the cable to the vehicle chassis, the processing element calculating a voltage drop across the shunt for use in monitoring the battery; and a temperature sensor connected to the terminal adapter and having a wire for electrically connecting the temperature sensor to the processing element, the wire being independent of the cable and extending a distance D away from the battery, the battery monitor being positioned at a distance along the cable such that the cable is approximately as long as the distance D, the processing element calculating a battery temperature based on signals received from the temperature sensor.