On September 21, 2023, our team went to the company Migliani Mobilidade, in the district of Braga, where we were well received by their representatives and managed to retain several important pieces of information for our project.
Our visit to the company helped us, above all, to better understand how the batteries of electric scooters work and what we need to look at in order to realize our final product.
First of all, they explained to us that, in general, batteries have a simple structure and are made up of cells, grouped in series/groups, with the cells being the main ones responsible for the proper functioning of the batteries and consequently for the performance of the scooter itself.
Another important piece of information we learned from this visit is that the batteries have to be grouped together according to their capacity/electric current and condition, i.e. batteries that have different electric current values (expressed in amperes) cannot be grouped together in the organization of the batteries. If this were to happen, the operation of the battery and the scooter would be compromised, putting the life of the transport user at risk. In order to know the electric current of each battery, we need a specific device called a battery stabilizer.
Next, we learned that for a battery to work it needs to have a BMS (Battery Management System), an electronic system responsible for managing the charging and discharging of the battery. Basically, the BMS aims to protect the battery cells from damage and abuse, extend the life of the battery as much as possible and ensure that it is always ready for use.
Regarding our final prototype, with this visit to Migliani Mobilidade, we realized that we have to pay attention to several aspects in order for it to be viable and safe. To do this, we need to know the consumption of household appliances so that the battery's BMS can manage it and transport the necessary electric current to the batteries.
Finally, we can understand why the scooters stop working. The main reasons for this are the humidity and oxidation to which the scooters are exposed, the batteries no longer working properly due to the poor condition of the batteries and also when the scooters are left unused for too long.
Comments