MILPITAS, Calif., Nov. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BMW Group and Lumissil Microsystems have successfully demonstrated Power Line Communication (PLC) technology across a complete BMW Gen6 800 V battery system, marking an important milestone toward simpler, lighter, and more scalable Battery Management System (BMS) architectures for future electric vehicles.
The joint work demonstrates a “No New Wire” approach that enables communication between the central BMS controller and Cell Supervisory Circuits (CSCs) through the battery's existing electrical infrastructure, eliminating the need for dedicated communication wiring for the PLC network.
The technology was extensively tested on the BMW Gen6 battery system, which was launched in the new BMW iX3 earlier in 2026, demonstrating reliable, bidirectional, multi-node communication across the high-voltage battery.
Successful transmission of cell measurement data and control commands was demonstrated at cell, and complete battery levels, under varying voltage and current conditions and representative automotive operating scenarios. These results highlight the technology's flexibility and potential applicability to different battery architectures.
“Our joint work with Lumissil has demonstrated that reliable, bidirectional communication can be achieved using the existing electrical infrastructure of a complete 800 V battery system. This is an important step toward simpler, more efficient, and scalable battery management architectures for future electric vehicles.” — Thomas Glass, BMW Group, Senior Expert, Development E/E HV-Storage, BMW Group.
By eliminating the need for dedicated communication wiring and connectors, the “No New Wire” approach offers the potential to significantly simplify battery system design, reduce weight and cost, and improve reliability. Its flexibility across different battery configurations could also enable more scalable BMS architectures, simplifying integration into future electric vehicle battery platforms.
“Our goal is to simplify the way battery systems communicate. By leveraging the electrical infrastructure already present in the battery, we can reduce wiring complexity while enabling greater flexibility in BMS design. The successful demonstration with BMW represents an important step toward bringing these benefits to future electric vehicles.” — Nadav Katsir, VP & GM of Connectivity Business Unit, Lumissil Microsystems.
BMW Group and Lumissil Microsystems will continue their technical collaboration to further advance PLC-based communication technology for future electric vehicle battery systems.
About Lumissil Microsystems
Lumissil Microsystems specializes in analog/mixed-signal products for automotive, communications, industrial, and consumer markets. Lumissil's primary products are LED drivers for low to mid-power RGB color mixing and high-power lighting applications. Other products include audio, sensors, high-speed wire communications, optical networking, and application-specific microcontrollers. Lumissil Microsystems has worldwide offices in the US, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, mainland China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Israel, and Korea. Website: www.lumissil.com.
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Lyn Zastrow
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