Wireless-connected EV battery manager has ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity

Analog Devices has had its wirelessly-linked electric vehicle battery management systems certified to the new ISO/SAE 21434 standard for whole-life cyber-security risk management.

It is “the highest standard of automotive cybersecurity engineering and management”, according to ADI, managing security “from concept, product development and production, to operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of electrical and electronic systems.”

The company’s wireless battery manager connects battery cell monitoring chips to the battery controller through 2.4GHz ISM radio links, cutting down the number of connectors and side-stepping the problem of sending data across a system with hundreds of volts from top to bottom. First announced with General Motors in 2020, it is now offered to other vehicle manufacturers.

“With this reliance on wireless communication, ensuring transparency and security for the system are critical,” said ADI.

TÜV Nord Mobilität made the security assessment.

“With ADI considering the CAL 4 classification conditions throughout product development, the cybersecurity assurance measures complied with the highest requirements,” said TÜV’s v-p Leif-Erik Schulte. “System certification is key to build trust across the full electrification ecosystem – from energy storage to OEMs to consumers – to support EV adoption.”

ISO/SAE 21434 CAL 4 classification requires risk assessments to pro-actively identify any component, API (application programming interface) or software function that could be vulnerable to a cyber-attack, according to ADI.