US Patent 8129952 Battery systems and operational methods

This disclosure includes battery systems and operational methods. According to one aspect, a battery system includes conversion circuitry, a plurality of main terminals configured to be coupled with a load, a charger and a plurality of rechargeable battery modules which are coupled in series with one another intermediate the main terminals, switching circuitry configured to couple a first of the battery modules with an input of the conversion circuitry, and the conversion circuitry being configured to modify an electrical characteristic of electrical energy received from the first of the battery modules and to output the electrical energy having the modified characteristic to a second of the battery modules.