GA-based approach to optimize an equivalent electric circuit model of a Li-ion battery-pack

•Time and frequency domain tests are performed for a commercial Li-ion battery pack.•Different RC networks have been used to modeling the battery pack.•A Genetic Algorithm is applied to optimize the parameters of the battery model.•A hardware-in-the-loop simulations platform reproduces real driving cycles of an electric vehicle.•A low-order model reproduces with high accuracy the behavior of the battery pack.