The battery management system sitting at the centre of every one of those vehicles has evolved in parallel, but less visibly than the cells it monitors. A conventional wired BMS in a large battery pack involves harnesses connecting every cell to monitoring modules, with CAN bus protocols routing signals to a central microcontroller. State Estimation: Where the Performance Gap Is Most ConsequentialState of charge estimation accuracy determines how much of a battery’s capacity can safely be used without risking over-discharge or overcurrent events that accelerate degradation. Thermal Management as the Safety-Critical SubsystemThermal management is where BMS performance has the most direct safety consequences. Cybersecurity as a Design Requirement, Not an Add-OnThe review’s inclusion of cybersecurity as a future challenge for BMS reflects a shift in how battery management systems are understood architecturally.