Due to high energy and power density, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become one of the most popular choices for electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications. However, reliability and durability of LIBs are highly affected by the operational and environmental conditions. The Battery Management System (BMS) is responsible for guaranteed performance and safety of batteries. Typically, the battery system protection against current or voltage fault conditions is performed using a simple on/off command from the BMS to a power contactor. However, the sudden elimination of power due to transient current or voltage changes (e.g. vehicle launch or climbing a slope) reduces the amount of energy that can be delivered and in some cases may be dangerous for the components in connection with the batteries. This paper presents the design of a closed-loop fuzzy-based control system to achieve maximum performance of the battery with regard to driving conditions such that safe operation of the battery is ensured. To do so, battery voltage or current is limited using a control input from a fuzzy controller implemented in the BMS. The vehicle Central Control Unit (CCU) corrects the traction motor torque command according to the control input received from the BMS in order to maintain battery safe operating region. This way, the battery current and voltage is limited before reaching the fault conditions, thereby improving the durability of the battery and preserving its life. Performance of the designed control system is evaluated in various driving regimes using a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) test bench. Results show the efficacy of the designed control system toward the prevention of voltage and current fault conditions.