A battery system having a battery having at least one first battery element, at least one second battery element and a center tap between the at least one first and the at least one second battery element, a power changeover switch having a plurality of switching elements for changing over between the at least one first battery element and the at least one second battery element, and at least one pair of output terminals that is electrically connected to the battery, wherein the center tap has a first capacitive store arranged on it that has a store voltage that appears over an appropriate period in accordance with a first and/or second battery element voltage provided by the first and/or second battery element, wherein during the period in which the store voltage appears, a store current decreases from a maximum value to a value of zero.