Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Baojin Wang

Benjamin A Tabatowski-Bush

John Paul Gibeau

Chingchi Chen

Xu Wang

Wesley Burkman

Rui Wang

Daniel Paul Roberts

Aaron Walker

Xiao Guang Yang

Francisco Fernandez-Galindo

Thomas Joseph Wand

Kimberley King

Kevin Vander Laan

Ai Keramidas

Benjamin A Tabatowski-bush

Xianzhi Gong

Rui Hu

A vehicle includes a controller that, responsive to data indicating a voltage associated with an inrush current through a main contactor exceeds a first threshold, commands the main contactor to open and inhibits the vehicle from being driven, and responsive to data indicating the voltage exceeds a second threshold less than the first threshold, commands the main contactor to sequentially open and then close.

Vehicle main contactor weld detection system

A power system includes a battery and a controller. The controller inhibits charge of the battery according to voltage or current values sensed before and after contactors electrically connected to the battery are commanded to open and indicating that a leakage resistance associated with one of the contactors increases after the one of contactors is commanded to open, and a duration of a continuous voltage drop across another of the contactors after the another of the contactors is commanded to open exceeds a threshold.

Method and system for detecting contactor weld

An electrified vehicle, system, and control method include a traction battery having a first plurality of cells and a second plurality of cell monitoring circuits each having an associated at least one of the first plurality of cells, and a controller configured to control the cell monitoring circuits to measure voltage of the associated cells at an initial frequency until a state of charge (SOC) of the traction battery is established, and to measure voltage of the associated cells at a second frequency based on the SOC after the SOC is established to reduce heat generation of the cell monitoring circuits. The cell monitoring circuits may be controlled to asynchronously measure associated cell voltage and/or to reduce voltage/current conversion time when delta cell voltage and battery pack current are below respective thresholds.

Electrified vehicle control to reduce battery sensor heat generation

A battery pack sensing module includes a temperature sensor input connected with a battery cell temperature sensor, an integrated circuit, and a field effect transistor connected between the temperature sensor input and the integrated circuit, and having a gate that selectively opens based on a voltage on the temperature sensor input.

Battery sensing module with temperature sensor selective disconnect

A controller generates a first command for battery array sensors to sense voltages of battery cell arrays of a traction battery, and generates a second command to sample a value of current through the traction battery at a time following the first command that is defined by durations of analog to digital conversion operations of some of the battery array sensors and an analog to digital conversion operation associated with sampling the value.

Battery pack measurement timing

A vehicle includes a traction battery and a controller. The controller, responsive to some cells of the traction battery achieving a first state of charge threshold, discharge other cells of the traction battery, each having a capacity greater than each of the some of the cells, to a second state of charge threshold that is greater than the first state of charge threshold without discharging the some of the cells. The controller then charges all of the cells at the same time such that the some of the cells and the other of the cells achieve a same predetermined target state of charge at a same time.

Cell capacity based battery pack balancing

An electrified vehicle electrical system includes, among other things, a contactor enclosure, and contactor contacts housed within the contactor enclosure. A resistor is housed within the contactor enclosure or is housed within a relay enclosure outside the contactor enclosure.

Integrated components of an electrified vehicle electrical system and electrical distribution method

A vehicle has a battery including a plurality of cells connected in series, and a battery management integrated circuit including a plurality of inputs each being directly electrically connected to a terminal of one of the cells via an electrical path that includes a fuse and a resistor connected in series. The battery management integrated circuit further includes a top input directly electrically connected to a positive output of the battery and configured to receive power from the battery that is defined by a current having a magnitude that is at least an order of magnitude greater than current received by the inputs and a voltage equal to a sum of voltages of all the cells. The battery management integrated circuit is configured to calculate a voltage difference between one of the inputs and an adjacent one of the inputs to determine a voltage of a top cell of the battery cells and to correct the voltage of the top cell to form a corrected voltage as a sum of the voltage of the top cell and a calculated voltage drop across the fuse in the electrical path between the top cell and the one of the inputs. The vehicle further has a controller programmed to balance the cells according to the corrected voltage of the top cell.

Automotive battery system control according to corrected top cell voltage

A vehicle battery system includes a traction battery having positive and negative terminals, and resistive circuitry including a first resistor electrically connected between one of the terminals and a common ground, a switch, and a second resistor that can be selectively electrically connected between the one of the terminals and the first resistor via the switch. The vehicle battery system also includes a controller that opens and closes the switch, and inhibits charge of the traction battery according to changes in voltage across the second resistor due to opening and closing of the switch.

Single-sided voltage leakage detection

A circuit is selectively attachable to one of a positive terminal and negative terminal of a traction battery cell via a transistor. The circuit has a current sensor disposed in series with an inductor. A controller operates the transistor such that electrical current from the one of the positive terminal and negative terminal is inverted within the circuit, and while an inductor charge rate is less than a predetermined charge value, inhibits charge and discharge of the traction battery cell.

Vehicle battery leakage detection

A power control arrangement for a vehicle includes a bi-directional DC/DC converter and one or more controllers. The one or more controllers, after a request to activate the vehicle, command the bi-directional DC/DC converter to charge a DC link capacitor electrically between main contactors and the bi-directional DC/DC converter to target value without connecting a resistor in parallel with one of the main contactors and before closing all of the main contactors.

Pre-charge via bi-directional DC/DC converter and auxiliary battery

Methods and system are described for estimating an amount of battery usage for a traction battery of a vehicle. The traction battery usage estimate may be based on or a function of a distance per gallon of gasoline-equivalent so that the usage estimate may be more familiar to vehicle operators. In addition, the traction battery usage estimate may also be based on traction battery current and traction battery voltage.

System and method for quantifying battery usage

A vehicle includes an electrified propulsion system powered by a traction battery. The vehicle also includes an electrical distribution system (EDS) to pass current to and from the traction battery. The EDS is provided with at least one flexible electrical distribution component (FEDC) including a plurality of individual conductor paths. At least one of the individual conductor paths defines a typical width and a reduced width narrowed portion sized to operate as a fuse and thereby break an electrical circuit of the at least one individual conductor path in response to heat generated from conducting an electrical current greater than a predetermined threshold.

Hybrid vehicle electrical distribution system having integrated fuse conductor paths

A vehicle assembly includes, among other things, a battery array, and an identifier that is associated with the battery array. The identifier is readable by a control module of an electrified vehicle when the battery array is in an installed position within the electrified vehicle.

Electrified vehicle traction battery component identification assembly and identification method

A vehicle battery system has a battery including a plurality of series connected cells, a bus bar electrically connected between an adjacent pair of the series connected cells, and circuitry. The circuitry injects a sinusoidal current waveform through the bus bar, obtains a magnitude of a sinusoidal voltage waveform contained by an overall voltage of the bus bar that is caused by the sinusoidal current waveform from a sampled and filtered version of the overall voltage and digital data defining the sinusoidal current waveform, obtains a resistance of the bus bar from the magnitude of the sinusoidal voltage waveform and a measured magnitude of the sinusoidal current waveform, and obtains a magnitude of current through the battery from a DC portion of a spectrum of the overall voltage and the resistance of the bus bar.

Growing community of inventors

Ypsilanti, MI, United States of America

Baojin Wang