Patent ID: 8648606
Filing Date: 2014-02-11
Classification: B60L,G01R,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A charging system operable with a vehicle to facilitate charging the vehicle with energy provided from a three-pronged wall outlet of a domestic power network, the system comprising: a three-pronged terminal operable to connect to each of a neutral plug, a hot plug, and a ground plug of the wall outlet; an power circuit operable to manipulate energy received at the three-pronged terminal for use in charging the vehicle; a signal generator operable to transmit a plurality of test currents having one or more characteristics to the wall outlet, the signal generator being further operable to vary the one or more characteristics of the plurality of test currents; and a controller operable to determine a ground resistance of the domestic power network based on a detected voltage differential across at least two of the three-pronged terminals during the transmission of the plurality of test currents; the controller being further operable to select the one or more characteristics of the plurality of test currents and to assess a quality of the detected voltage differential for identifying the one or more characteristics of the plurality of test currents that result in a most reliable assessment of the ground resistance; and the controller operable to prevent the power circuit from charging the vehicle in the event the ground resistance is greater than a predefined threshold while the ground resistance was assessed during application of the plurality of test currents having the one or more characteristics identified to result in the most reliable assessment.