Patent ID: 8532854
Filing Date: 2013-09-10
Classification: B60L,H02J,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A vehicle comprising: a first battery pack having a first bank of contactors; a second battery pack having a second bank of contactors, wherein the second battery pack is wired in electrical parallel with respect to the first battery pack; a propulsion system driven using electrical power from at least one of the first and the second battery packs; and a controller in electrical communication with the first and the second battery packs, wherein the controller is adapted for determining which of the first and the second battery packs has the highest state of charge (SOC), and for automatically balancing the SOC by controlling a state of the first or the second bank of contactors; wherein the controller selectively opens a designated one of the first and the second bank of contactors when electrical current in the battery pack having the highest SOC is approximately zero, thereby temporarily disconnecting the battery pack having the highest SOC from the propulsion system, and closes the designated one of the first and the second bank of contactors when a voltage difference between the first and the second battery packs is approximately zero.