Patent ID: 8339084

Claim:
An electrical system for use in a vehicle comprising: a direct current (DC) interface; an electric motor having a plurality of phases; an inverter module coupled between the DC interface and the electric motor, the inverter module comprising a plurality of phase legs, wherein each phase leg corresponds to a respective phase of the electric motor; a first current sensor configured to measure a DC current flowing between the DC interface and the inverter module; a second current sensor interposed between a first phase leg of the inverter module and a first phase of the electric motor, the second current sensor configured to measure a first phase current flowing through the first phase of the electric motor; and a control module coupled to the first current sensor and the second current sensor, wherein the control module is configured to: determine an expected value for the first phase current based at least in part on the DC current measured by the first current sensor; and take remedial action when a difference between the expected value for the first phase current and the measured first phase current is greater than a threshold value.