IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,358,383
Granted Patent B2
US 12,358,383 · App. 17/510,487 · Granted Jul 15, 2025

Charging system and method for charging a battery of an electric vehicle

Inventors: Anders Lasson (Gothenburg, SE); Robert Eriksson (Gothenburg, SE)
Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
B60L53/11B60L1/003H02M3/02
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,358,383
App. No.
17/510,487
Granted
Jul 15, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A charging system for charging an electric vehicle battery, including a charging inlet connected to an external direct current (DC) charging station providing a predefined charging inlet voltage, a battery having a nominal voltage of 400V or 800V connected to the charging inlet, the battery including two 400V-battery units, and a voltage outlet, the voltage outlet supplying an output voltage to an auxiliary component connected to the voltage outlet having a nominal voltage corresponding to the nominal voltage of the battery, a DC/DC converter converting the charging inlet voltage into the nominal voltage of the auxiliary component, and at least three circuit breakers being arranged to connect the two 400V-battery units to form a charging circuit having a nominal charging voltage corresponding to the supplied charging inlet voltage and/or to selectively integrate the DC/DC converter into the charging circuit to provide the auxiliary component with the nominal voltage during charging.

Claims (28)

1. A charging system for charging a battery of an electric vehicle, comprising:

a charging inlet configured to be connected to an external direct current (DC) charging station providing a predefined charging inlet voltage;

a battery having a nominal voltage of 400V or 800V connected to the charging inlet;

the battery comprising

two 400V-battery units, the two 400V-battery units being selectively connected in parallel or in series, and

a voltage outlet, the voltage outlet being configured to supply an output voltage to at least one auxiliary component connected to the voltage outlet, the at least one auxiliary component having a nominal voltage corresponding to the nominal voltage of the battery;

a DC/DC converter configured to convert the charging inlet voltage into the nominal voltage of the at least one auxiliary component; and

at least three circuit breakers being arranged to connect the two 400V-battery units to form a charging circuit having a nominal charging voltage corresponding to the supplied charging inlet voltage and to selectively integrate the DC/DC converter into the charging circuit to provide the at least one auxiliary component with the nominal voltage of the auxiliary components during charging.

2. The system according to claim 1 , the DC/DC-converter being arranged within the battery or within the charging inlet, and/or the DC/DC-converter being an isolated DC/DC-converter.

3. The system according to claim 1 , the battery further comprising two additional circuit breakers configured to de-energize the charging inlet during driving of the electric vehicle.

4. The system according to claim 1 , the battery further comprising a 400/12V-DC/DC-converter for each 400V-battery unit, the 400/12V-DC/DC-converter being connected in parallel to the respective 400V-battery unit.

5. The system according to any of claim 1 , the battery further comprising one 400/12V-DC/DC-converter connected in parallel to the at least one auxiliary component.

6. The system according to claim 1 , in case, the nominal voltage of the battery corresponding to the charging inlet voltage, the charging circuit corresponding to a load circuit of the battery.

7. The system according to claim 6 , in case the nominal voltage of the battery being different to the charging inlet voltage, the charging circuit being different to a load circuit of the battery.

8. The system according to claim 1 , the two 400V-battery units being connected in series to form a battery having a nominal voltage of 800V.

9. The system according to claim 1 , the two 400V-battery units being connected in parallel to form a battery having a nominal voltage of 400V.

10. The system according to claim 8 , the two 400V-battery units being re-connected in parallel during charging and the DC/DC-converter being integrated into the charging circuit.

11. The system according to claim 10 , the DC/DC-converter being configured to balance a state-of-charge of the two 400V-battery units.

12. The system according to claim 9 , the two 400V-battery units being re-connected in series during charging and the DC/DC-converter being integrated into the charging circuit.

13. An electric vehicle, comprising:

a charging system according to claim 1 , and

at least one auxiliary component being connected to the voltage outlet of the battery.

14. A method for charging a battery of an electric vehicle, the method comprising:

connecting a charging inlet of the electric vehicle to an external direct current (DC) charging station providing a charging inlet voltage of 400V or 800V;

forming a charging circuit having a nominal charging voltage which corresponds to the supplied charging inlet voltage by selectively connecting two 400V-battery units of a battery connected to the charging inlet, in parallel or in series by means of at least three circuit breakers being arranged to connect the two 400V-battery units correspondingly;

selectively integrating a DC/DC-converter into the charging circuit to convert an output voltage of the battery to a nominal voltage of at least one auxiliary component being connected to the battery;

supplying the charging inlet voltage to the battery; and

supplying the output voltage to the at least one auxiliary component by means of a voltage outlet of the battery.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 26, 2021
From: LASSON, ANDERS; ERIKSSON, ROBERT
To: VOLVO CAR CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 057911/0094 →
Priority Claims (1)
EP 20207157 · Nov 12, 2020 · regional
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220144104A1 · May 12, 2022
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