US 11,938,839 B2
Vehicle propulsion with multiple battery packs
Venkata Prasad Atluri, Novi, MI (US); Chinmaya Patil, South Lyon, MI (US); and Norman K. Bucknor, Troy, MI (US)
Assigned to GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed by GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed on Jun. 7, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/834,465.
Prior Publication US 2023/0391227 A1, Dec. 7, 2023
Int. Cl. B60L 58/18 (2019.01); B60L 53/60 (2019.01); B60L 58/12 (2019.01); B60L 58/26 (2019.01)
CPC B60L 58/18 (2019.02) [B60L 53/60 (2019.02); B60L 58/12 (2019.02); B60L 58/26 (2019.02); B60L 2200/36 (2013.01); B60L 2210/10 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system in a vehicle comprising:
two or more charging ports, each configured to connect to a corresponding port of a direct current fast charger;
two or more smart battery packs, each connected to one of the two or more charging ports, configured to power drive units of the vehicle to move the vehicle, each of the two or more smart battery packs comprising:
a battery pack, and
a battery management system (BMS) configured to monitor a state of charge of the battery pack; and
an energy distribution unit configured to facilitate charge transfer among the two or more smart battery packs, wherein the energy distribution unit includes two or more switches, each of the two or more switches corresponding with one of the two or more smart battery packs, and a direct current (DC)-DC converter, and
wherein two of the two or more switches are controlled to be closed to connect corresponding two of the two or more smart battery packs in series via the DC-DC converter for power transfer from one of the two of the two or more smart battery packs to another of the two of the two or more smart battery packs through the DC-DC converter.