A system and method for charging a plug-in hybrid vehicle can improve the on-board charging efficiency of the plug-in hybrid vehicle by adjusting a frequency of operation of a cooler when cooling an on-board charger (OBC) by circulating coolant when the temperature of the OBC rises while a high-voltage battery is being charged. The operations of a water pump and a radiator fan are controlled by determining whether the voltage of the high-voltage battery is within or out of a reference voltage range in which the on-board charging of the high-voltage battery is performed. This consequently prevents power from being unnecessarily consumed by operation of the cooler, such that the efficiency of charging is improved and the OBC is properly cooled.

Disclosed herein is a power feeding device including: power transmitting section which transmits electric power by way of a magnetic field; a set of first and second electrodes which are spaced from each other; a power supply which applies a voltage between the first and second electrodes; and a detector which detects whether foreign matter is present on the power transmitting section or not based on the voltage applied by the power supply.

A system for suppressing inrush currents is described. The system may include a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor and a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor arranged in series between a power source and a battery system to be charged. At a low temperature, while the PTC thermistor provides only minimal resistance to minimize an inrush current, the NTC thermistor provides increased resistance. As the temperature increases, the resistance provided by the PTC thermistor increases as the resistance from the NTC thermistor decreases. The system may be used in conjunction with a battery charging system has at least one current pathway from the power source to the battery system.

A vehicular starter battery management system includes a detection unit, a processing unit, a control unit, a discharging circuit and a communication unit. The detection unit, the control unit, and the communication unit are coupled respectively with the processing unit. The discharging circuit is coupled with the control unit. The detection unit includes a static detection circuit and a dynamic detection circuit. The static detection circuit includes a micro current detection circuit, an anti-theft detection circuit and a static voltage detection circuit. The dynamic detection circuit includes a dynamic voltage detection circuit, a dynamic current detection circuit and a temperature detection circuit. The processing unit transmits a signal to the control unit and the communication unit based upon the current intensity, the voltage, the temperature and the time at which the battery management system enters into the static mode, detected by the detection unit, thereby operating the control unit to protect the vehicular starter battery. The processing unit uses the communication unit to transmit a signal to and receive a signal from a hand-held communication device equipped with an application.

A charging system may include a plug adapter for receiving a charging current and a processor configured to receive data from the plug adapter. The plug adapter may include a thermal sensor configured to measure temperature associated with the plug adapter. The processor may be configured to decrease the charging current if the temperature measured by the thermal sensor exceeds a first threshold temperature. The processor may be further configured to turn off the charging current if the temperature measured by the thermal sensor exceeds a second threshold temperature.

A rechargeable power cell having no voltage across its positive and negative power terminals unless the power cell is inserted into a device configured to accept the power cell is described. The power cell includes a battery management processor and battery insertion detection circuitry that cooperate to determine when the power cell is inserted into the device and then drive an electronic switch to provide for conduction of current from the power cell to the positive terminal of the cell.

Disclosed are systems and methods for a power control system for a vehicle having multiple power sources. The power control system may include a plurality of sensors associated with one or more power sources and a microcontroller configured to receive a plurality of signal inputs, wherein the microcontroller selects a power state for the power control system based at least in part on the plurality of signal inputs from the plurality of sensors. The power state may be selected from a group including a first power state, wherein power is provided to a critical power subsystem, an essential power subsystem, and an auxiliary power subsystem, a second power state, wherein power is provided to the critical power subsystem and the essential power subsystem of the vehicle, and a third power state, wherein power is provided only to the critical power subsystem of the vehicle.

To reduce standby time during charging, a charging device includes a housing on which a battery pack is detachably mountable, a control board, and a cooling fan. The battery pack is formed with a vent hole. The housing is formed with a ventilation opening configured to face the vent hole. The cooling fan is configured to flow an air passing through the control board and the ventilation opening, and is configured to work even in a state where the battery pack is detached.

A battery charger may include a printed circuit board (PCB) having a first portion supporting alternating current (AC) electrical components and a second portion supporting direct current (DC) electrical components; an indicator including a light-emitting diode (LED) supported on the first portion of the PCB and operable to emit light; and an isolating member positioned on the first portion between the AC electrical components and the LED. A trace on the PCB may be electrically connected to the second portion of the PCB, the trace extending from the second portion and along the first portion, and the LED may be electrically connected to and receiving DC power through the trace, the LED being selectively positioned along a length of the trace. The LED may be positioned more than about 8 mm from the AC electrical components.

This application provides an energy storage system including at least one energy storage unit cluster and a centralized monitoring system of the energy storage unit cluster. The energy storage unit cluster including at least two energy storage modules. A first energy storage unit cluster includes an energy storage element group and a switch bridge arm, the switch bridge arm including a master control switch and a bypass switch. The energy storage unit cluster is coupled to a direct current (DC) busbar through a DC/DC converter. The centralized monitoring system is connected to the energy storage unit cluster through a control bus and is configured to control the master control switch and the bypass switch of any energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster to be on or off.