Systems and methods are disclosed herein for a charging system. The charging system may be implemented within an independent charging station or within an autonomous vehicle. Boolean charging can be used to obtain the desired charge or discharge voltage for charging an autonomous vehicle at a charging station. By combining a subset of a sequence of batteries arrays that differ in voltage by powers of two in series, where each battery array may include multiple batteries or battery cells, a voltage may be obtained which is equal to the sum of the voltages across each battery array. This voltage may be used in turn to charge additional batteries or battery arrays. The process may be repeated until the desired amount of battery arrays has been charged and the desired voltage has been achieved.

An apparatus is provided for adjusting an electrical configuration of a plurality of components of an electrical network associated with a vehicle in order to tune electrical characteristics of the electrical network to continuously match a dynamically changing desired mode of operation of the electrical network associated with the vehicle.

A system for modular dynamically adjustable capacity storage for a vehicle is provided. The system includes a battery pack including a plurality of battery cells, a negative terminal including a chassis ground connection, and a plurality of positive battery pack terminals. The negative terminal and the plurality of positive battery pack terminals are useful for connecting at least one electrical circuit through the battery pack. The system further includes a battery cell switching system, including a plurality of solid-state switches connected to each of the battery cells. The plurality of solid-state switches is operable to selectively connect a portion of the battery cells in parallel, selectively connect the portion of the battery cells in series, and selectively connect one of the plurality of battery cells to one of the plurality of positive battery pack terminals.

Disclosed is a system and a method of controlling a battery connection of an electric vehicle. The system for controlling a battery connection of an electric vehicle, the system including: a battery unit including a plurality of battery packs; a power relay assembly (PRA) for electrically connecting or disconnecting the battery unit and an inverter, and changing a connection structure of the plurality of battery packs to one of a battery unit serial mode and a battery unit parallel mode through a plurality of relays; and a controller for switching the connection structure to the battery unit serial mode through the PRA in response to a driver's request to increase motor output, and switches the connection structure to the battery unit parallel mode through the PRA in response to a driver's request to increase a cruising distance.

Disclosed is a system and a method of controlling a battery connection of an electric vehicle. The system for controlling a battery connection of an electric vehicle, the system including: a battery unit including a plurality of battery packs; a power relay assembly (PRA) for electrically connecting or disconnecting the battery unit and an inverter, and changing a connection structure of the plurality of battery packs to one of a battery unit serial mode and a battery unit parallel mode through a plurality of relays; and a controller for switching the connection structure to the battery unit serial mode through the PRA in response to a driver's request to increase motor output, and switches the connection structure to the battery unit parallel mode through the PRA in response to a driver's request to increase a cruising distance.

Disclosed herein is a system (20) for providing N bipolar AC phase voltages U.sub.Vj, with j=1 . . . N, said system (20) comprising N modular energy storage direct converter systems (MESDCS) (22) and a control system (20), wherein the first ends (24) of each MESDCS (22) are connected to a common floating connection point (28), and wherein the j-th MESDCS (22) is controllable to output at its second end (26) a star voltage Us.sub.j with respect to the floating connection point (28), with j=1, . . . , N, wherein said system (20) is configured to provide each of said phase voltages Uv.sub.j as voltage differences between two of said star voltages, such that Uv.sub.j=Us.sub.j+1−Us.sub.j, or Uv.sub.j=Us.sub.j−Us.sub.j+1 for each j between 1 and N−1, and Uv.sub.N=Us.sub.1−Us.sub.N, or Uv.sub.N=Us.sub.N−Us.sub.1, respectively, wherein said control system (30) is configured to control each MESDCS (22) to output a corresponding unipolar star voltage Us.sub.j that can be decomposed into a periodic bipolar AC function P.sub.j(t) and a unipolar offset U.sub.off(t) that is common to each star voltage Us.sub.j, such that Us.sub.j(t)=P.sub.j(t)+U.sub.off(t), wherein the absolute value of said common unipolar offset U.sub.off(t) is at all times t sufficiently high that Us.sub.j (t) is unipolar,

wherein the periodic bipolar AC functions P.sub.j(t) associated with different star voltages Us.sub.j are phase-shifted copies of each other such that for each integers i, j chosen from [1, . . . , N] and k chosen from [1, . . . , N−1], P.sub.i(t)=P.sub.j(t+k.Math.T/N), wherein T is the period of said periodic bipolar AC function P.sub.j(t), wherein in particular, P.sub.i(t)=P.sub.j(t+(i−j).Math.T/N).

Disclosed herein is a system (20) for providing N bipolar AC phase voltages U.sub.Vj, with j=1 . . . N, said system (20) comprising N modular energy storage direct converter systems (MESDCS) (22) and a control system (20), wherein the first ends (24) of each MESDCS (22) are connected to a common floating connection point (28), and wherein the j-th MESDCS (22) is controllable to output at its second end (26) a star voltage Us.sub.j with respect to the floating connection point (28), with j=1, . . . , N, wherein said system (20) is configured to provide each of said phase voltages Uv.sub.j as voltage differences between two of said star voltages, such that Uv.sub.j=Us.sub.j+1−Us.sub.j, or Uv.sub.j=Us.sub.j−Us.sub.j+1 for each j between 1 and N−1, and Uv.sub.N=Us.sub.1−Us.sub.N, or Uv.sub.N=Us.sub.N−Us.sub.1, respectively, wherein said control system (30) is configured to control each MESDCS (22) to output a corresponding unipolar star voltage Us.sub.j that can be decomposed into a periodic bipolar AC function P.sub.j(t) and a unipolar offset U.sub.off(t) that is common to each star voltage Us.sub.j, such that Us.sub.j(t)=P.sub.j(t)+U.sub.off(t), wherein the absolute value of said common unipolar offset U.sub.off(t) is at all times t sufficiently high that Us.sub.j (t) is unipolar,

wherein the periodic bipolar AC functions P.sub.j(t) associated with different star voltages Us.sub.j are phase-shifted copies of each other such that for each integers i, j chosen from [1, . . . , N] and k chosen from [1, . . . , N−1], P.sub.i(t)=P.sub.j(t+k.Math.T/N), wherein T is the period of said periodic bipolar AC function P.sub.j(t), wherein in particular, P.sub.i(t)=P.sub.j(t+(i−j).Math.T/N).

A vehicle power supply system provides redundant high-voltage and low-voltage power supply for an electric vehicle or a hybrid-electric vehicle. The power supply system includes first and second high-voltage battery units. A positive terminal of the first unit is connected to a positive power distribution arrangement and a positive terminal of the second unit is connected to a negative terminal of the first high-voltage battery unit via an intermediate power distribution arrangement, and a negative terminal of the second unit is connected to a negative power distribution arrangement. The system has a first bypass line connecting the positive power distribution arrangement with the intermediate power distribution arrangement, and a second bypass line connecting the negative power distribution arrangement with the intermediate power distribution arrangement.

A method for AC-charging an intelligent battery pack, which is connected to a charging column and has at least two battery modules, which each comprise at least one energy storage element and at least two power semiconductor switches, which interconnect the respective battery module in series or in parallel with another battery module. The battery pack is connected for charging with alternating current provided by the charging column by a charging circuit, which includes a filter and a rectifier. According to the method, a state of each individual energy storage element is monitored. In accordance with a continued evaluation of the states of the respective energy storage elements, a terminal voltage of the battery pack is adjusted by way of dynamic actuation of the power semiconductor switches to a voltage provided by the rectifier.

A method for AC-charging an intelligent battery pack, which is connected to a charging column and has at least two battery modules, which each comprise at least one energy storage element and at least two power semiconductor switches, which interconnect the respective battery module in series or in parallel with another battery module. The battery pack is connected for charging with alternating current provided by the charging column by a charging circuit, which includes a filter and a rectifier. According to the method, a state of each individual energy storage element is monitored. In accordance with a continued evaluation of the states of the respective energy storage elements, a terminal voltage of the battery pack is adjusted by way of dynamic actuation of the power semiconductor switches to a voltage provided by the rectifier.