HIGH-VOLTAGE SWITCHING FOR CHARGING AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE

Abstract

Method comprising: Determining whether a charging station (126) for charging a battery (116a, 116b) of a vehicle (100) operates in a first high-voltage mode or in a second high-voltage mode; and, in response to the determination that the charging station (126) operates in the first high-voltage mode: enabling an electric motor (120) and a traction power converter (234) of the vehicle (100) to operate as a boost converter to increase an accessory bus voltage of the vehicle (100) while charging in the first high-voltage mode; and charging the battery (116a, 116b) of the vehicle (100) by supplying electrical power at a first high voltage from the charging station (126) to the battery (116a, 116b).

Description

INTRODUCTION The present disclosure relates to vehicles and in particular to high-voltage switching for charging an electric vehicle. Modern vehicles (e.g., a passenger car, motorcycle, boat, or any other type of motor vehicle) can be equipped with one or more electric motors to drive, for example, one or more of the vehicle's wheels. An electric motor can be mechanically coupled to a vehicle's wheel to exert a rotational force on the wheel, creating a final drive. In some examples, a vehicle may contain multiple electric motors. The one or more electric motors receive electrical power from a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS), which may contain one or more batteries for storing electrical power. The batteries can be recharged, for example, using a charging station. The RESS can also provide electrical power to other vehicle systems (e.g., climate control systems, infotainment systems, etc.). DE 10 2017 201 604 A1 discloses a charging circuit for an electrical energy storage system with multiple energy storage units. The energy storage units are connected in series during the charging process by means of a plurality of switches to achieve a higher charging voltage, with a DC / DC converter serving to supply electrical components at a lower voltage level. DE 10 2021 110 334 A1 discloses a battery system for a vehicle with multiple battery packs. The battery packs can be connected to each other in either a series or parallel circuit by means of a pair of mutually exclusive three-way / two-position contactors. US 11,383,607 B1 discloses a bidirectional vehicle charging system in which a power inverter and the windings of the electric motor are used as a DC / DC converter. This allows for voltage boosting or reduction for charging the vehicle battery from an external source or charging an external load from the vehicle battery. SUMMARY According to an exemplary embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes determining whether a charging station for charging a vehicle battery operates in a first high-voltage mode or in a second high-voltage mode. Furthermore, in response to the determination that the charging station operates in the first high-voltage mode, the method includes: activating an electric motor and a traction power converter of the vehicle to operate as a boost converter to increase an accessory bus voltage of the vehicle while charging in the first high-voltage mode, and charging the vehicle battery by supplying electrical power at a first high voltage from the charging station to the battery. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method, in response to the requirement that the charging station operates in the second high-voltage mode, may include: disabling the vehicle's electric motor and traction power converter to prevent voltage increase while charging in the second high-voltage mode, and charging the vehicle's battery by supplying electrical power at a second high voltage from the charging station to the battery. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method may include that the first high voltage is essentially 400 volts and that the second high voltage is essentially 800 volts. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method may include the accessory bus voltage being substantially increased to twice the first high voltage. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method may include that the accessory bus voltage is essentially 800 volts and that the first high voltage is essentially 400 volts. In addition to one or more of the features described here, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method may include setting a switching frequency for the traction power converter to avoid resonant frequencies of an input from a vehicle accessory and an input to the traction power converter. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method may include controlling a pulse width modulation frequency and duty cycle of the traction power converter to minimize losses in the vehicle's electric motor while providing the accessory bus voltage. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method may include activating the vehicle's electric motor and traction power converter to act as the boost converter, controlling a set of switches to cause electrical power to flow through the electric motor and the traction power converter before flowing into an accessory of the vehicle. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the method may include, in addition to disabling the vehicle's electric motor and traction power converter to prevent voltage increase, controlling a set of switches to cause electrical power to flow through an accessory of the vehicle before flowing into the traction power converter and the electric motor. According to another exemplary embodiment, a vehicle is provided. The vehicle includes a traction power converter, an electric motor, and a controller. The controller determines whether a charging station for charging a vehicle battery operates in a first high-voltage mode or a second high-voltage mode. In response to the determination that the charging station operates in the first high-voltage mode, the controller further: enables an electric motor and a traction power converter of the vehicle to operate as a boost converter to increase an accessory bus voltage of the vehicle while charging in the first high-voltage mode; and charges the vehicle battery by supplying electrical power at a first high voltage from the charging station to the battery. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include the controller furthermore, in response to the determination that the charging station operates in the second high-voltage mode: deactivating the vehicle's electric motor and traction power converter to prevent voltage increase while charging in the second high-voltage mode; and charging the vehicle's battery by supplying electrical power at a second high voltage from the charging station to the battery. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include the first high voltage being essentially 400 volts and the second high voltage being essentially 800 volts. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include the accessory bus voltage being substantially increased to twice the first high voltage. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include that the accessory bus voltage is essentially 800 volts and that the first high voltage is essentially 400 volts. In addition to one or more of the features described here, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include a switching frequency for the traction power converter that is set to avoid resonant frequencies of an input from an accessory of the vehicle and an input to the traction power converter. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include the controller further controlling a pulse width modulation frequency and duty cycle of the traction power converter to minimize losses in the vehicle's electric motor while supplying the accessory bus voltage. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include the activation of the vehicle's electric motor and traction power converter as the boost converter, which involves controlling a set of switches to cause electrical power to flow through the electric motor and the traction power converter before flowing into an accessory of the vehicle. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include the control of a set of switches to cause electrical power to flow through an accessory of the vehicle before flowing into the traction power converter and the electric motor, in order to prevent voltage increase. According to another exemplary embodiment, a system is created. The system includes a memory containing computer-readable instructions. Furthermore, the system includes a processing device for executing the computer-readable instructions, wherein the computer-readable instructions control the processing device to perform operations. The operations include determining whether a charging station for charging a vehicle battery operates in a first high-voltage mode or in a second high-voltage mode.Furthermore, the operations in response to the determination that the charging station is operating in the first high-voltage mode include: enabling an electric motor and a traction power converter of the vehicle to operate as a boost converter to increase an accessory bus voltage of the vehicle while charging in the first high-voltage mode; and charging the vehicle's battery by supplying electrical power at a first high voltage from the charging station to the battery. In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the vehicle may include instructions that further cause the processing device to perform operations which, in response to the determination that the charging station is operating in the second high-voltage mode, include: disabling the vehicle's electric motor and traction power converter to prevent voltage increase while charging in the second high-voltage mode; and charging the vehicle's battery by supplying electrical power at a second high voltage from the charging station to the battery. The above features and advantages, and further features and advantages of the disclosure, are easily evident from the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further features, advantages and details appear only as examples in the following detailed description, which refers to the drawings; they show: Fig. 1 a block diagram of a vehicle containing high-voltage switching for charging the vehicle according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig. 2A a circuit diagram of a high-voltage switching circuit for charging an electric vehicle according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig. 2B the circuit diagram from Fig. 2A showing a first configuration of switches according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig. 2C the circuit diagram from Fig. 2A showing a second configuration of switches according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig. 3 a circuit diagram of a high-voltage switching circuit for charging an electric vehicle according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig. 4A graphs for a three-phase interleaved voltage boosting mode of operation of the circuit from Fig. 3 according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig.4B Graphs for a three-phase non-nesting voltage boost operating mode of the circuit from Fig. 3 according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig. 5 a block diagram of a method for high-voltage switching for charging an electric vehicle according to one or more embodiments described herein; Fig. 6 a block diagram of a method for high-voltage switching for charging an electric vehicle according to one or more embodiments described herein; and Fig. 7 a block diagram of a processing system for implementing the techniques described herein according to an exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is by its very nature merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, its application, or uses. Naturally, corresponding reference numerals throughout the drawings denote identical or corresponding parts and features. As used here, the term "module" refers to a processing circuit arrangement that may include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or grouped), and memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combination logic circuit, and / or other suitable components providing the described functionality. The technical solutions described here enable high-voltage switching for charging an electric vehicle. Electric vehicles can operate at different high voltages. For example, some electric vehicles operate at approximately 400 volts, while others operate at approximately 800 volts. Some vehicles use a fixed high voltage to provide electrical power to an electric motor and / or auxiliary equipment. However, other vehicles use variable high voltages to provide electrical power to the electric motor. An electric vehicle stores electrical power to operate one or more electric motors in one or more batteries, which can be recharged at charging stations. Charging stations can operate at different voltage levels. For example, charging stations can...operate at 150 volts, 400 volts, 800 volts and / or the like, including combinations and / or multiples thereof. One or more embodiments described herein provide architectures and methods for providing high-voltage switching for charging an electric vehicle. In particular, one or more embodiments described herein provide architectures and methods to support accessories for a relatively higher voltage (e.g., substantially 800 volts) in an electric vehicle with a bus operating at a natively higher high voltage (e.g., 800 volts), while a switchable battery for a higher high voltage (e.g., substantially 800 volts) is being charged from a charging station operating at a relatively lower high voltage (e.g., substantially 400 volts), without reducing the power of the accessories and without using a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle 100, which includes high-voltage circuits for charging the vehicle 100 according to one or more embodiments described herein. The vehicle 100 can be a passenger car, a truck, a van, a bus, a motorcycle, a boat, an aircraft, or another suitable vehicle. According to the example in Fig. 1, the vehicle 100 includes a controller 110 for controlling a circuit 112, which contains a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) 114. Furthermore, the vehicle 100 includes an electric motor 120, which is coupled to a final drive 122 and to an auxiliary device 124. The auxiliary device 124 can include one or more devices, separate from the electric motor 120, that receive electrical power.Examples of accessory devices such as accessory device 124 include, but are not limited to, a climate control system such as a heating device and / or an air conditioning system, an integrated drive unit and / or the like, including combinations and / or multiples thereof. The RESS 114 provides electrical power to the electric motor 120 and the auxiliary device 124. As an example, the RESS 114 includes one or more batteries (B1, B2) 116a, 116b for receiving, storing, and supplying electrical power. The controller 110 controls aspects of the circuit 112 (e.g., one or more relays (also referred to as "switches")) to selectively supply electrical power from a charging station 126 to one or more batteries 116a, 116b of the RESS 114, whereby the voltage of the electrical power from the charging station 126 can vary. This means that, in some cases, the charging station 146 can supply electrical power to the RESS 114 (which contains one or more batteries) at various changing voltages. It may be desirable, for example, to maintain an essentially constant voltage supply to the auxiliary device 124, independent of the charging voltage supplied by the charging station 126. This provides backward compatibility for a native 800-volt drive system, allowing it to be charged, for example, by 400-volt DC fast chargers. Some conventional approaches to this problem implement a switchable 800 / 400-volt assembly. However, such a solution uses a costly and complicated 400-volt to 800-volt DC-DC boost converter to support 800-volt accessories (e.g., the accessory device 124) during 400-volt DC fast charging.Another solution is to use a reduced operating voltage of 400 volts. However, these approaches are undesirable due to their increased costs, complexity, and inefficiency. One or more of the embodiments described here address these and other disadvantages by providing high-voltage switching techniques for charging an electric vehicle. These techniques allow an electric motor and a traction power converter of the vehicle to act as a boost converter to increase the vehicle's accessory bus voltage while charging at a voltage below the accessory bus's normal operating voltage. For example, an electric motor (e.g., a traction power converter) can be used with a traction power converter to boost the accessory bus voltage to the desired level when the accessory bus voltage is typically 800 volts, but a charging station provides less than 800 volts (e.g., 400 volts) of electrical power.As an example, one or more embodiments described herein provide for the use of a multi-phase electric motor and switches in a traction power inverter (TPIM) as a nested multi-phase boost converter to charge the high-voltage bus that supplies high voltage (e.g., 800 volts) to accessories (e.g., an auxiliary power unit (APM), an electronic climate control controller (ACEC), etc.). According to one or more embodiments, a pulse-width modulation (PWM) frequency and duty cycle of the TPIM are controlled to minimize losses in the electric drive while providing the desired boosted voltage to the accessories. Figures 2A-2C show a circuit diagram of the circuit from Figure 1 according to one or more embodiments described herein. In particular, Figure 2A is a circuit diagram of the circuit 112 for high-voltage switching for charging an electric vehicle (e.g., vehicle 100) according to one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 2B is the circuit diagram from Figure 2A, showing a first configuration of switches according to one or more embodiments described herein. Figure 2C is the circuit diagram from Figure 2A, showing a second configuration of switches according to one or more embodiments described herein. Figures 2A-2C will now be described together. Circuit 112 contains the RESS 114, which includes batteries (B1, B2) 116a, 116b for receiving, storing, and supplying electrical power. The RESS 114 receives electrical power, for example, from the charging station 126, via a pair of terminals: the positive terminal 226a and the negative terminal 226b. The voltage across the pair of terminals 226a, 226b can vary depending on the output voltage of the charging station 126. Furthermore, the circuit 112 includes various switches, including switches S1, S2, S3, SA1, SA2, SA3, SC1, and SC2, configured and arranged as shown. The controller 110 (see Fig. 1) can control one or more of the switches S1, S2, S3, SA1, SA2, SA3, SC1, and SC2 depending on the voltage across the pair of terminals 226a, 226b, which is the output voltage of the charging station 126, in order to maintain a substantially constant voltage supply for the auxiliary device 124. Non-limiting examples of the auxiliary device 124 are shown in Figs. 2A-2C as APM 230 and ACEC 232. Fig. 2B shows an initial configuration of switches S1, S2, S3, SA1, SA2, SA3, SC1, and SC2. If charging occurs at an initial voltage (e.g., a lower voltage than the desired accessory voltage), the electric motor 120 and the TPIM 234 can be activated to act as a boost converter, increasing the vehicle's accessory bus voltage while charging at the initial voltage. As shown in Fig. 2B, the controller 110 causes switches S1 and SA3 to be open and switches SA1, SA2, S2, and S3 to be closed. The TPIM 234 can then be set to increase the accessory bus voltage to, for example, essentially twice the charging voltage. When charging is ready, it can begin by closing switches SC1 and SC2. Fig. 2C shows a second configuration of switches S1, S2, S3, SA1, SA2, SA3, SC1, and SC2. When charging occurs at a second voltage (e.g., at a voltage substantially equal to a desired accessory voltage), the electric motor 120 and the TPIM 234 are deactivated to prevent a voltage increase. As shown in Fig. 2C, the controller 110 causes switches SA1, SA2, and S3 to be open and switches SA3, S1, and S2 to be closed. The TPIM 234 can then be configured to disable the voltage increase. When charging is ready, it can begin by closing switches SC1 and SC2. Fig. 3 is a circuit diagram of a high-voltage switching circuit 300 for charging an electric vehicle according to one or more embodiments described herein. According to this example, the circuit 300 includes the electric motor 120. The electric motor 120 is a three-phase electric motor with a first phase (phase A), a second phase (phase B), and a third phase (phase C). The circuit 300 also includes the charging station 126, which in this example supplies electrical power at essentially 400 volts. When the switch S3 is closed (see Fig. 2B), power can be transferred to the electric motor 120 via line 301 or to one of the phases of the electric motor 120 via line 302 (see, for example, Figs. 2A-2C). Each of the three phases of the TPIM 234 (Fig. 2B) includes an upper switch 303 and a lower switch 304.Although the charging station 126 supplies electrical power at essentially 400 volts according to this example, the upper switches 303 supply electrical power to the auxiliary device 124 (e.g. one or more of the APM 230 and / or the ACEC 232 and / or the like, including combinations and / or multiples thereof) at essentially 800 volts due to the voltage increase of the electric motor 120 and the TPIM 234. Figure 4A shows graphs 401a, 401b, 401c, 402a, 402b, 402c, 403a, 403b, and 403c for a nested three-phase voltage boost operating mode of the circuit from Figure 3 according to one or more embodiments described herein. That is, when the circuit 112 is configured as shown in Figure 2B (voltage boost) and charging begins after switches SC1 and SC2 have been closed, the voltage, current, and load current can be measured, with the resulting graphs shown in Figure 4A. Graphs 401a, 401b, and 401c represent the voltage of three phases (phase A, phase B, and phase C) of the electric motor 120 during voltage boost charging with respect to the negative high-voltage bus. Graphs 402a, 402b, 402c represent the current through the three phases of the electric motor 120 during the voltage increase charge.Graphs 403a, 403b, 403c represent the voltage across the load (additional device 124), the current across the load and the power supplied to the load during the voltage boost charge. Figure 4B shows graphs 411a, 411b, 411c, 412a, 412b, 412c, 413a, 413b, and 413c for a non-nested three-phase voltage boost operating mode of the circuit from Figure 3 according to one or more embodiments described herein. That is, when the circuit 112 is configured as in Figure 2C (no voltage boost) and charging begins after switches SC1 and SC2 have been closed, the voltage, current, and load current can be measured, with the resulting graphs shown in Figure 4B. Graphs 411a, 411b, and 411c represent the voltage of three phases (Phase A, Phase B, Phase C) of the electric motor 120 during a non-nested voltage boost charge with respect to the negative high-voltage bus. Graphs 412a, 412b, 412c represent the current through the three phases of the electric motor 120 during the non-nested voltage boost charge.Graphs 413a, 413b, 413c represent the voltage across the load, the current across the load, and the power supplied to the load during the non-nested voltage boost charge. Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a method 500 according to one or more embodiments described herein. It should be noted that the method 500 can be carried out by any suitable system or device, such as the controller 110 from Fig. 1, the processing system 700 from Fig. 7, or any other suitable processing system and / or device (e.g., a processor). The method 500 will now be described with respect to one or more aspects from Figs. 1 and 2A-2C, but is not limited thereto. Procedure 500 begins in block 502 and proceeds to block 504. In block 504, the controller 110 reads or otherwise determines the type of charging station 126 connected to the vehicle 100. In block 506, it is determined whether the charging station 126 provides electrical power for charging at a first voltage (e.g., essentially 400 volts). If block 506 determines that charging will occur at the first voltage, procedure 500 proceeds to block 508. In block 508, controller 110 causes switches S1 and SA3 to open and causes switches SA1, SA2, S2, and S3 to close (see, for example, Fig. 2B). In block 510, controller 110 sets a pulse width modulation (PWM) command for the TPIM 234 to boost an accessory voltage essentially to twice the battery voltage. In block 512, controller 110 determines whether the charging station 126 is ready. Responding to the charging station 126 being ready, controller 110, in block 514, causes switches SC1 and SC2 to close and sets the charging current (Icharge) and charging voltage (Vcharge) to activate charging of the charging station 126. At 516, controller 110 determines whether a target charge level has been reached.Upon confirmation that the target charge state has been reached, controller 110 sets the charging current (Icharge) in block 518 to zero, instructs TPIM 234 to end voltage boost mode, deactivates charging station 126, and causes switches SC1 and SC2 to open. In block 520, controller 110 causes switches SA1, SA2, S2, and S3 to open (see, for example, Fig. 2A). Procedure 500 then proceeds to block 538 and terminates. If block 506 determines that charging does not occur at the first voltage, procedure 500 proceeds to block 522, where it is determined whether charging station 126 provides electrical power for charging at a second voltage (e.g., essentially 800 volts). If not, procedure 500 returns to block 504 and may restart procedure 500. If block 522 determines that charging will occur at the second voltage, procedure 500 proceeds to block 524. In block 524, controller 110 causes switches SA1, SA2, and S3 to open and switches SA3, S1, and S2 to close (see, for example, Fig. 2C). In block 526, controller 110 deactivates TPIM 234. In block 528, controller 110 determines whether charging station 126 is ready. In response to the charging station 126 being ready, controller 110 closes switches SC1 and SC2 and sets the charging current (Icharge) and charging voltage (Vcharge) to activate charging station 126. In block 532, controller 110 determines whether a target state of charge has been reached.Upon receiving confirmation that the target charge level has been reached, controller 110 in block 534 sets the charging current (Icharge) to zero, deactivates charging station 126, and causes switches SC1 and SC2 to open. In block 536, controller 110 causes switches S1, S2, and SA3 to open (see, for example, Fig. 2A). Procedure 500 then proceeds to block 538 and terminates. Furthermore, additional processes may be included, and it should be understood that the process shown in Fig. 5 is for illustrative purposes only and that other processes may be added or existing processes removed, modified or rearranged without deviating from the scope of protection and inventive concept of the present disclosure. Fig. 6 shows a flow chart of a method 600 according to one or more embodiments described herein. It should be noted that the method 600 can be carried out by any suitable system or device, such as the controller 110 from Fig. 1, the processing system 700 from Fig. 7, or any other suitable processing system and / or device (e.g., a processor). The method 600 is now described with respect to one or more aspects from Figs. 1 and 2A-2C, but is not limited thereto. In block 602, the controller 110 determines whether the charging station 126 for charging a battery (e.g., batteries B1 116a and / or B2 116b) of the vehicle 100 operates in a first high-voltage operating mode or in a second high-voltage operating mode. If block 602 determines that the charging station 126 is operating in the first high-voltage mode, method 600 proceeds to block 604. In block 604, the controller 110 enables the electric motor 120 (i.e., an electric motor) and the traction power converter 234 of the vehicle 100 to operate as a boost converter to increase an accessory bus voltage of the vehicle while charging in the first high-voltage mode. In block 606, the battery (e.g., batteries B1 116a and / or B2 116b) of the vehicle 100 is charged by supplying electrical power at a first high voltage (e.g., substantially 400 volts) from the charging station to the battery. According to one or more embodiments described herein, the accessory bus voltage is increased during charging to substantially double the first high voltage.For example, the traction power converter 234 acts as a boost converter to increase the vehicle's accessory bus voltage to essentially 800 volts, while the first high voltage used to charge the battery is essentially 400 volts. If block 602 determines that the charging station 126 is operating in the second high-voltage mode, procedure 600 proceeds to block 608. In block 608, the controller 110 deactivates the electric motor 120 (i.e., an electric motor) and the traction power converter 234 of the vehicle 100 to prevent a voltage increase while charging in the second high-voltage mode. In block 610, the battery (e.g., batteries B1 116a and / or B2 116b) of the vehicle 100 is charged by supplying electrical power at a second high voltage (e.g., essentially 800 volts) from the charging station to the battery. Furthermore, additional processes may be included, and it should be understood that the process shown in Fig. 6 is for illustrative purposes only and that other processes may be added or existing processes removed, modified or rearranged without deviating from the scope of protection and inventive concept of the present disclosure. It is understood that one or more embodiments described herein can be implemented together with any other type of computer environment, now known or later developed. For example, Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of a processing system 700 for implementing the techniques described herein. According to examples, the processing system 700 comprises one or more central processing units (“processors” or “processing devices”) 721a, 721b, 721c, etc. (collectively or generally referred to as one or more processors 721 and / or one or more processing devices). According to aspects of the present disclosure, each processor 721 may include a restricted instruction set microprocessor (RISC microprocessor). The processors 721 are coupled via a system bus 733 to system memory (e.g., read / write memory (RAM) 724) and various other components.The system bus 733 is coupled to the read-only memory (ROM) 722, which can contain a basic input / output system (BIOS) that controls certain basic functions of the processing system 700. Furthermore, an input / output adapter (I / O adapter) 727 and a network adapter 726, which are coupled to the system bus 733, are shown. The I / O adapter 727 can be a small computer system interface adapter (SCSI adapter) that communicates with a hard disk 723 and / or with a storage device 725 or with any other similar component. The I / O adapter 727, the hard disk 723, and the storage device 725 are collectively referred to here as the mass storage device 734. An operating system 740 can be stored in the mass storage device 734 for execution in the processing system 700. The network adapter 726 connects the system bus 733 to an external network 736, which enables the processing system 700 to communicate with other such systems. A display (e.g., a display monitor) 735 is connected to the system bus 733 via the display adapter 732, which may include a graphics adapter to improve the performance of graphics-intensive applications and a video controller. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, adapters 726, 727, and / or 732 may be connected to one or more I / O buses that are connected to the system bus 733 via an intermediate bus bridge (not shown). Suitable I / O buses for connecting peripheral devices such as hard disk controllers, network adapters, and graphics adapters typically incorporate common protocols such as Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI). Additional input / output devices are shown to be connected to the system bus 733 via the user interface adapter 728 and the display adapter 732. The system bus 733 can be used to connect, for example, a user interface adapter 728, which may include a video controller.a super I / O chip that integrates multiple device adapters into a single integrated circuit, a keyboard 729, a mouse 730 and a speaker 731 can be connected. According to some aspects of the present disclosure, the processing system 700 includes a graphics processing unit 737. The graphics processing unit 737 is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and modify memory in order to speed up the generation of images in a picture memory for output to a display. In general, the graphics processing unit 737 is very efficient in manipulating computer graphics and in image processing, and it has a highly parallel structure that makes it more efficient than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms in which the processing of large blocks of data is carried out in parallel. Thus, the processing system 700, as configured here, includes processing capability in the form of processors 721, storage capability including system memory (e.g., RAM 724) and mass storage 734, input means such as a keyboard 729 and a mouse 730, and output capability including speakers 731 and a display 735. According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a portion of the system memory (e.g., the RAM 724) and the mass storage 734 together store the operating system 740 to coordinate the functions of the various components shown in the processing system 700.

Claims

Method comprising: Determining whether a charging station (126) for charging a battery (116a, 116b) of a vehicle (100) operates in a first high-voltage mode or in a second high-voltage mode; and, in response to the determination that the charging station (126) operates in the first high-voltage mode: enabling an electric motor (120) and a traction power converter (234) of the vehicle (100) to operate as a boost converter to increase an accessory bus voltage of the vehicle (100) while charging in the first high-voltage mode; and charging the battery (116a, 116b) of the vehicle (100) by supplying electrical power at a first high voltage from the charging station (126) to the battery (116a, 116b). The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to the requirement that the charging station (126) operates in the second high-voltage mode, deactivating the electric motor (120) and the traction power converter (234) of the vehicle (100) to prevent voltage increase while charging in the second high-voltage mode; and charging the battery (116a, 116b) of the vehicle (100) by supplying electrical power at a second high voltage from the charging station (126) to the battery (116a, 116b). Method according to claim 2, wherein the first high voltage is essentially 400 volts and wherein the second high voltage is essentially 800 volts. Method according to claim 1, wherein the accessory bus voltage is substantially increased to twice the first high voltage. Method according to claim 2, wherein the accessory bus voltage is substantially 800 volts and wherein the first high voltage is substantially 400 volts. Method according to claim 1, wherein a switching frequency for the traction power converter (234) is set to avoid resonance frequencies of an input of an accessory part of the vehicle (100) and an input of the traction power converter (234). The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling a pulse width modulation frequency and duty cycle of the traction power converter (234) to minimize losses in the electric motor (120) of the vehicle (100) while the accessory bus voltage is provided. The method of claim 1, wherein activating the electric motor (120) and the traction power converter (234) of the vehicle (100) to operate as the boost converter comprises controlling a set of switches to cause electrical power to flow through the electric motor (120) and through the traction power converter (234) before flowing into an accessory of the vehicle (100). The method of claim 2, wherein deactivating the electric motor (120) and the traction power converter (234) of the vehicle (100) to prevent the voltage increase comprises controlling a set of switches to cause electrical power to flow through an accessory of the vehicle (100) before flowing into the traction power converter (234) and into the electric motor (120). Vehicle (100) comprising: a traction power converter (234); an electric motor (120); and a controller (110) for: determining whether a charging station (126) for charging a battery (116a, 116b) of a vehicle (100) operates in a first high-voltage operating mode or in a second high-voltage operating mode; and in response to the determination that the charging station (126) operates in the first high-voltage operating mode: enabling an electric motor (120) and a traction power converter (234) of the vehicle (100) to operate as a boost converter to increase an accessory bus voltage of the vehicle (100) while charging in the first high-voltage operating mode; and charging the battery (116a, 116b) of the vehicle (100) by supplying electrical power at a first high voltage from the charging station (126) to the battery (116a, 116b).

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