Charging Cord Status Verification for Plug-in Electric Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Plug-in electric vehicles face challenges in determining the connection status of the charging cord, leading to potential damage from accidental drive-away when the status is unclear, as existing systems fail to distinguish between plugged-in and unplugged states under fault conditions, resulting in a fail-safe mode that prevents vehicle movement.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that disable vehicle movement when the connection status is unknown, prompting the user to verify the connection status through the instrument cluster or steering wheel controls, allowing movement only when the cord is confirmed unplugged, and maintaining a fail-safe plugged-in status if the user does not verify the cord is unplugged.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the vehicle disables movement when plug status is unclear (fail-safe mode), then vehicle safety is improved, but vehicle usability deteriorates because the vehicle cannot be driven even when unplugged
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary verification by prompting the user to confirm plug status before allowing vehicle movement. The controller displays a message asking the user to verify the charge cord is unplugged, and only after receiving user confirmation does the system enable vehicle movement. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by ensuring safety through user verification while restoring usability when the plug status is actually unplugged.
2Measurement precision
If the vehicle prompts user verification when plug status is unclear, then accurate status determination is improved, but operation time increases due to additional verification steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial verification by prompting the user only when the plug status is unclear or indeterminate, not in all cases. When the controller can clearly determine the plug status through normal detection, no user prompt is displayed and the vehicle can start immediately. This partial action approach maintains measurement precision for ambiguous cases while minimizing time loss by avoiding unnecessary verification steps in clear cases.
Data Source
AI summary
An operation includes disabling a vehicle from moving while connection status of the vehicle with external charging infrastructure is unknown. A message is generated to advise a user to check the connection status. The vehicle is enabled to move upon a user indication that the vehicle is disconnected from the charging infrastructure.