# US 10,766,371 B1 · System and method to improve range and fuel economy of electrified vehicles using life balancing > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,766,371 B1 - Document ID: US10766371B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 16/283,361 - Filed: 2019-02-22 - Published: 2020-08-27 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2019-02-22 - Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC - Applicants: Ford Global Technologies, LLC - Inventors: Xiaohong Nina Duan; Richard Dyche Anderson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10766371B1 ## CPC - B60L 15/2045: {for optimising the use of energy} - B60L 50/00: Electric propulsion with power supplied within the vehicle (with power supply from force of nature, e.g. sun or wind, B60L8/00; for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00) - B60L 50/50: using propulsion power supplied by batteries or fuel cells - B60L 53/20: characterised by converters located in the vehicle - B60L 53/64: Optimising energy costs, e.g. responding to electricity rates - B60L 58/15: Preventing overcharging - B60L 2210/14: Boost converters - B60L 2210/44: Current source inverters - B60L 2240/529: Current - Y02T 10/64: Electric machine technologies in electromobility - Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries - Y02T 10/7072: Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors - Y02T 10/72: Electric energy management in electromobility - Y02T 90/12: Electric charging stations - Y02T 90/14: Plug-in electric vehicles - Y02T 90/167: Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV] - Y04S 30/14: Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION - Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS ## Abstract A vehicle includes a traction battery comprising a plurality of cells. The vehicle also includes a plurality of power converters each electrically coupled between a corresponding group of cells and an electrical bus. A controller is programmed to allocate current demand to the power converters and operate the power converters to minimize energy consumption and losses. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle comprising; a traction battery comprised of cells; power converters, each electrically coupled between a corresponding group of cells and an electrical bus; and a controller programmed to allocate current demand to the power converters, responsive to currents allocated to a subset of the power converters having magnitudes less than a threshold, redistribute a sum of the currents to power converters not in the subset and operate the subset to provide no current, and increase current magnitude of each of the power converters not in the subset by a factor that is a ratio of the current demand to a total current already allocated to each of the power converters not in the subset. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the controller is further programmed to initially allocate current demand to the power converters based on states of charge of the groups of cells such that a first power converter coupled to a first group of cells having a state of charge greater than a state of charge of a second group of cells coupled to a second power converter receives a greater current allocation. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle of claim 1, wherein current allocated to one or more of the power converters is a negative current that flows to the cells. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the threshold is a current level corresponding to an efficiency being less than a predetermined converter efficiency. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the currents include positive currents flowing from the cells and negative currents flowing to the cells, and the controller is further programmed to redistribute a sum of the positive currents to power converters with positive current allocation and redistribute a sum of the negative currents to power converters with negative current allocation. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to currents allocated to all of the power converters having magnitudes less than the threshold, redistribute the current demand to a group of the power converters such that current is supplied by a set of power converters and that each of the power converters provides current that exceeds the threshold. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The vehicle of claim 1 wherein the controller is further programmed to redistribute the current such that a total current provided by the power converters is same before and after redistribution of the currents. ### Claim 8 A method comprising: operating, by a controller, power converters electrically coupled between corresponding groups of battery cells and an electrical bus to satisfy a current demand of the electrical bus by allocating a portion of the current demand to each of the power converters, responsive to a subset of the power converters being allocated currents having magnitudes less than a threshold, redistributing a sum of the currents to power converters not in the subset and operating the subset to provide no current, wherein the currents include positive currents and negative currents; redistributing a sum of the positive currents to power converters with positive current allocation; and redistributing a sum of the negative currents to power converters with negative current allocation. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 further comprising allocating the current demand based on a state of charge of the corresponding groups of battery cells. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 further comprising redistributing current by increasing current to each of the power converters not in the subset by a factor that is a ratio of the current demand to a total current already allocated to each of the power converters not in the subset. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 further comprising, responsive to all of the power converters being allocated currents having magnitudes less than the threshold, redistributing the current demand to a group of power converters such that each provides current that exceeds the threshold. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 further comprising redistributing the sum of the currents such that a total current provided by the power converters is the same before and after redistribution of the currents. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 wherein the threshold is a current leve corresponding to an efficiency being less than a predetermined converter efficiency. ### Claim 14 A vehicle electrical system comprising: a plurality of power converters each electrically coupled between a group of battery cells and an electrical bus; and a controller programmed to allocate current demand to the power converters, responsive to currents allocated to a subset of the power converters having magnitudes less than a threshold, redistribute a sum of the currents to power converters not in the subset such that a total current provided by the power converters is same before and after redistribution of the currents and operate the subset to provide no current, and responsive to currents allocated to all of the power converters having magnitudes less than the threshold, redistribute the current demand to a group of the power converters such that current is supplied by a set of power converters that each provide current that exceeds the threshold. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The vehicle electrical system of claim 14 wherein the controller is further programmed to increase current magnitudes to each of the power converters not in the subset by a factor that is a ratio of the current demand to a total current already allocated to each of the power converters not in the subset. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The vehicle electrical system of claim 14 wherein the currents include positive currents and negative currents, and the controller is further programmed to redistribute a sum of the positive currents to power converters with positive current allocation and redistribute a sum of the negative currents to power converters with negative current allocation. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The vehicle electrical system of claim 14 wherein the threshold is a current level corresponding to an efficiency being less than a predetermined converter efficiency.