Electrified vehicle configured to disconnect battery from load

A method, comprising:

• disconnecting a load from an array of battery cells by igniting an igniter to trigger a disconnect along an electrical conductor, wherein the disconnecting step includes using a switch to permit current to flow from at least one of the battery cells through the igniter when the voltage drop across the electrical conductor exceeds a threshold,
• wherein the switch is a bipolar junction transistor,
• wherein the bipolar junction transistor is an NPN transistor,
• wherein a collector of the bipolar junction transistor is electrically connected via a first branch of an electronic circuit to a first node between a first one of the battery cells and a second one of the battery cells,
• wherein an emitter of the bipolar junction transistor is electrically connected via a second branch of the electronic circuit to a second node along the electrical conductor,
• wherein a base of the bipolar junction transistor is electrically connected via a third branch of the electronic circuit to a third node along the electrical conductor,
• wherein, when the voltage drop across the electrical conductor exceeds the threshold, the bipolar junction transistor permits current to flow through the first branch at a level which ignites the igniter along the first branch, and
• wherein ignition of the igniter causes a pyrotechnic disconnect to break the electrical conductor thereby disconnecting the array of battery cells and the load.

An electrified vehicle, comprising:

• an array of battery cells;
• an electrical conductor connecting the array to a load, wherein a disconnect is arranged along the electrical conductor;
• an electronic circuit including a switch and an igniter, wherein, when a voltage drop across the electrical conductor exceeds a threshold, the switch is configured to permit current to flow from at least one of the battery cells through the igniter to trigger the disconnect thereby disconnecting the array of battery cells from the load,
• wherein the disconnect is a pyrotechnic disconnect,
• wherein the switch is a solid state switch,
• wherein the switch is a silicon controlled rectifier, wherein an anode of the silicon controlled rectifier is electrically connected via a first branch of the electronic circuit to a first node between a first one of the battery cells and a second one of the battery cells,
• wherein a cathode of the silicon controlled rectifier is electrically connected via a second branch of the electronic circuit to a second node along the electrical conductor,
• wherein the second branch includes the igniter between the cathode and the second node,
• wherein the igniter is adjacent the pyrotechnic disconnect,
• wherein when the voltage drop across the electrical conductor exceeds the threshold, the silicon controlled rectifier is configured to permit current to flow through the igniter at a level which ignites the igniter, and
• wherein ignition of the igniter causes the pyrotechnic disconnect to disconnect the array of battery cells from the load.