Electric vehicle energy storage systems for mitigating transient load conditions in low voltage buses

An energy storage system for an automotive vehicle, the system comprising:

• a plurality of batteries coupled in series;
• a plurality of isolated DC-DC power converters each having first and second sides, each of the first sides coupled to at least one of the batteries;
• a DC bus coupled to the second sides of the plurality of isolated DC-DC power converters;
• at least one switching device coupled to the DC bus;
• at least one ultra-capacitor coupled to the DC bus and the second sides of the plurality of isolated DC-DC power converters via the at least one switching device;
• and
• at least one controller coupled to the switching device, the at least one controller configured to detect a transient load condition and in response to detecting the transient load condition, transmit an enable signal to the switching device to cause the switching device to begin operating,
• wherein:
• the at least one ultra-capacitor is configured to mitigate the transient load condition on the DC bus;
• and
• the system does not include a battery module coupled to the second sides of the plurality of isolated DC-DC power converters.

An energy storage system for an automotive vehicle, the system comprising:

• a plurality of batteries coupled in series;
• a plurality of first isolated DC-DC power converters each having first and second sides, each of the first sides coupled to at least one of the batteries;
• a DC bus coupled to the second sides of the plurality of isolated DC-DC power converters;
• a second isolated DC-DC power converter including first and second sides coupled in parallel with the plurality of first isolated DC-DC power converters, the first side of the second isolated DC-DC power converter coupled to the plurality of batteries and the second side of the second isolated DC-DC power converter coupled to the DC bus;
• and
• at least one controller coupled to the plurality of first isolated DC-DC power converters and the second isolated DC-DC power converter, the at least one controller configured to:
• control at least one isolated DC-DC power converter of the plurality of first isolated DC-DC power converters at a switching frequency of 10 MHz or more to mitigate a transient load condition on the DC bus;
• detect the transient load condition;
• and
• in response to detecting the transient load condition, transmit an enable signal to the second isolated DC-DC power converter to cause the second isolated DC-DC power converter to begin operating.