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AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsStuart C. Salter, Ryan O'Gorman, Lorne M. Forsythe, Darrel A. Recker, Peter Phung, John R. Van Wiemeersch
Estimating the term…
A driver assistance system aids a driver in charging one or more trailer-mounted batteries in a trailer being towed by an electrified passenger vehicle. Many existing charging facilities for electric vehicles have charging stalls with a layout configured to accommodate single vehicles. Charging facilities having drive-through or elongated charging stalls able to accommodate larger vehicles which are towing an electrified trailer are much scarcer. When attempting to charge a trailer-mounted battery in a charging stall meant for a single vehicle, it may be necessary to unhitch (i.e., decouple) the trailer while in the charging stall so that the passenger vehicle does not block the aisles of a charging station. Sensors in the vehicle perform a sensor sweep of a selected charging stall, and after unhitching, the trailer uses an independent drive system to park itself in the selected charging stall using driving commands which are calculated from the sensor sweep.
An electrified vehicle comprising:
A method of charging a trailer-mounted battery unit in a trailer being towed by an electrified passenger vehicle, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.