Method and system to prevent vehicle driveaway during battery charging

A vehicle having a traction motor coupled to a battery, comprising:

• a receptacle coupled to the battery and adapted to couple with a plug of an external power supply cord to charge the battery;
• a parking gear wheel;
• and
• a pawl adapted to engage with the parking gear wheel to prevent rotation of the parking gear wheel when a plug is coupled with the receptacle or an access door proximate the receptacle is open.

A vehicle system, comprising:

• a traction motor coupled to a battery;
• a parking gear wheel;
• a pawl that selectively engages the parking gear wheel during charging of the battery by an external power supply;
• an operator-actuated gear shift selector coupled to the pawl;
• and
• a solenoid proximate the gear shift selector and adapted to lock the gear shift selector in place during charging of the battery by the external power supply.

A method to prevent a battery-powered vehicle from moving when the battery is being charged by an external power source, the vehicle having a battery, a battery charger coupled to the battery and to a receptacle, a pawl adapted to be engaged with a parking gear wheel coupled to a driveline of the vehicle, and a gear shift selector coupled to the pawl, the gear shift selector having a park position in which the pawl is engaged with the parking gear wheel, the method comprising:

• detecting a vehicle condition indicating that an external power supply cord is plugged into the receptacle;
• detecting whether a brake pedal coupled to the vehicle is being actuated;
• detecting whether an ignition key switch coupled to the vehicle is actuated;
• preventing the gear shift selector from moving out of the park position when any one of:
• the vehicle condition is detected, the brake pedal is unactuated, and the ignition key switch is unactuated.