High voltage cutoff for electrified vehicles

Abstract

Systems and methods provide an alternative high voltage cutoff technique for disconnecting a high voltage battery from an electrical network of a vehicle in the event of a fault condition. Embodiments include a vehicle system comprising an electrical bus and a battery module coupled to the electrical bus via a contactor and a disconnector. The vehicle system further includes a controller configured to switch the contactor to an open state, upon receiving a fault condition signal, and if the contactor failed to open, activating the disconnector to break electrical connection between the battery module and the electrical bus. In some embodiments, the fault condition signal is generated upon detecting a vehicular impact. In some embodiments, the disconnector is a pyrotechnic device powered by a vehicle battery included in the vehicle system.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.