Ford is charging EV battery packs from a number of cost ports concurrently to be able to shorten charging occasions.
The idea is printed in a current patent submitting revealed by the USA Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) Nov. 12, 2024, however initially filed by Ford again on Dec. 8, 2021. It reveals a setup with twin charging ports that will every be answerable for charging a portion of the battery pack from a single energy supply.
Ford twin cost port patent picture
The submitting discusses a “partition” system that will enable two or extra sections of the battery pack to be decoupled and charged individually, or coupled collectively for standard charging. The tandem charging could be achieved with an adapter that will cut up energy from one connector to achieve the 2 cost ports on the car.
Partitioning of the battery pack do not essentially entail the double-layer strategy utilized by Common Motors within the GMC Hummer EV, GMC Sierra EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV. In these vans, every layer is basically a person pack linked to the opposite in parallel.
In a 2022 patent submitting, GM mentioned including a second port to assist get essentially the most out of this setup, together with a configuration that allowed each layers to be charged individually from totally different ports.
Ford twin cost port patent picture
The GM patent submitting additionally coated the thought of utilizing a number of ports to assist cost different EVs, one thing Ford additionally mentioned in a 2023 patent submitting. However that is not essentially in play right here. This most up-to-date patent submitting mentions cost ports positioned on reverse sides or the identical aspect of a car. The latter would not be very handy for charging one other car.
Some EVs have already got twin cost ports. The Porsche Taycan and Audi E-Tron GT have AC ports on either side, with a DC fast-charging port on the best aspect as properly. However that is just for comfort; you may’t use each ports on the identical time. The 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA may also have twin ports—one J1772, for AC, and one NACS, for DC—to offer drivers extra flexibility. Ford’s idea could be one thing totally different, if it reaches manufacturing.
