FCA US LLC

A thermal system for a vehicle includes a refrigerant loop operable between a cooling mode and a heat pump mode, a compressor configured to circulate a refrigerant through the refrigerant loop, and a heat exchanger disposed on the refrigerant loop and configured to operate as a condenser when operating in the cooling mode and operate as an evaporator when operating in the heat pump mode. A thermal control system includes a controller having one or more processors. The controller is programmed to perform an assessment of ambient conditions, estimate an incremental ice formation on the heat exchanger based on the assessed ambient condition, and initiate a deicing operation of the heat exchanger when the incremental ice formation exceeds a predetermined threshold.

An electric drive module (EDM) for an electrified vehicle is provided. The EDM includes a housing; an electric motor; a single compound planetary gear set having a sun gear fixed to its input shaft, a single planetary carrier rotationally supporting pairs of compound planets in engagement with the sun gear and a ring gear, respectively; and first and second torque transfer devices (TTDs) coupled to the carrier. An output of the motor is connected to the input shaft and an output of the EDM is connected to a final drive gearset. The EDM is selectively switchable among: (i) a first gear where the first TTD is disengaged and the second TTD is engaged grounding the carrier to the housing, and (ii) a second gear where the second TTD is disengaged and the first TTD is engaged to couple for common rotation the carrier and the sun gear.

A securement technique for a vehicle for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) power generation includes receiving, from a transmission shifter, a requested state for the transmission from the park state where a park pawl is engaged and one or more non-park states where the park pawl is disengaged, detecting for a key fob associated with the vehicle, detecting, via a user interface device, a lock request associated with a power generation mode during which a powertrain of the vehicle is configured to operate in a generator mode and output electrical power, in response to the lock request, commanding an actuator to physically lock the shifter while the transmission is in the park state and the park pawl is engaged and when the key fob is not detected, keep the park pawl engaged without regard to a requested non-park state from the shifter.

A motor cogging management system for an electrified vehicle includes a set of sensors configured to monitor a set of parameters for the electrified vehicle, wherein the set of parameters includes at least a speed of the electrified vehicle and a control system configured to determine whether cogging torque management is required for a first electric motor of the electrified vehicle based on the set of parameters, determine a maximum cogging management torque based on the set of parameters, determine a sign for the cogging torque management based on the set of parameters, and perform the cogging torque management by commanding additional torque at the first electric motor based on the determined maximum cogging management torque and the determined sign.

A vehicle system having an automatic vehicle securement feature to prevent an unoccupied vehicle from driving away includes a controller programmed to initiate the automatic vehicle securement feature, if a first set of conditions is satisfied, by engaging the parking brake and/or parking pawl to thereby prevent the vehicle from driving away. The controller determines if there is a fault of the first set of conditions, if the first set of conditions is not satisfied, and then determines, by the camera-based monitoring system, if a driver is present within the vehicle, if there is a fault of the first set of conditions. The controller initiates the automatic vehicle securement feature if the driver is determined not present within the vehicle, even though the first set of conditions is not satisfied.

An electrical component housing has a box shaped receptacle having at least one wall. A plurality of apertures are in the at least one wall. A plate covers the apertures. The plate includes a plurality of apertures. The plate is movable with respect to the walls to open and block desired apertures in the at least one wall. An inlet enables ram air to enter into the housing through the apertures in the plate and wall to cool the electrical components in the housing.

A battery pack assembly for an electrified vehicle includes a main body assembly, a top cover and a first spacer. The main body assembly houses a plurality of battery modules therein, the plurality of battery modules having cell supervisory circuits. The top cover is coupled to the main body assembly, the top cover having an interior surface that faces the plurality of battery modules. The first spacer is disposed on the interior surface of the top cover and occupies a space generally between the top cover and at least one battery module of the plurality of battery modules. The first spacer is configured to engage a battery module of the plurality of battery modules during an impact event that deforms the top cover toward the battery modules.

A method for locating a vehicle access device using a second vehicle access device may include the steps of prompting a search for the vehicle access device, detecting a signal of the vehicle access device using the second vehicle access device, and determining a location of the vehicle access device. The location of the vehicle access device may be determined based at least partially on the signal strength between the vehicle access device and the second vehicle access device, the GPS location of the second vehicle access device, or a previous known location of the vehicle access device.

A range estimation system for an electrified vehicle having a high voltage (HV) battery system includes a controller. The controller is configured to determine an initial estimated vehicle electric range based on data from a previous drive cycle, receive data from the HV battery system indicating status information of the HV battery system utilized to estimate a vehicle electric range, and determine if a power limitation is requested by the HV battery system. The controller further configured to determine if the initial estimated vehicle electric range is less than a predefined critical drivable threshold, and determine if the received data from the HV battery system is valid data or invalid data for the electric range calculation. An updated estimated vehicle electric range is then determined based on the received data, the power limitation request, and the validity of the received data from the HV battery system.

A cable driven power tailgate system has at least one cable connected with a truck box for raising and lowering a tailgate of a vehicle. A motor/actuator drives the at least one cable into a first position wherein the cable moves the tailgate into a closed position. At least one nut on a spindle, the nut connected with the at least one cable. The spindle rotates in response to the at least one cable movement to move the tailgate into an open position.