USPTO

One thing has become clear from following NIO’s various patent applications to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: the company has a lot of ideas about how to improve the technology in electric vehicles. Case in point is patent application number 15/825888, which was published today (originally filed in November 2017) and describes a way to charge an EV at voltages up to 800V. NIO also filed an application for a patent (number 15/721428) back in September 2017) that deals with power bus devices that can handle 800 volts.

NIO, an automaker based in China, isn’t the only one looking at this technology, of course. Porsche said back in 2016 that 800-volt charging “shows great potential” and since then has confirmed that the Macan EV will use the tech. Aston Martin’s Rapide E will also be powered by an 800V electrical architecture battery.

But NIO has more in mind than just higher-voltage charging to reduce charging times. Application number 15/725119 (filed October 2017), for example, describes a “highly-integrated fail operational e-powertrain” for autonomous vehicles. The idea is to create autonomous driving technologies that conform to Automotive Safety Integrity Level D of ability (ASIL D is the highest level of automotive hazard, while ASIL A is the lowest. There are also ASIL B and ASIL C standards for the intervening levels) without resorting to expensive and heavy redundant hardware.

Then there’s application number 15/721173, which relates to “Real-Time Nonlinear Receding Horizon Control of Batteries for Power Systems” and is meant to increase battery life. The process NIO is trying to patent here doesn’t resort to linearization techniques or iterative procedures, the company says. In simulation tests, NIO has discovered that even if there is an “estimation error and model mismatch of the system, the proposed scheme still performs well.”

Sebastian Blanco

Exactly what NIO plans to do with all of these patent ideas is not clear. Companies often patent technologies they will not actually put into production, but we know NIO continues to work on new EV models. At Auto Shanghai in April, NIO revealed the look of its upcoming electric sedan through the ET Preview concept vehicle. Back in March, I wrote about NIO’s patent application for a distributed audio system. You can read that here.

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