Although we expect to find a single fuel door on a vehicle, that isn’t always the case, and vehicles like the Chevrolet 1500 of the 1970s actually had two fuel tanks and two filler ports. Now, GM may be, to an extent, bringing that idea into the electric age.
The company has filed a patent for an electric vehicle with multiple charging ports that could allow owners more freedom of choice when it comes to charging. Its patent, titled “Adaptive Fast-Charing of Multi-Pack Battery System in a Mobile Platform Having Dual Charge Ports” was first discovered by Green Car Reports.
The system could work with the Ultium platform, which has 12 modules that are wired in series to make one “battery pack.” That is connected in parallel to a second, nearly identical pack with the same number of modules. Through a series of controllers and switches, this patent proposes configuring them to charge either one at a time or at the same time via dual charging ports.
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That would give owners the freedom of using, say, an 800V charger for one module and a 400V for the other or charging them both simultaneously at 400V. And the flow of electricity wouldn’t be unidirectional.
One vehicle could charge at 800V while simultaneously charging another vehicle at 400V, allowing multiple vehicles to charge at once, which could be useful on a worksite. Also helpful on a worksite would be the ability to charge a vehicle while also using it as a power supply for tools and other electric appliances.
Although the drawings in the patent application show two plugs next to each other, they could conceivably be put on either side of the vehicle to make parking at a charging station simpler. It remains unclear if GM will put this technology into production at all but it’s clear that the company is thinking through the many features that its Ultium platform could offer owners in the future.
