LED Technology
Advancing EV charging port design with smart functionality and direct flap monitoring
By Andreas Laute and Raik Frost, Melexis S
ince the very inception of the automotive industry, safety has been a critical aspect of vehicle design. Vehicle systems, which directly interact with passengers, such as airbags and seatbelts, are incredibly important for ensuring our safety when travelling within vehicles. But vehicle safety systems extend far beyond just these direct and obvious measures. Instrumentation displays and gauges provide key information about the vehicle’s status, as well as if any faults are present.
With the industry-wide transition to electric vehicles (EVs), there has been a significant redesign of the vehicle fuel source and powertrain. This redesign brings with it a comprehensive set of new vehicle instrumentation requirements for status and safety indication systems, which are imperative for keeping the driver safe and informed of vital information, such as charge status and remaining range of the vehicle. Consequently, manufacturers are now redesigning vehicle systems that have remained largely unaltered for decades. They aim to integrate new features to ensure functional safety and improve the end user’s experience, all while minimising the potential increase in complexity of electronic systems.
For a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE), the fuel filling point has been a constant and necessary design element. Even the location of the filling point on the vehicle is largely constant due to the vehicle’s fuel tank and weight distribution requirements effectively dictating its position. With EVs, the weight distribution and packaging constraints are considerably different, and having a longer run between the charging port and battery pack is relatively easy compared to having a long fuel hose running between a fuel filler flap and tank. This development has provided designers with greater freedom, enabling them to relocate the charging point to a more ergonomically favourable position, such as the front of the vehicle. This placement aligns effectively with EV charging stations situated at the front of parking bays.
42 February 2024
Figure 1: Electric vehicle charging port with LED illumination indicating charging status (Source: Melexis)
Charge ports play a vital role in the functionality of electric vehicles. They are frequently used and must possess both operational reliability and the ability to convey the charging status to the user. To meet this requirement, more automotive manufacturers have started to utilize LEDs near or around the charging point (Figure 1).
These lights are used to indicate the charge status and show any potential error status
Figure 2: Melexis MLX81118 block diagram plus alternative GPIO functionality (Source: Melexis)
through static or basic dynamic lighting. This provides a clear indication at the point of connection for the end user, allowing them to quickly see the battery level or if a risk is present. The electrification of the powertrain has significantly increased the complexity of vehicle design, necessitating additional functionality in the latest charging port designs. This includes monitoring the status of the flap and sensing the temperature of the high-voltage connectors.
Melexis has a well-established reputation in the automotive LED driver market, with considerable experience and an extensive product offering. EV charging ports are among the applications being targeted by one of its latest solutions.
The new MLX81118 is an intelligent 24-channel integrated circuit (IC) LED driver with a local interconnect network (LIN)
Components in Electronics
www.cieonline.co.uk
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