Volt

Charge Port Door Description and Operation

The charge port system consists of the following components:

This alternative propulsion vehicle has the ability to store electrical energy from an electrical outlet, using a high voltage onboard charger, in a Rechargeable Energy Storage System (RESS). An RESS has a larger capacity than other alternative propulsion vehicle's Energy Storage System (ESS) allowing this vehicle to have fuel economy gains over their ESS equipped counterparts. Fuel economy gains are only realized when the customer uses the plug-in charging function; however, the customer is not required to use this feature for the vehicle to function. It continues to operate as an Extended Range Electric Vehicle if this functionality is not exercised.

The purpose of the plug in charging function is to provide the operator a means to charge their vehicle's RESS. This function is designed to safely transfer energy from the electrical power grid in order to complete a charge process in a time period not to exceed 12 hours.

High Voltage Battery Charging is initiated when the operator has completed all of the following steps:

The hybrid powertrain control module 2 monitors the voltage values of the charge port wake-up signal circuit and the charge port request signal circuit. When the charge port door release switch is pressed, the switch contact closes and provides B+ voltage to the two signal circuits. The hybrid powertrain control module 2 detects the voltage on the signal circuits and provides a 12 V pulse to the charge port relay, the relay briefly becomes energised which then allows B+ voltage to the charge port door latch which activates and releases the charge port door.

When the ignition is ON, the hybrid powertrain control module 2 supplies a 5V signal to the charge port door position switch through the charge port door sensor signal circuit. The charge port door position switch contains a resistor ladder interface for switch position between two resistors for sensing used by the hybrid powertrain control module 2 to determine if the charge port door is in the open position or the closed position. The hybrid powertrain control module 2 sends a serial data message to the driver information centre in the instrument panel cluster to display the Charge Door Open message.