Abstract: A charging station for charging an electric vehicle may include a charge head movably attached to a charge head assembly and at least one head landing switch including a lever and a contact element. A first end of the lever may be rotatably coupled to the charge head and an opposite second end of the lever may be rotatably coupled to the contact element. At least a bottom surface of the contact element may be positioned below the bottom surface of the charge head such that the contact element can contact the roof of the electric vehicle before the bottom surface of the charge head can contact the roof. And, a width of the contact element may be greater than a width of the seam on the charging interface.

Abstract: A charging station for charging an electric vehicle may include a charge head movably attached to a charge head assembly and at least one head landing switch including a lever and a contact element. A first end of the lever may be rotatably coupled to the charge head and an opposite second end of the lever may be rotatably coupled to the contact element. At least a bottom surface of the contact element may be positioned below the bottom surface of the charge head such that the contact element can contact the roof of the electric vehicle before the bottom surface of the charge head can contact the roof. And, a width of the contact element may be greater than a width of the seam on the charging interface.

Abstract: A method of determining the state of charge of a battery during charging may include providing a charging current having a first magnitude to the battery for charging, and changing a magnitude of the charging current from the first magnitude to a second magnitude. The second magnitude may be equal to the magnitude of current discharged from the battery during the charging. The method may also include determining a voltage across the battery after the changing, and determining a state of charge of the battery as a function of the determined voltage from a battery characterization curve.