SMART VEHICLE SYSTEM AND CONTROL LOGIC FOR AUTOMATED THERMAL EVENT MITIGATION DURING VEHICLE DOWN

The invention relates to an intelligent vehicle system and control logic for automatic thermal event mitigation during vehicle drag-up. Intelligent vehicle systems for thermal event mitigation during vehicle towing, methods for making/using such systems, and vehicles equipped with such intelligent control systems are presented. A method of operating a host vehicle includes a resident or remote vehicle controller checking that the host vehicle is in a lost capability state. In response to a lost capability of a host vehicle, a controller detects that the host vehicle is being towed by a tow vehicle, and identifies a wireless-enabled portable computing device (PCD) within a predefined range of the host vehicle. In response to the host vehicle being towed, the controller determines whether the wireless-enabled PCD is on the towed vehicle while the host vehicle is towed. When a thermal event in at least one battery cell in a battery system of the host vehicle is detected while the host vehicle is being towed, the