Over-Voltage Protection Circuit for Electric Vehicles

An over-voltage protection circuit is electrically connected to one or more batteries and to a high-voltage bus to power the electrical components of an electric vehicle. The over-voltage protection circuit is configured to produce a short-circuit path for current flowing through the high-voltage bus when the voltage across the high-voltage bus is higher than a threshold voltage. The short-circuit path significantly increases the current flowing through the high-voltage bus, which causes one or more fuses to interrupt current flow. The over-voltage protection circuit includes an energy-harvesting circuit that down-converts the voltage across the high-voltage bus to a lower voltage that can power one or more electrical components of the over-voltage protection circuit.