JP2025099924A - Electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To estimate whether a my room function is used during charging while a vehicle is away from home, and to allow a charging schedule to be set taking into account power consumption of auxiliary equipment.SOLUTION: A server 200 stores charging history of electric vehicles 1 to 1n in association with locations where charging was performed (charging facilities 300 to 300n). When use history of a my room function is included in the charging history of an own vehicle, associated with a current location, received from a navigation system 102 or in the charging history of another vehicle, associated with the current location, received from the server 200 during charging of a driving battery 30, a control device 100 of the electric vehicle 1 calculates charging time by taking into account power consumption of auxiliary equipment (such as audio equipment or an air conditioner 50) and determines a charging schedule accordingly.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

This disclosure relates to electric vehicles.

JP 2014-42383 A (Patent Document 1) discloses that the location and time at which an electric vehicle will be charged are calculated based on the location information of the electric vehicle, and the amount of power consumed is calculated based on the calculated location and time.

JP 2014-42383 A

When an electric vehicle charges outside the home, it may do so by agreeing with the charging facility (charging infrastructure) on a charging schedule and charging end time (departure time). Some electric vehicles are equipped with a so-called "my room" function that allows auxiliary equipment such as audio and air conditioning to be used while charging, making the interior of the vehicle feel like a private room. When the my room function is used, the charging time may be longer depending on the power consumption of the auxiliary equipment. For this reason, there is a concern that the charging schedule and charging end time may change from the agreed upon contents if the my room function is used while charging. Patent Document 1 calculates the charge amount based on the usage time of the charging facility, but does not mention the power consumed by the my room function.

The purpose of this disclosure is to estimate whether the My Room function is being used when charging outside the home and to make it possible to set a charging schedule that takes into account the power consumption of auxiliary equipment.

The electric vehicle disclosed herein is an electric vehicle equipped with a power storage device capable of being charged using power supplied from a charging facility, and a control device that controls the charging. The electric vehicle has a "my room" function that consumes power using auxiliary equipment during charging. The control device acquires the current location information of the electric vehicle, and determines whether the "my room" function will be used during the current charge based on the charging history linked to the location information. If it is determined that the "my room" function will be used, the control device determines a charging schedule taking into account the power consumption of the auxiliary equipment.

According to this configuration, it is determined whether or not the My Room function will be used during the current charge based on the charging history linked to the current location information of the electric vehicle. If it is determined that the My Room function will be used, a charging schedule is decided taking into account the power consumption of the auxiliary equipment. Therefore, when charging away from home, it is possible to estimate whether or not the My Room function will be used using the charging history linked to the current location information, and set a charging schedule that takes into account the power consumption of the auxiliary equipment.

According to this disclosure, when charging outside the home, it is possible to estimate whether the My Room function is being used and set a charging schedule that takes into account the power consumption of auxiliary equipment.

1 is a diagram showing a schematic overall configuration of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a control device according to the present embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a charging schedule determination process executed by a control device.

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or corresponding parts in the drawings are given the same reference numerals and their description will not be repeated.

Figure 1 is a diagram that shows a schematic diagram of the overall configuration of an electric vehicle 1 according to this embodiment. Figure 1 shows a state in which the electric vehicle 1 and a charging facility (EVSE: Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) 300 are electrically connected by charging cables 301 and 302.

The charging equipment 300 may be, for example, a normal charger installed in an ordinary home. In this case, the charging equipment 300 outputs AC power supplied from a system power supply, which is an external power supply, to the electric vehicle 1 through a charging cable 301. In this case, the charging equipment 300 does not include a charging cable 302 that supplies DC power.

The charging equipment 300 may be a quick charger that is installed at a charging station or the like when the electric vehicle 1 is out. In this case, the charging equipment 300 converts AC power from a system power supply, which is an external power source, into DC power and outputs it to the electric vehicle 1 via a charging cable 302. In this case, the charging equipment 300 may also be provided with a normal charging function that supplies AC power supplied from the system power supply, which is an external power source, to the electric vehicle 1 via the charging cable 301. During external charging of the electric vehicle 1, either the charging cable 301 or the charging cable 302 is connected to the electric vehicle 1.

In this embodiment, the electric vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle (EV). However, the electric vehicle 1 may also be an externally chargeable plug-in hybrid vehicle equipped with an internal combustion engine. The electric vehicle 1 includes a motor generator 10, drive wheels 11, a power control unit (PCU) 20, a system main relay (SMR) 21, a drive battery 30, charging relays 32, 33, a charger 34, inlets 41, 42, and a control device 100.

The motor generator 10 is, for example, a three-phase AC rotating electric machine. The motor generator 20 uses power from the drive battery 30 to rotate and drive the drive wheels 11. The motor generator 10 can also generate power through regenerative braking. The AC power generated by the motor generator 10 is converted to DC power by the PCU 20 and charged into the drive battery 30.

In response to a control signal from the control device 100, the PCU 20 converts the DC power stored in the drive battery 30 into AC power and supplies it to the motor generator 10. The PCU 20 also converts the AC power generated by the motor generator 10 into DC power and supplies it to the drive battery 30.

The SMR 21 is electrically connected to a power line connecting the PCU 106 and the drive battery 30. The SMR 21 switches between supplying and cutting off power between the PCU 20 and the drive battery 30 in response to a control signal from the control device 100.

The driving battery 30 is a DC power source configured to be capable of charging and discharging. The driving battery 30 corresponds to an example of an "energy storage device" in this disclosure. In this embodiment, the driving battery 30 is a battery pack in which battery cells (single cells) are electrically connected in series, and is a high-voltage battery. The battery cells may be, for example, lithium-ion secondary batteries. The monitoring unit 31 detects the voltage, input/output current, temperature, etc. of the driving battery 30 (battery cells), and outputs them to the control device 100.

The charging relay 32 is electrically connected to a power line connecting the drive battery 30 and the charger 34. The charging relay 32 switches between supplying and cutting off power between the drive battery 30 and the charger 34 in response to a control signal from the control device 100. The charger 34 is configured to include, for example, an AC/DC converter (not shown), and converts AC power supplied via the charging cable 301 and the inlet 41 into DC power and outputs it to the charging relay 32. When the electric vehicle 1 (drive battery 30) is externally charged using power supplied from the inlet 41 (normal charging), the charging relay 32 is closed, and the supply power supplied to the electric vehicle 1 is controlled in the charger 34.

The inlet 42 receives DC power supplied from the charging equipment 300 by connecting the charging cable 302. The charging relay 33 is electrically connected to a power line connecting the driving battery 30 and the inlet 42. The charging relay 33 switches between supplying and cutting off power between the driving battery 30 and the inlet 42 in response to a control signal from the control device 100. When the electric vehicle 1 (driving battery 30) is externally charged using power supplied from the inlet 42 (rapid charging), the charging relay 33 is closed, and the supply power supplied to the electric vehicle 1 is controlled by a controller provided in the charging equipment 300.

The electric compressor of the air conditioner 50 is electrically connected between the PCU 20 and the SMR 108. The air conditioner 50 may be an air conditioner that forms a heat pump cycle using the electric compressor, and may also be equipped with a high-voltage electric heater.

The auxiliary battery 107 is a low-voltage battery that is the power source for the auxiliary devices 61, such as the audio, wipers, HMI (Human Machine Interface) device 101, and navigation system 102. The auxiliary battery 60 is electrically connected between the PCU 20 and the SMR 108 via a DC/DC converter 62, and is charged by the power of the drive battery 30 or the power supplied from the charging equipment 300.

The HMI device 101 receives operations from the driver and notifies the driver of the state of the electric vehicle 1, and may be, for example, a touch-up display. The navigation system 102 is a route guidance device equipped with a GPS (Global Positioning System) function. The displays of the HMI device 101 and the navigation system 102 may be shared.

The control device 100 is composed of a charging control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 110, a battery ECU 120, a vehicle ECU 130, a communication device 140, etc. Each ECU is composed of a processor, a memory, and a buffer (none of which are shown). The control device 100 is connected to the HMI device 101, the navigation system 102, and the charging equipment 300, for example, via CAN (Controller Area Network) communication.

The communication device 140 wirelessly communicates with the server 200 via the network NW. The server 200 can communicate with a plurality of electric vehicles 1n including the electric vehicle 1, and a plurality of electric facilities 300n including the charging facility 300 via the network NW, and updates and stores information such as the charging history of each electric vehicle and information about each charging facility as needed. The charging history of each electric vehicle is stored in association with the location (charging facility) where charging was performed.

The electric vehicle 1 has a "my room" function. When the driving battery 30 is being externally charged by connecting the charging cable 301 to the inlet 41 or the charging cable 302 to the inlet 42, the "my room" function can be used by turning on the power switch and touching the "my room" mode switch displayed on the HMI device 101. The "my room" function allows auxiliary equipment such as the audio and air conditioning device 50 to be used while the driving battery 30 is being charged, allowing the interior of the vehicle to be used as if it were a private room.

When charging using charging equipment 300 away from home, charging may be performed after agreeing with charging equipment 300 on a charging schedule and charging end time (departure time), etc. When the My Room function is used, charging time may be longer depending on the power consumption of auxiliary equipment (audio and air conditioning unit 50). For this reason, there is a concern that the charging schedule and charging end time may change from the agreed upon contents if the My Room function is used while charging. In this embodiment, when charging away from home, it is possible to estimate whether the My Room function is being used and set a charging schedule that takes into account the power consumption of auxiliary equipment.

2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device 100 in this embodiment. When the charging cable 301 is connected to the inlet 41, or when the charging cable 302 is connected to the inlet 42, the navigation system 102 outputs current location information, charging history, and weather information to the charging control ECU 110. The charging history is the charging history at the current location (the charging facility 300 to which the electric vehicle 1 is connected), and the weather information is the current weather information at the current location. The charging control ECU 110 transmits the current location information to the server 200 using the communication device 140. The server 200 transmits the charging history at the current location (the current charging facility 300) to the control device 100. The charging history transmitted from the server 200 is the charging history of another electric vehicle having the My Room function, and is the charging history when charging was performed at the current location (the charging facility 300 to which the electric vehicle 1 is connected).

The charging control ECU 110 acquires output information from the charging equipment 300. The output information may be the rated output Ot [kW] or the maximum output. The battery ECU 120 calculates the SOC (State of Charge) of the driving battery 30 based on the detection signal of the monitoring unit 51, and outputs the calculated SOC to the charging control ECU 110.

Based on the charging history linked to the current location received from the navigation system 102, or the charging history linked to the current location received from the server 200, the charging control ECU 110 determines whether or not the My Room function will be used during this charging session. If it is determined that the My Room function will be used, the charging control ECU 110 determines a charging schedule taking into account the power consumption of auxiliary equipment (audio, air conditioning system 50, etc.) consumed by the My Room function, and transmits the schedule to the charging equipment 300.

Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a charging schedule determination process executed by the control device 100 (charging control ECU 110). This flowchart is executed when the charging cable 301 (charging cable 302) is connected to the inlet 41 (inlet 42). In step (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as "S") 10, current position information of the electric vehicle 1 is obtained from the navigation system 102.

In the next step S11, the charging history at the current location (charging history linked to the current location) of another vehicle having the "my room" function is obtained from the server 200, and the charging history at the current location of the vehicle (electric vehicle 1) (charging history linked to the current location) is obtained from the navigation system 102.

In the next step S12, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility that the my room function will be used in this charge. If the charging history of the vehicle obtained from the navigation system 102 includes a history of using the my room function, it is determined that there is a possibility that the my room function will be used, and the process proceeds to S13. If the charging history of the vehicle does not include a history of charging at the current location, and the charging history of the other vehicle obtained from the server 200 includes a history of using the my room function, it is determined that there is a possibility that the my room function will be used, and the process proceeds to S13. If the charging history of the vehicle does not include a history of using the my room function, and the charging history of the other vehicle does not include a history of using the my room function, it is determined that there is no possibility that the my room function will be used, and the process proceeds to S14.

In S13, the charging time is calculated taking into account the power consumption of the auxiliary equipment (audio and air conditioning unit 50). If the vehicle's charging history includes a history of using the My Room function, the auxiliary equipment power consumption H [kWh] is calculated as "(total amount of power consumed by the auxiliary equipment (audio and air conditioning unit 50, etc.) during charging at the current location (currently connected charging equipment 300) SG [kWh] / number of charging attempts at the current location Gn) x weather correction coefficient K" (H = (SG/Gn) x K). The total amount of power consumed by the auxiliary equipment SG is calculated by the vehicle ECU 130 during charging, and is updated and stored as necessary. Charging history of own vehicleIf there is no history of charging at the current location in the charging history of the own vehicle, and if the charging history of the other vehicle obtained from the server 200 includes a history of using the My Room function, the auxiliary power consumption H is calculated as "(total amount of power consumed by the auxiliary equipment (audio, air conditioning device 50, etc.) in the other vehicle when charging at the current location TG [kWh] / number of times Tn the other vehicle is charged at the current location) x weather correction coefficient K" (H = (TG/Tn) x K). The total amount of consumed power TG is included in the charging history obtained from the server 200.

The meteorological correction coefficient K is calculated based on meteorological information obtained from the navigation system 102. For example, it may be set according to the current outside temperature, such as "outside temperature 30°C or higher: K=1.2", "outside temperature 25-30°C: K=1.1", "outside temperature 15-15°C: K=1.0", and "outside temperature less than 15°C: K=1.1". The meteorological correction coefficient K may also be corrected according to the amount of solar radiation.

The amount of power Cg [kWh] required to fully charge the drive battery 30 is calculated based on the SOC of the drive battery 30. Then, using the rated output Ot of the charging equipment 300, the time required to charge the amount of power (H+Cg), which is the sum of the auxiliary power consumption H and the amount of power Gg, is calculated (charging time Ct), and then the process proceeds to S15. Note that when the HMI device 101 is operated to set the SOC at which charging is completed (completion SOC), the amount of power Cg is calculated as the amount of power required to charge the drive battery 30 to the completion SOC.

In S14, the time required to charge the amount of power Cg (charging time Ct) is calculated using the rated output Ot of the charging equipment 300, and then the process proceeds to S15.

In S15, the charging schedule is sent to the charging equipment 300, and the current routine ends. When the HMI device 101 is operated and a departure time (charging end time) is set, a charging schedule in which charging ends at the departure time is calculated. If a departure time is not set, a charging schedule in which immediate charging begins is set, and the charging end time (departure time) is set based on the charging schedule (for example, the charging end time is set to the time obtained by adding the charging time Ct to the current time). Once the charging equipment 300 and the charging control ECU 110 agree on the transmitted charging schedule, charging is then performed according to the charging sequence.

According to this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the my room function will be used during the current charge based on the charging history (the charging history of the vehicle itself, the charging history of other vehicles) linked to the current location information of the electric vehicle 1. Then, if it is determined that the my room function will be used, a charging schedule is decided taking into account the power consumption of the auxiliary equipment (auxiliary equipment power consumption amount H). Therefore, when charging outside the home, it is possible to estimate whether or not the my room function will be used using the charging history linked to the current location information, and set a charging schedule that takes into account the power consumption of the auxiliary equipment.

Note that, if a positive determination is made in S12 and the charging time is calculated taking into account the auxiliary power consumption amount H, but the My Room function is not used, charging will end earlier than the local charging schedule. Taking this into consideration, the charging schedule may be reset in the middle of the charging time based on the power consumption state of the auxiliary equipment (audio, air conditioning system 50, etc.).

In addition, weather information may be obtained from server 200, and the charging history of the vehicle may be obtained from server 200.

The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims, not by the description of the embodiments above, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

1 Electric vehicle, 30 Drive battery, 50 Air conditioner, 60 Auxiliary battery, 61 Auxiliary equipment, 100 Control device, 110 Charge control ECU, 120 Battery ECU, 130 Vehicle ECU, 140 Communication device, 200 Server, 300 Charging equipment, NE Network.

Claims (1)

a power storage device that can be charged using power supplied from a charging facility;
A control device for controlling the charging,
the electric vehicle has a "my room" function of consuming power by an auxiliary device during the charging,
The control device includes:
Acquire current location information of the electric vehicle;
determining whether the My Room function is to be used during the current charging based on a charging history linked to the location information;
When it is determined that the my room function will be used, a charging schedule is determined taking into consideration the power consumption of the auxiliary device.

Images