Battery conditioning system and method

Abstract

A battery-powered vehicle includes a scheduler configured to invoke conditioning of a battery prior to a time specified by a user. The scheduler instructs the VDM ECU to output a current requirement to drive the motor according to a selected drive mode of the vehicle. The BMS ECU receives the current requirement and outputs a temperature requirement required to achieve the current requirement according to the composition of the battery. The BMS ECU outputs the temperature requirement to a TMM that manages heating of the battery to achieve the temperature requirement.

Description

Background Art

[0001] The present disclosure relates to conditioning batteries of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Summary of the invention

[0002] The present disclosure describes a method for performing scheduled conditioning of a battery of a BEV. In one aspect, a vehicle includes a chassis having one or more motors mounted thereto and a battery mounted thereto. The vehicle also includes a first electronic component configured to control the supply of current to the one or more motors in response to input from a driver and a second electronic component configured to manage the flow of current into and out of the battery. The vehicle also includes a scheduling component configured to invoke conditioning of the battery to be ready for at least one of driving and charging by causing the first electronic component to provide a current request to the second electronic component, the second electronic component being configured to invoke conditioning of the battery to be ready for the current request based on the composition of the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] Figure 1A An example vehicle having a battery that may be regulated is shown according to certain embodiments.

[0004] Figure 1B A chassis of a vehicle having a battery that may be regulated is shown according to certain embodiments.

[0005] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of components for implementing battery conditioning, according to certain embodiments.

[0006] Figure 3 A display device that can be used to provide an interface for scheduling battery conditioning is shown according to certain embodiments.

[0007] Figure 4 Components that may be used to condition a battery according to certain embodiments are shown.

[0008] Figure 5 Methods for performing conditioning of a battery are shown according to certain embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] The available power output of a battery, such as a lithium-ion battery, depends on temperature. At low temperatures, the battery of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) may be "conditioned," that is, heated to a temperature at which the battery can more efficiently provide the required amount of current to the BEV's one or more motors that drive the BEV's wheels.

[0010] BEV manufacturers may produce multiple vehicles and multiple vehicle versions that may have different batteries, motors, or other components. In particular, the chemical composition of the batteries in different vehicles may be different, resulting in different regulation requirements.

[0011] In the embodiments disclosed herein, components of the BEV may not be affected by changes in the powertrain configuration and battery chemistry. The scheduler is configured by the user to adjust the battery to be ready for driving. The scheduler calls a first electronic component (such as a vehicle dynamics module (VDM) electronic control unit (ECU)) to output the amount of current required by one or more motors of the powertrain of the BEV for the current driving mode of the BEV. The current requirement is provided to a second electronic component (such as a battery management system ECU (BMSECU)). The BMS ECU manages the charging and discharging of the battery and determines the temperature requirement of the battery to achieve the current requirement. The temperature requirement is output by the BMS ECU to a third electronic component (such as a thermal management module ECU (TMM ECU)). The TMM ECU manages the circulation of the fluid used to cool or heat the battery and heats the fluid to achieve the temperature requirement. In this way, the scheduler, VDM ECU, and TMM ECU may not be affected by the battery chemistry. Similarly, the scheduler, BMS ECU, and TMM ECU may not be affected by the configuration of the powertrain.

[0012] Figure 1A An example vehicle 100 is shown. Figure 1A As shown, the vehicle 100 has a plurality of external cameras 102 and one or more front displays 104. Each of these external cameras 102 can capture a particular view or perspective outside the vehicle 100. The images or videos captured by the external cameras 102 can then be presented on one or more displays (such as one or more front displays 104) in the vehicle 100 for viewing by the driver.

[0013] refer to Figure 1B , the vehicle 100 may include a chassis 106 including a frame 108 that provides the primary structural member of the vehicle 100. The frame 108 may be formed from one or more beams or other structural members, or may be integral with the body of the vehicle (ie, unibody construction).

[0014] In embodiments where the vehicle 100 is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or possibly a hybrid vehicle, a large battery 110 is mounted to the chassis 106 and may occupy a majority (e.g., at least 80%) of the area within the frame 108. For example, the battery 110 may store 100 to 200 kilowatt-hours (kWh). The battery 110 may be a lithium-ion battery or other type of rechargeable battery. The battery may be substantially planar in shape.

[0015] The power from the battery 110 may be supplied to one or more drive units 112. Each drive unit 112 may be formed by an electric motor and possibly a gear reduction drive. In some embodiments, there is a single drive unit 112 that drives the front wheels or the rear wheels of the vehicle 100. In another embodiment, there are two drive units 112, each driving a front wheel or a rear wheel of the vehicle 100. In yet another embodiment, there are four drive units 112, each driving one of the four wheels of the vehicle 100.

[0016] Power from the battery 110 may be supplied to the drive unit 112 by one or more sets of power electronics 114. The power electronics 114 may include an inverter configured to convert direct current (DC) from the battery 110 to alternating current (AC) that is supplied to the motor of the drive unit 112.

[0017] The drive unit 112 is coupled to two or more wheel hubs 116 to which wheels may be mounted. Each wheel hub 116 includes a corresponding brake 118, such as a disc brake as shown. The drive unit 112 or other components may also provide regenerative braking. Each wheel hub 116 is further coupled to the frame 108 via a suspension 120. The suspension 120 may include a metal or pneumatic spring for absorbing shock. The suspension 120 may be implemented as a pneumatic or hydraulic suspension capable of adjusting the height of the chassis 106 relative to the support surface. The suspension 120 may include a damper, wherein the characteristics of the damper are fixed or electronically adjustable.

[0018] exist Figure 1B In the embodiments and in the following discussion, the vehicle 100 is a battery electric vehicle. However, the systems and methods disclosed herein can be used in any type of vehicle, including vehicles powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE), a hybrid powertrain, a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain, or other types of powertrains (such as diesel engines) that require heating when ready for use.

[0019] Figure 2 Shows Figure 1A Example components of vehicle 100. Figure 2 As shown, the vehicle 100 includes a camera 102, one or more front displays 104, a user interface 200, one or more sensors 202, a motion sensor 203, and a positioning system 204. The one or more sensors 202 may include an ultrasonic sensor, a radio detection and ranging (RADAR) sensor, a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor, or other types of sensors. The positioning system 204 may be implemented as a global positioning system (GPS) receiver. The user interface 200 allows a user (such as a driver or passenger in the vehicle 100) to provide input.

[0020] Components of vehicle 100 may include one or more temperature sensors 205. Temperature sensors 205 may include sensors configured to sense ambient air temperature, the temperature of battery 110, the temperature of power electronics 114, the temperature of each drive unit 112 and / or each motor of each drive unit 112, or the temperature of any other component of vehicle 100.

[0021] The control system 206 executes the instructions to perform at least some of the actions or functions of the vehicle 100, including the actions or functions related to Figure 4 and Figure 5 Describes the functionality. For example, Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , the control system 206 may include one or more electronic control units (ECUs) configured to perform at least some of the actions or functions of the vehicle 100, including Figure 4 and Figure 5 In some embodiments, each of the ECUs is dedicated to a specific set of functions. Each ECU may be a computer system, and each ECU may include the following Figure 4 and Figure 5 Describes the functionality.

[0022] Certain features of the embodiments described herein may be controlled by a telematics control module (TCM) ECU. The TCM ECU may provide a wireless vehicle communication gateway to support functionality such as, by way of example and not limitation, over-the-air (OTA) software updates, communication between the vehicle and the Internet, communication between the vehicle and a computing device, onboard navigation, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, communication between the vehicle and landscape features (e.g., automatic toll road sensors, automatic toll booths, power distributors at charging stations), or automatic call functionality.

[0023] Certain features of the embodiments described herein can be controlled by a central gateway module (CGM) ECU. The CGM ECU can be used as a communication hub for the vehicle, connecting various ECUs, sensors, cameras, microphones, motors, displays, and other vehicle components, and transmitting data to and from various ECUs, sensors, cameras, microphones, motors, displays, and other vehicle components. The CGM ECU can include a network switch that provides connectivity through a controller area network (CAN) port, a local interconnect network (LIN) port, and an Ethernet port. The CGM ECU can also be used as a master control for different vehicle modes (e.g., road driving mode, parking mode, off-road mode, towing mode, camping mode), thereby controlling certain vehicle components associated with placing the vehicle in one of these vehicle modes.

[0024] In various embodiments, the CGM ECU collects sensor signals from one or more sensors of the vehicle 100. For example, the CGM ECU may collect data from the camera 102 and the sensor 202. The sensor signals collected by the CGM ECU are then transmitted to the appropriate ECU to perform, for example, Figure 4 and Figure 5 Describes the operation and functionality.

[0025] The control system 206 may also include one or more additional ECUs, such as (by way of example and not limitation): a vehicle dynamics module (VDM) ECU, an experience management module (XMM) ECU, a vehicle access system (VAS) ECU, a near field communication (NFC) ECU, a body control module (BCM) ECU, a seat control module (SCM) ECU, a door control module (DCM) ECU, a rear zone control (RZC) ECU, an autonomous control module (ACM) ECU, an autonomous safety module (ASM) ECU, a driver monitoring system (DMS) ECU, and / or a winch control module (WCM) ECU. If the vehicle 100 is an electric vehicle, one or more ECUs may provide functionality related to the battery pack of the vehicle, such as a battery management system (BMS) ECU, a battery power isolation (BPI) ECU, a balance voltage temperature (BVT) ECU, and / or a thermal management module (TMM) ECU. In various embodiments, the XMM ECU transmits data to the TCM ECU (e.g., via Ethernet, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the XMM ECU may transmit other data (eg, sound data from microphone 208 , etc.) to the TCM ECU.

[0026] refer to Figure 3 , the interior of the vehicle 100 includes a steering wheel 300 that is turned by a user to invoke turning of the vehicle 100 by changing the angle of the front wheels, changing the angle of the rear wheels, and changing some or all of the relative speeds of the wheels on the right and left sides of the vehicle. The interior of the vehicle 100 includes an instrument panel that, in the illustrated embodiment, includes or is implemented as an instrument panel display device 302 coupled to the control system 206. The control system 206 may display vehicle status information (speed, charge status, powertrain status (drive, park, reverse)), navigation information (maps, directions, etc.), or other information.

[0027] The interior of the vehicle 100 may also include an infotainment display device 304. The infotainment display device 304 may be embodied as a touch screen located on one side of the steering wheel 300. The control system 206 may thus cause the infotainment display device 304 to display an interface for controlling the vehicle's systems and receive and execute input received from the driver or passenger through the interface.

[0028] The steering wheel 300, steering column, center console, or other portion of the vehicle 100 may have driver controls 306 mounted thereto that are coupled to the control system 206 to provide input to control the operation of the vehicle 100. For example, the driver controls 306 may be used to select a drive gear (forward, neutral, reverse), a drive mode as described herein, or to control other aspects of the operation of the vehicle 100. One or both of the instrument panel display device 302 and the infotainment display device 304 may be embodied as one or more touch screens through which driver input may also be received.

[0029] refer to Figure 4 , the VDM ECU of the control system 206 may be configured as the VDM ECU 400 shown. The VDM ECU 400 is configured to control the driving characteristics of the vehicle 100 according to a driving mode specified by a user. The driving mode may be defined as a set of attribute values ​​defined by the VDM ECU 400 for the driving mode by default and / or by the user. The VDM ECU 400 will then electronically configure the vehicle 100 according to the attribute values ​​in order to achieve a given driving mode. The attributes that may be evaluated according to the methods described herein may include attributes related to acceleration and regenerative braking, which will control the amount of current drawn by one or more motors 402 of one or more drive units 112 or the amount of current generated by one or more motors 402 when performing regenerative braking.

[0030] For example, the attribute may include an accelerator response. The accelerator response defines a desired acceleration (positive or negative), a change in torque output by one or more motors, a change in current supplied to one or more motors, or some other metric. The accelerator response may be a function of the position or change in position of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle 100. The accelerator response may be a function of the current speed of the vehicle. The accelerator response may include a set of discrete accelerator responses, such as an accelerator response for each drive mode.

[0031] The properties may include regenerative braking behavior. The regenerative braking behavior defines the amount of power generation performed in response to the release of the accelerator pedal, the depression of the brake pedal, or other events. The regenerative braking behavior may be a function of the speed of the vehicle 100. The regenerative braking behavior may include a set of discrete regenerative braking behaviors, such as a regenerative braking behavior for each driving mode.

[0032] The VDM ECU 400 may be configured with a table, function, or some other mapping that relates the desired acceleration or torque at a given motor speed to the amount of current required by the one or more motors 402. Similarly, a table, function, or some other mapping may define the amount of current generated from the one or more motors 402 for a given motor speed and a desired deceleration or regenerative braking torque.

[0033] The VDM ECU 400 may be coupled to a BMS ECU 404 that controls the flow of current to and from the battery 110. The BMS ECU 404 may control the flow of current during charging from a charging station or regenerative braking to avoid overheating of the battery 110. The BMS ECU 404 similarly controls the flow of current out of the battery during driving to avoid overheating or otherwise damaging the battery 110. The BMS ECU 404 may be configured with chemically dependent properties of the battery 110, such as a table, function, or other mapping between an output current and a temperature range suitable for the output current. The BMS ECU 404 may be configured with a table, function, or other mapping between an input current and a temperature range suitable for the input current. The BMS ECU 404 may be configured with an allowable rate of change of the temperature of the battery 110.

[0034] The BMS ECU 404 may be coupled to a TMM ECU 406 that controls one or more pumps 406a that pump fluid through the battery 110 and through a radiator for cooling the fluid. The TMM ECU further controls the pumping of a fluid, such as propylene glycol, through a fluid heater 406b powered by the battery 110 and controls the amount of current supplied to the fluid heater 406b. The TMM ECU 406 may receive the output of one or more temperature sensors 205 incorporated into the battery 110 and / or sensing the temperature of the fluid in order to control the temperature of the battery 110 and possibly the rate of change of the temperature of the battery 110.

[0035] In some embodiments, the scheduler 414, the VDM ECU 400, the BMS ECU 404, and the TMM ECU 406 are all separate entities from one another in that each entity is some or all of the following: (a) a separate software module that can be independently started and operated, (b) a separate electronic component implemented on a separate chip, (c) a separate electronic component implemented on a separate circuit board, and (d) a separate electronic component housed in a different housing at a different location relative to the other entities on the vehicle 100. For example, the BMS ECU 404 and the TMM ECU 406 may reside in or on the housing of the battery 110.

[0036] The control system 206 may be coupled to other temperature-related components of the vehicle 100, such as a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system 408, seat heaters 410, and a steering wheel heater 412. The control system 206 may invoke some or all of the HVAC system 408, seat heaters 410, and steering wheel heater 412 to prepare the temperature of the cabin, seats, and steering wheel for driving.

[0037] The scheduler 414 is coupled to or incorporated into the control system 206. The scheduler is configured with a schedule that indicates the times when the vehicle 100 should be ready to drive in terms of battery conditioning and / or temperature of the cabin, seats, and / or steering wheel. For example, the schedule may specify one or more times each weekday when the vehicle 100 should be ready to drive to and from get off work. The schedule may include individually scheduled times (i.e., dates and times of day) when a user is expected to drive the vehicle.

[0038] The scheduler 414 may instruct the controller to prepare the vehicle for driving before the scheduled time. The instructions may be an adjustment delay ahead of the scheduled time. The adjustment delay may be a predetermined value selected to be greater than or equal to the amount of time required to condition the battery. The adjustment delay may be a single predefined value selected to provide sufficient time to condition the battery under most weather conditions.

[0039] The scheduler 414 may be (a) a separate component from the control system 206 or (b) a component of the control system 206 that continues to operate while other components of the control system 206 are powered off, in a sleep mode, in a standby mode, or otherwise in a state of zero or low power consumption compared to when the vehicle 100 is being driven. In particular, the VDM ECU 400, the BMS ECU 404, and the TMM ECU 406 may be powered off, in a sleep mode, or otherwise in a state of low power consumption until invoked by the scheduler 414. The scheduler 414 may advantageously invoke activation of only the VDM ECU 400, the BMS ECU 404, and the TMM ECU 406 to condition the battery 110 without requiring activation of other components of the control system 206 or other components of the vehicle 100 to reduce power consumption during the regulation delay.

[0040] Scheduler 414 may receive the schedule via an interface displayed on infotainment display device 304. Input defining the time and day of day that conditioning of battery 110 will occur may be received via input to infotainment display device 304 used as a touch screen, driver controls 306, voice commands, or other input modalities.

[0041] Alternatively, the user may define the days of the week and times of the day for the schedule using an application executing on a separate device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or other computing device. The schedule may be received by the control system 206 via a wireless connection, such as a Bluetooth connection or a connection according to some other wireless or wired protocol.

[0042] The user can schedule a single (non-recurring) time at which conditioning of the battery will occur using an interface displayed on the infotainment display device 304 or using an application on a separate device. Likewise, the user can invoke immediate and non-scheduled conditioning of the battery 110 through an interface on the infotainment display device 304 or an application executing on a separate device.

[0043] Figure 5 A method 500 is shown that may be performed by the control system 206 and the scheduler 414, which may be a separate entity from the control system 206. The method 500 may be performed when the vehicle 100 is in some or all of the following states: stationary, powered off except for components performing the method 500, and unoccupied. The method 500 includes evaluating a schedule by the scheduler 414 at step 502. The schedule may be input by a user and specifies one or more scheduled times when the vehicle 100 is ready to drive.

[0044] The method 500 includes determining, at step 504, by the scheduler 414, whether the schedule indicates that conditioning should begin. In some embodiments, the schedule specifies a fixed conditioning delay: the scheduled time at which conditioning should begin is obtained by subtracting the fixed conditioning delay from the time specified by the user. The fixed conditioning delay may be the amount of time required to condition the battery when at the lowest manufacturer-recommended operating temperature (e.g., -40 degrees Celsius) or some other temperature. In some embodiments, the fixed conditioning delay may be set equal to the time required to condition the battery when at the lowest temperature detected when the last vehicle was started, the ambient temperature predicted by weather data for the time specified by the user, or some other temperature.

[0045] In other embodiments, step 504 may include continuously calculating the adjustment delay, for example as the time required to adjust the battery 110 when at the currently measured ambient temperature and / or the currently measured temperature of the battery 110. Thus, when the current time is ahead of the scheduled time by the calculated adjustment delay, the adjustment of the battery should begin. In some embodiments, the calculation of the adjustment delay begins at a time interval before the time specified by the user in the schedule. For example, the time interval may be selected to be the time required to adjust the battery when at the minimum manufacturer recommended operating temperature (e.g., -40 degrees Celsius) or some other temperature. The time interval may be calculated as the time required to adjust the battery based on the lowest temperature environment sensed using the ambient temperature sensor 205 when the vehicle 100 was last driven or the ambient temperature predicted according to a weather forecast.

[0046] The adjustment delay may be calculated as a function of the ambient temperature, e.g., increasing as the current ambient temperature decreases. The adjustment delay may also be calculated based on data received from the BMS ECU 404 and / or the TMM ECU 406. For example, the adjustment delay may be a function of some or all of the current ambient temperature, the current temperature of the battery, the temperature to which the battery 110 should be heated, the allowable rate of temperature change of the battery 110, the maximum output of the fluid heater coupled to the TMM ECU 406 (e.g., British Thermal Units (BTUs)), and the mass of the battery 110.

[0047] If the condition of step 504 is found to be satisfied according to any of the methods described above, or if at step 506 it is found that the user has invoked immediate conditioning of the battery 110 , then subsequent steps of method 500 may be performed.

[0048] For example, the scheduler 414 may instruct a first electronic component (such as the VDM ECU 400) to output a current requirement (e.g., peak and / or average current in amperes) for the current driving mode of the vehicle 100 at step 508. The VDM ECU 400 may transmit the current requirement to a second electronic component (such as the BMS ECU 404). Then, at step 510, the BMS ECU 404 may determine a temperature requirement of the battery 110 that is suitable for producing the current indicated in the current requirement. The temperature requirement may be in the form of a minimum temperature or an acceptable temperature range. The BMS ECU 404 may then transmit the temperature requirement to a third electronic component (such as the TMM ECU 406). The temperature requirement may specify a maximum rate at which the temperature may increase, a maximum fluid temperature of the fluid allowed to circulate through the battery 110, or other requirements.

[0049] At step 512, the TMM ECU 406 regulates the battery according to the temperature requirement. Step 512 may include activating one or more pumps 406a, fluid heaters 406b, or other components of a thermal management system (TMS) to draw power from the battery 110 to heat the battery according to the temperature requirement. The TMM ECU 406 may control the heating rate to remain below the maximum rate of temperature increase, and may ensure that the fluid circulating through the battery 110 remains below the maximum temperature specified in the temperature requirement.

[0050] Note that other heat sources may be present and used to heat the fluid at step 512. For example, one or more electronic components cooled by the fluid may be turned on to generate heat while otherwise not being used, such as the power electronics 114 of one or both drive units 112. The motor of the drive unit 112, which may be separate from the wheels of the vehicle, may be driven inefficiently to generate heat that is transferred to the fluid.

[0051] After executing the method 500, the battery is at a temperature suitable for driving according to the current driving mode of the vehicle 100. The remaining components of the control system 206 or other components of the vehicle 100 not involved in executing the method 500 may be activated by the control system 206 after executing the method 500, such as after the key is detected or the vehicle 100 is started by the user. After starting the vehicle, the VDM ECU 400 will control the operation of the motor 402 to drive the vehicle according to input from the driver (e.g., accelerator pedal position). The BMS ECU 404 will control the current supply to the motor according to the requirements of the VDM ECU 400. The TMM ECU 406 will monitor the temperature of the battery due to supplying or receiving current from regenerative braking, and activate one or more pumps 406a to keep the temperature within a desired temperature range.

[0052] The description of various embodiments of the present disclosure has been presented for illustrative purposes. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terms used herein are selected to explain the principles of the embodiments, practical applications, or technical improvements to technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable other persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0053] In the foregoing, reference is made to the embodiments presented in this disclosure. However, the scope of the present disclosure may extend beyond the specifically described embodiments. On the contrary, any combination of features and elements, whether or not related to different embodiments, is contemplated for use in implementing and practicing the contemplated embodiments. In addition, although the embodiments disclosed herein may achieve advantages over other possible solutions or over the prior art, the embodiments may achieve some advantages or no particular advantages. Therefore, the aspects, features, embodiments, and advantages discussed herein are merely illustrative.

[0054] Various aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware implementation, an entirely software implementation (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or an implementation combining software and hardware aspects, which may all be collectively referred to herein as a "circuit," "module," or "system."

[0055] Various aspects of the present disclosure are described by narrative text, flow charts, block diagrams of computer systems, and / or block diagrams of machine logic included in computer program product (CPP) implementations. With respect to any flow chart, depending on the technology involved, operations may be performed in an order different from the order shown in a given flow chart. For example, again depending on the technology involved, two operations shown in consecutive flow chart blocks may be performed in reverse order, as a single integrated step, simultaneously, or in a manner that at least partially overlaps in time.

[0056] A computer program product embodiment ("CPP embodiment" or "CPP") is a term used in this disclosure to describe any collection of one or more storage media collectively included in a collection of one or more storage devices that collectively include machine-readable code corresponding to instructions and / or data for performing the computer operations specified in a given CPP claim. A "storage device" is any tangible device that can hold and store instructions for use by one or more computer processing devices. Without limitation, a computer-readable storage medium may be an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, an electromagnetic storage medium, a semiconductor storage medium, a mechanical storage medium, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Specific types of storage devices that include these media include: a magnetic disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanical encoding device (such as a punch card or pits / land formed in a major surface of a disk), or any suitable combination of the foregoing. As the term is used in this disclosure, computer-readable storage media refers to non-transitory storage devices rather than transient signals themselves, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through waveguides, light pulses transmitted through fiber optic cables, electrical signals transmitted through wires and / or other transmission media. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, data is typically moved at some occasional point in time during normal operation of the storage device (such as during access, defragmentation, or garbage collection), but the storage device remains non-transitory during these processes because the data remains non-transitory when stored.

[0057] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments may be devised without departing from the basic scope of the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is determined by the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A vehicle, comprising: Chassis; one or more motors, the one or more motors mounted to the chassis; a battery, the battery being mounted to the chassis; a first electronic component configured to control the supply of current to the one or more motors in response to input from a driver; a second electronic component configured to manage the flow of electrical current into and out of the battery; and a scheduling component configured to invoke conditioning of the battery to be ready for at least one of driving and charging by causing the first electronic component to provide a current request to the second electronic component, the second electronic component being configured to invoke conditioning of the battery to be ready for the current request based on the composition of the battery.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a third electronic component configured to control heating of the battery, the second electronic component being configured to transmit a temperature requirement corresponding to the composition of the battery to the third electronic component in response to the current requirement. 3 . The vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the first electronic component, the second electronic component, and the third electronic component are separate electronic control units (ECUs) of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the first electronic component comprises a vehicle dynamics module (VDM) electronic control unit (ECU).

5. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the second electronic component comprises a battery management system (BMS) electronic control unit (ECU).

6. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the third electronic component comprises a thermal management module (TMM) electronic control unit.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the dispatch component is configured to: receiving a specified time from a user; and Conditioning of the battery is invoked at a time point prior to the specified time for the conditioning delay.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the scheduling component is configured to invoke conditioning of the battery while the vehicle is stationary without activating electronic components of the vehicle other than the first electronic component, the second electronic component, and the third electronic component.

9. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the regulation delay is a function of at least one of a temperature of the battery and an ambient temperature. 10 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first electronic component is configured to provide the current requirement based on a driving mode of the vehicle.

11. A method comprising: determining, by a scheduling component, that conditioning of a battery of the vehicle is scheduled; in response to determining that the conditioning of the battery is scheduled, invoking, by the scheduling component, conditioning of the battery by instructing a first electronic component mounted in the vehicle to output a current requirement for one or more motors of the vehicle, the first electronic component mounted to the vehicle and configured to control the supply of current to the one or more motors; as well as The current requirement is transmitted by the first electronic component to a second electronic component to invoke regulation of the battery, the second electronic component being mounted to the vehicle and configured to manage the flow of current into and out of the battery.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: transmitting, by the second electronic component to a third electronic component, a temperature requirement corresponding to a temperature of the battery required to achieve the current requirement; as well as The third electronic component causes a heater to heat the battery according to the temperature requirement.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first electronic component, the second electronic component, and the third electronic component are separate electronic control units (ECUs) of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first electronic component comprises a vehicle dynamics module (VDM) electronic control unit (ECU).

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the second electronic component comprises a battery management system (BMS) electronic control unit (ECU).

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the third electronic component comprises a thermal management module (TMM) electronic control unit.

17. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: The scheduling module receives a designated time from a user; as well as Conditioning of the battery is called by the scheduling component at a time point that is ahead of the designated time by a conditioning delay. The method of claim 17 , wherein the regulation delay is a function of a temperature of the battery.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the adjustment delay is a function of ambient temperature.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining, by the first electronic component, the current requirement based on a driving mode of the vehicle.

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