Method for transferring an amount of energy from a vehicle battery to an external device and control unit

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for transferring an amount of energy (110) from an electrical energy storage device (102) of a vehicle (100) to an external device (103), the method comprising the following steps: assigning a pollutant characteristic value (120) to the energy storage device (102), wherein the pollutant characteristic value (120) is based on a pollutant quantity that correlates with the generation, transfer, and / or storage of energy stored in the energy storage device (102); transferring the amount of energy (110) to the external device (103); and transmitting a value to the external device (103) that is based on the pollutant characteristic value (120). The invention further relates to a method for transferring an amount of energy (111) to an electrical energy storage device (102) of a vehicle (100) by means of a charging device (104), as well as corresponding control units (101) and computer programs.

Description

TECHNICAL AREA

[0001] The present disclosure relates to methods and control units for transferring an amount of energy from a vehicle battery to an external device, as well as methods and control units for transferring an amount of energy to a vehicle battery by means of a charging device. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Electric and hybrid vehicles contain drive batteries. The typical energy flow is that energy is charged into the battery from a charging station. This energy is then used to power the vehicle. Increasingly, bidirectional systems are being developed in which the energy charged in a vehicle is no longer solely intended for driving, but can, for example, be fed back into the grid. Typical examples include vehicle-to-home (V2H), vehicle-to-grid (V2G), vehicle-to-device (V2D), or more generally, V2X.

[0003] For environmental and climate protection reasons, it is necessary to monitor the emissions balance of various energy sources, for example, in relation to different types of energy generation, such as electricity from fossil fuels like coal or natural gas compared to renewable sources like wind or solar power. However, such monitoring of emissions balances is not yet implemented for the use case where vehicle batteries are used as an energy source. SUMMARY AND FORMS OF EXECUTION

[0004] It is therefore an objective of the present disclosure to provide methods and corresponding devices with which a pollutant balance of energy stored in vehicle batteries can be reliably tracked, especially when the vehicle batteries are used as an energy source for devices external to the vehicle.

[0005] This problem is solved by a method for transferring an amount of energy from an electrical energy storage device of a vehicle to an external device, by means of a corresponding control unit and a corresponding computer program, and by a method for transferring an amount of energy to an electrical energy storage device of a vehicle by means of a charging device, by means of a corresponding control unit of the charging device and a corresponding computer program, according to the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments are described in the respective dependent claims, the following description, and the drawing.

[0006] According to a first aspect, a method is provided for transferring a quantity of energy, in particular an electrical energy quantity, from an electrical energy storage device of a vehicle to a device external to the vehicle. The method comprises the following steps: (a) assigning a pollutant characteristic to the energy storage device, wherein the pollutant characteristic is based on a quantity of pollutants that correlates with the generation, transmission, and / or storage of energy stored in the energy storage device; (b) transferring the quantity of energy to the device external to the vehicle; and (c) transmitting a quantity to the device external to the vehicle that is based on the pollutant characteristic.

[0007] According to another aspect, a control unit is provided which is configured to carry out the previously described procedure. The control unit initiates the transfer of the energy quantity and the transmission of the value. The control unit can be a battery management system, or a battery management system can incorporate the control unit. Alternatively, the control unit can be, for example, a zone controller, which is configured to coordinate the control of a predefined area of ​​the vehicle.

[0008] According to a further aspect, a method is provided for transferring a quantity of energy, in particular an electrical energy quantity, to an electrical energy storage device of a vehicle by means of a charging device, in particular an external charging device. The method comprises the following steps: (a) assigning a further pollutant parameter to the charging device, wherein the further pollutant parameter is based on a quantity of pollutants that correlates with the generation, transmission, and / or storage of energy transferred by the charging device; (b) transferring the quantity of energy to the electrical energy storage device; and (c) transmitting a quantity to the vehicle that is based on the further pollutant parameter.

[0009] According to another aspect, a control unit is provided which is configured to carry out the previously described procedure. The control unit initiates the transfer of the energy quantity and the transmission of the magnitude. The control unit can be a control unit of the charging device and / or a control unit of the vehicle, in particular a battery management system. The charging device can be configured for charging the electrical energy storage device. The charging device can be, for example, a wired charging device, such as a wallbox or a charging station, or an inductive charging device.

[0010] According to another aspect, a computer program is provided that includes instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause it to perform at least one of the procedures described above. In the context of the present disclosure, a computer is defined, for example, as a device that processes data by means of programmable computational instructions. Computers can be embedded in everyday devices, for example, in the control units of motor vehicles.

[0011] According to another aspect, a storage medium is provided with a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions which, when the computer program is executed by a computer, cause it to perform at least one of the procedures described above.

[0012] In the context of this disclosure, a battery management system (BMS) is defined, for example, as a component connected to the electrical energy storage device, in particular a battery, which performs at least one of the following functions: monitoring, control, and protection of the electrical energy storage device and / or of components connected to the electrical energy storage device. The battery management system may include at least one of the control units described above.

[0013] The described methods, along with the corresponding control units and computer programs, can be advantageous for tracking the emissions balance of the electrical energy storage system and, ultimately, the vehicle itself. Such an emissions balance is particularly important if, in the future, electrical energy storage systems in vehicles are increasingly used as energy sources for external devices, such as a home network, a grid, or an external consumer. This can provide crucial information for an environmental impact assessment of the vehicle and / or energy networks that include the vehicle as an energy source. This information can then be used to implement measures that improve the environmental impact, such as prioritizing the use of energy sources with comparatively better emissions balances.

[0014] For example, CO2 emissions associated with electricity consumption can be monitored. Each unit of energy, such as each kWh, can be assigned a CO2 label as a pollutant value, depending particularly on the type of energy generation. If energy is transferred from the vehicle, for example, fed into the grid, the vehicle can report the CO2 label of the energy or energy form supplied.

[0015] In summary, the described methods and / or control units can be used to introduce a pollutant state, for example soCO2 (state of CO2), into the vehicle battery and store and process it in the vehicle, for example by a battery management system.

[0016] According to one embodiment, the electrical energy storage device is a battery. The battery can store electrical energy on an electrochemical basis. In one embodiment, the battery is an accumulator, i.e., a rechargeable battery. The battery can be a motor vehicle battery, in particular a high-voltage battery of a motor vehicle.

[0017] According to one embodiment, the pollutant quantity comprises or is a quantity of carbon dioxide. Such an embodiment can be advantageous because carbon dioxide plays a particularly prominent role in the climate balance.

[0018] However, with the methods described here, any pollutant can be taken into account by means of a corresponding pollutant characteristic value that correlates with the generation, transmission, and / or storage of energy stored in the energy storage system. Pollutants can arise, for example, during energy generation, subsequent energy transfer to or within the vehicle, and / or energy storage on the way to or within the vehicle.

[0019] When operating thermal power plants and other combustion plants that are powered by fossil fuels, such as hard coal, lignite or natural gas, or biogenic fuels, the amount of pollutants may include, for example, at least one of the following pollutants: carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, mercury.

[0020] As another example, the amount of pollutants in the case of nuclear power generation can relate to correlated radioactive waste products. Even in the case of wind or solar power generation, the amount of pollutants can be correlated with the production of the respective facilities.

[0021] According to one embodiment, the pollutant quantity comprises respective amounts of a plurality of different pollutants. These pollutants can be accounted for separately. This enables a detailed and comprehensive environmental assessment of the electrical storage device and also of the vehicle.

[0022] The amounts of different pollutants, e.g., methane, can be converted into CO2 equivalents. This allows the climate impact of the pollutants to be compared to that of carbon dioxide.

[0023] According to one embodiment, the pollutant indicator is related to a unit of stored and / or transferred energy. The pollutant indicator can, for example, denote the amount of pollutant correlated with this unit, i.e., a quantity of the pollutant per unit of energy. The quantity can be a quantity of substance, a mass, a weight, or a volume. The energy unit can be a kWh or a joule. As an example, the pollutant indicator can denote a mass of carbon dioxide per kWh. Unit-based indicators can be advantageous because they allow for efficient calculations and are easier to compare, especially when many different energy sources and / or storage devices are used.

[0024] According to one embodiment, the pollutant value is related to the amount of energy transferred. It can therefore denote a pollutant quantity that correlates with the total amount of energy transferred in a transfer process.

[0025] According to one embodiment, the method further comprises the following steps: feeding electrical energy into the energy storage device, wherein the fed-in electrical energy is assigned an additional pollutant characteristic value; and updating the pollutant characteristic value based on the additional pollutant characteristic value. The fed-in energy can originate from an external source or be generated internally within the vehicle. Updating the pollutant characteristic value can involve averaging the previous pollutant characteristic value before the energy input and the additional pollutant characteristic value. According to one embodiment, the additional pollutant characteristic value is transmitted, in particular to a control unit configured to update the pollutant characteristic value.

[0026] According to one embodiment, the updated pollutant indicator takes into account the ratio of the amount of energy fed into the system to the total amount of energy stored in the energy storage system before being fed in. For example, the updated pollutant indicator is calculated as a weighted average of the pollutant indicator and another pollutant indicator. The weighting can be determined by the ratio of the total amount of energy in the energy storage system before being fed in to the amount of energy fed in.

[0027] According to one embodiment, the energy fed into the system is recovered through recuperation, with the additional pollutant characteristic value of the energy recovered through recuperation corresponding to the pollutant characteristic value of the energy stored in the energy storage system before being fed into the system. If the pollutant characteristic value and the additional pollutant characteristic value are related to a single unit of energy, the values ​​can be the same. If the values ​​are related to a total energy input, the ratio of total energy fed into the system to total energy stored before being fed into the system may need to be considered. The point in time at which the recuperated energy was recovered from the energy storage system can be taken into account, in particular by using the pollutant characteristic value of the energy storage system at that point in time when determining the additional pollutant characteristic value.Such an embodiment can be advantageous in order to take account of the fact that the recuperated energy was originally stored in the energy storage device.

[0028] The further emissions value of the energy recovered through recuperation can be set to zero. For example, if the battery was charged at a charging station from 0 to 50 kWh with 200 g CO2eq / kWh, meaning the battery now has a total CO2eq of 10 kg. Now, recuperation, such as driving downhill, adds another 10 kWh, bringing the total energy in the battery to 60 kWh. The emissions value of the energy stored in the battery can then be calculated assuming that this 60 kWh of energy still has a CO2eq of 10 kg, or 166 g CO2eq / kWh.

[0029] Alternatively, the additional pollutant value can be set equal to the pollutant value of the energy stored in the battery, in the example above, 200g CO2eq / kWh. Then the 60kWh of energy would have a combined CO2eq of 12kg and still 200g CO2eq / kWh. This calculation can be performed under the assumption that the recuperated energy originates from the energy storage system during a corresponding uphill drive.

[0030] As a further alternative, the additional pollutant value can be set equal to the pollutant value of the energy stored in the battery at the time the recuperated energy was drawn from the energy storage system. In the example above, if the energy stored in the battery had a pollutant value of 100g CO2eq / kWh during the uphill section corresponding to the downhill section, then the 60kWh of energy would have a total of 11kg CO2eq.

[0031] According to one embodiment, when updating the emissions value after energy input, the vehicle's altitude is taken into account. Such an embodiment can be advantageous for considering the recuperation energy resulting from the vehicle's potential energy corresponding to its altitude.

[0032] According to one embodiment, the supplied energy is generated by the vehicle's internal combustion engine, and the further emissions characteristic of the electrical energy generated by the internal combustion engine takes into account at least one of the following aspects: the energy generation principle of the internal combustion engine; the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine can be a vehicle-integrated engine, for example, in a hybrid vehicle. The internal combustion engine can be configured to generate energy from at least one of the following fuels: gasoline, diesel, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or biofuel. The further emissions characteristic can take into account how much energy of the respective fuel is released during the combustion process.

[0033] According to one embodiment, the supplied energy originates from a further in-vehicle energy storage device, with the additional pollutant rating being assigned to this further energy storage device. The energy storage device and the further energy storage device can, for example, be different batteries or even sections, such as modules, of one and the same battery. Thus, different pollutant ratings can be assigned within a single battery.

[0034] According to one embodiment, the energy supplied originates from an external source, and the further pollutant characteristic of the supplied energy is not transmitted by the external source. The method further comprises the following steps: determining the further pollutant characteristic based on at least one of the following pieces of information: a current energy mix in a region associated with the external source; an energy mix averaged over a predetermined period in the region associated with the external source. The energy mix can be determined by how and in what proportion energy is generated in the associated geographical region, for example, by the proportions of coal-fired power, solar power, or nuclear power. The current orThe average energy mix and / or the corresponding emissions rating can be stored in a table or formula, particularly in a control unit configured to update the emissions rating. This information can be transmitted to the vehicle via a data transmission network. The internet can be the information source.

[0035] According to one embodiment, the method further comprises: determining the electrical energy required from the energy storage device for a given distance traveled by the vehicle; and displaying a distance-related quantity of pollutants based on the pollutant characteristic value. The distance traveled can be, for example: a distance traveled by the vehicle throughout its lifetime; a distance traveled by the vehicle in a current driving cycle; a distance traveled by the vehicle on the same day; or a unit of distance, such as a kilometer or a mile. Thus, a pollutant quantity related to a unit of distance can be displayed, such as a mass of associated carbon dioxide per unit of distance. This can be a current value or a value averaged over a period of time. According to one embodiment, a pollutant quantity associated with the vehicle's manufacture can also be taken into account for the display.

[0036] According to one embodiment, the vehicle-external device comprises at least one of the following devices or is one of the following: a power grid, in particular a home power grid, a local power grid or a network, one or more vehicle-external consumers.

[0037] According to one embodiment, the energy is transferred to the vehicle-external device via an electrical line, and the pollutant value is transmitted over the electrical line using powerline communication. In the context of this application, powerline communication can be defined as data transmission over one or more electrical lines. Such an embodiment can be advantageous because the electrical line is used not only for energy transmission but also for data transmission. This can be particularly efficient, for example, by eliminating the need for additional communication means, such as additional communication lines or transmitters and receivers for wireless transmission. Alternative communication means include, for example, WLAN or Bluetooth.

[0038] According to one embodiment, the quantity based on the pollutant characteristic value is one of the following: the pollutant characteristic value; a product of the pollutant characteristic value and the amount of energy transferred; a function that depends on the pollutant characteristic value, in particular on the pollutant characteristic value and the amount of energy transferred. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Further advantages and beneficial designs and further developments of the methods, control units and computer programs result from the following exemplary embodiments shown in connection with the drawing.

[0040] It shows: Fig. 1 a vehicle with a control unit which is configured to carry out a method for transferring an amount of energy from an electrical energy storage device of the vehicle to a device external to the vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] Identical, similar, or similarly effective elements are marked with the same reference symbols in the figures. In some figures, individual reference symbols have been omitted for clarity. The figures and the relative sizes of the elements depicted within them are not to be considered to scale. Rather, individual elements may be exaggerated for better representation and / or comprehensibility. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLES OF EXECUTION

[0042] Fig.Figure 1 shows a vehicle 100 with a battery 102 and a control unit, here a battery management system 101. The battery management system 101 is configured to perform a procedure for transferring an energy quantity 110 from the battery 102 to an external device 103. This procedure comprises the following steps: assigning a pollutant characteristic 120 to the battery 102, wherein the pollutant characteristic 120 is based on a pollutant quantity that correlates with the generation, transfer, and / or storage of energy stored in the battery 101; transferring the energy quantity 110 to the external device 103, or initiating the transfer; and transmitting the pollutant characteristic 120 to the external device 103, or initiating the transmission. The pollutant characteristic 120 specifies a mass of carbon dioxide per unit of energy, e.g., measured in kg CO2 per kWh.The vehicle-external device 103 can be a power grid, for example a home network or a network, or one or more vehicle-external consumers.

[0043] The battery management system 101 is also configured to carry out a procedure for transferring an energy quantity 111 to a vehicle battery 102 by means of a charging device 104. The procedure comprises the following steps: assigning a further pollutant characteristic value 121 to the charging device 104, wherein the further pollutant characteristic value 121 is based on a pollutant quantity that correlates with the generation, transmission, and / or storage of the energy transferred by the charging device 104; transferring the energy quantity 111 to the electrical energy storage device 102 or initiating the transfer; and transmitting the pollutant characteristic value 121 to the vehicle 100, in particular the battery management system 101, or initiating the transmission. The charging device 104 can be, for example, a wallbox or a charging station.

[0044] The charging device 104 is connected to a power grid into which energy 112, or electricity from various energy sources 105, is fed. A pollutant-related indicator 122 is transmitted, depending on the energy source. These can be, for example, renewable sources such as wind or solar power, for which an indicator 122 of 0 kg carbon dioxide per kWh is assumed. They can also be fossil energy sources such as coal or gas-fired power plants with a pollutant-related indicator 122 greater than 0 kg carbon dioxide per kWh. In the case of an energy mix from different sources, an average value is calculated.

[0045] When charging via charging device 104, the corresponding CO2 value is added up. For example, if 50 kWh of energy are charged with a pollutant rating 121 of 200g CO2 / kWh, the vehicle now has a soCO2 (state of CO2) of soCO2_0 + 10kg, where soCO2_0 is the existing (stored) value. The soCO2 can be displayed to the driver. While driving, energy is consumed, and the CO2 value can be displayed to the driver, for example, per kWh, per km, or per vehicle journey. Driving 106 and recuperation 107 are processed accordingly in an integrated manner. In the case where the vehicle 100 serves as an energy source, i.e., feeds energy into the grid, the CO2 stamp for the grid can now be provided, since an absolute CO2 value is stored in the battery or the battery management system (BMS).As an additional feature, the CO2 footprint, i.e., the CO2 equivalent value generated by production and manufacturing, can be tracked. This allows the environmental and climate impact of the vehicle to be assessed.

[0046] The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described therein. Rather, the invention encompasses every new feature as well as every combination of features, which in particular includes every combination of features in the exemplary embodiments, embodiments, and claims. REFERENCE MARK 100 vehicles 101 Battery Management System 102 Battery 103 vehicle-external device 104 Charging device 105 Energy source 106 Locomotion 107 Recuperation 110 Energy transferred from battery to vehicle-external device 111 Amount of energy transferred from charging device to battery 112 Amount of energy transferred from energy source to charging device 120 pollutant value transmitted to an external vehicle device 121 Additional pollutant value transmitted to vehicle 122 pollutant-related characteristic value of the energy source

Claims

Method for transferring an amount of energy (110) from an electrical energy storage device (102) of a vehicle (100) to a vehicle-external device (103), the method comprising the following steps: - Assigning a pollutant characteristic value (120) to the energy storage device (102), wherein the pollutant characteristic value (120) is based on a pollutant quantity that correlates with the generation, transfer and / or storage of energy stored in the energy storage device (102); - Transferring the amount of energy (110) to the vehicle-external device (103); and - Transmitting a quantity to the vehicle-external device (103) that is based on the pollutant characteristic value (120). The method according to the preceding claim, wherein the pollutant quantity comprises an amount of carbon dioxide. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the pollutant quantity comprises respective quantities of a plurality of different pollutants. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the pollutant characteristic value (120) is related to a unit of stored energy. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising: - feeding electrical energy (111) into the energy storage device (102), wherein the fed-in electrical energy (111) is assigned a further pollutant characteristic value (121); and - updating the pollutant characteristic value (120) based on the further pollutant characteristic value (121). Method according to the preceding claim, wherein the updated pollutant value (120) takes into account the ratio of the amount of energy fed in (111) to the total amount of energy stored in the energy storage device (102) before being fed in. Method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the energy fed in is obtained by recuperation (107), wherein the further pollutant characteristic of the energy obtained by recuperation corresponds to the pollutant characteristic (120) of the energy stored in the energy storage device (102) before being fed in. Method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the supplied energy is obtained by an internal combustion engine of the vehicle (100), wherein the further pollutant characteristic of the electrical energy obtained by the internal combustion engine takes into account at least one of the following aspects: an energy generation principle of the internal combustion engine; an efficiency of the internal combustion engine. Method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the supplied energy originates from a vehicle-external source (104) and the further pollutant characteristic value (121) of the supplied energy is not transmitted by the vehicle-external source (104), the method further comprising: - determining the further pollutant characteristic value (121) based on a current energy mix or an energy mix averaged over a predetermined period in a region assigned to the vehicle-external source (104). Method according to one of the preceding claims, the method further comprising: - determining an electrical energy required for a driving distance of the vehicle (100) from the energy storage device (102); and - displaying a pollutant quantity related to the driving distance, which is based on the pollutant characteristic value (110). Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle-external device (103) comprises at least one of the following devices: a power grid, in particular a home power grid, a local power grid or a network, a vehicle-external consumer. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the amount of energy (110) is transferred to the vehicle-external device (103) by means of an electrical line and the pollutant characteristic value (120) is transmitted via the electrical line using powerline communication. Method for transferring an energy quantity (111) to an electrical energy storage device (102) of a vehicle (100) by means of a charging device (104), the method comprising the following steps: - Assigning a further pollutant characteristic value (121) to the charging device (104), wherein the further pollutant characteristic value (121) is based on a pollutant quantity that correlates with a generation, a transmission and / or a storage of energy transferred by the charging device (104); - Transferring the energy quantity (121) to the electrical energy storage device (102); and - Transmitting a quantity to the vehicle (100) that is based on the further pollutant characteristic value (121). Control unit (101) which is configured to perform a method according to one of claims 1 to 12 and / or a method according to claim 13. Computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to one of claims 1 to 12 and / or a method according to claim 13.

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