Vehicle control system

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control system capable of improving an electricity efficiency of a vehicle in accordance with a demand of a user.SOLUTION: There is provided a vehicle control system according to the present disclosure that controls a vehicle driven with electricity. The system includes: an analysis unit that analyzes a deterioration factor of an electricity efficiency of the vehicle; an output unit that outputs one or more electricity efficiency improvement plans for improvement targeting the deterioration factor of the electricity efficiency; an acquisition unit that acquires an electricity efficiency improvement plan that is selected at an operation terminal out of the one or more electricity efficiency improvement plans output from the output unit; and a control unit that controls the vehicle based on a control content according to the electricity efficiency improvement plan acquired by the acquisition unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control system.

Background Art

[0002] There is a demand for improving the electricity cost of electric vehicles. Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle that displays an appropriate usage method of a battery according to the usage status of the battery.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1 merely displays an appropriate usage method of the battery regardless of the user's desire, and there is a problem that it is impossible to improve the usage method of the battery according to the user's desire.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above background, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle control system capable of improving the electricity cost of a vehicle according to the user's desire.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The vehicle control system according to the present disclosure is a vehicle control system that controls an electrically driven vehicle, and includes an analysis unit that analyzes deterioration factors of the electricity cost of the vehicle, an output unit that outputs one or more electricity cost improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the electricity cost, an acquisition unit that acquires any one of the one or more electricity cost improvement plans selected on an operation terminal from among the one or more electricity cost improvement plans output from the output unit, and a control unit that controls the vehicle according to the control content according to the electricity cost improvement plan acquired by the acquisition unit. This vehicle control system controls the vehicle based on any one selected by the user from among the one or more electricity cost improvement plans output from the output unit to a monitor or the like. Thereby, this vehicle control system can improve the electricity cost of the vehicle according to the user's request.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a vehicle control system capable of improving the electricity cost of a vehicle according to the user's request.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the invention according to the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. Also, not all of the configurations described in the embodiments are essential as means for solving the problems. For the sake of clarity of explanation, the following description and drawings have been appropriately omitted and simplified. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and duplicate explanations are omitted as necessary.

[0010] <Embodiment 1> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle control system 1 provided with a vehicle control device according to Embodiment 1. The vehicle control system 1 according to the present embodiment can improve the electricity cost of the vehicle according to the user's request by controlling the vehicle based on any one of one or more electricity cost improvement plans for improving the factors deteriorating the electricity cost output to a monitor or the like. This will be specifically described below.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle control system 1 includes a vehicle control device 10, a vehicle 20, an operation terminal 30, and a network 50. The vehicle control device 10, the vehicle 20, and the operation terminal 30 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a wired or wireless network 50.

[0012] The vehicle 20 is a vehicle driven by electricity, such as an electric vehicle, owned by the user U1 of this system. In the present embodiment, the case where the vehicle 20 is an electric vehicle will be described as an example, but it is not limited thereto, and it may be a hybrid vehicle driven by electricity and gasoline. The vehicle 20 is equipped with a rechargeable secondary battery (battery) 21 such as a lithium-ion battery. The vehicle 20 is driven by the electricity supplied from the secondary battery 21.

[0013] The operation terminal 30 is a communicable terminal owned by the user U1 or temporarily assigned to the user U1, and is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer) terminal, a portable terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal, or a terminal of a car navigation system mounted on the vehicle 20.

[0014] The operation terminal 30 transmits information regarding the target electricity cost input by the user U1 to the vehicle control device 10 via the network 50. Also, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30, for example, the factors causing electricity cost deterioration and electricity cost improvement plans of the vehicle 20 output from the vehicle control device 10 described later are displayed. For example, the user U1 selects one of the electricity cost improvement plans displayed on the monitor of the operation terminal 30. The operation terminal 30 transmits the electricity cost improvement plan selected by the user U1 to the vehicle control device 10 via the network 50. Note that the operation terminal 30 and the monitor may be provided separately.

[0015] The vehicle control device 10 is a device that improves the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 according to the user U1's request by controlling the vehicle 20 according to the electricity cost improvement plan according to the user U1's request. Specifically, the vehicle control device 10 includes a data collection unit 11, an analysis unit 12, an output unit 13, an acquisition unit 14, and a control unit 15. Note that the data collection unit 11, the analysis unit 12, the acquisition unit 14, and the control unit 15 may be provided in different devices respectively. In that case, a vehicle control system that realizes the functions of the vehicle control device 10 is configured by these devices.

[0016] The data collection unit 11 collects information necessary to calculate the electricity cost of the vehicle 20. The electricity cost of the vehicle 20 is calculated from the information collected by the data collection unit 11. The electricity cost of the vehicle 20 is the driving distance (km) of the vehicle 20 per 1 kWh. In addition, the data collection unit 11 collects information on the deterioration factors of the electricity cost of the vehicle 20. Specifically, the data collection unit 11 collects the frequency of sudden acceleration, the frequency of sudden deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21, the load, and the air conditioner usage amount, etc., as information on the deterioration factors of the electricity cost. Furthermore, the data collection unit 11 collects information on the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20. Specifically, the data collection unit 11 collects the climate of the driving area of the vehicle 20 (information such as whether it is a cold region or a tropical region), the traffic conditions (information such as whether it is driving in an urban area with heavy traffic), the ratio of slopes, the ratio of curves, and the paving condition, etc., as information on the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20. The information on the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20 may be collected from an external device such as a GPS, or may be obtained from the operation terminal 30 based on the operation of the user U1. Note that the data collection unit 11 also collects the same information as in the case of the vehicle 20 from a plurality of vehicles (not shown) other than the vehicle 20. The plurality of vehicles other than the vehicle 20 are, for example, all vehicles of the same vehicle type as the vehicle 20, but are not limited thereto.

[0017] When the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 has not reached the target electricity cost, the analysis unit 12 analyzes the deterioration factors of the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 using the data collected by the data collection unit 11. For example, the analysis unit 12 calculates an index (deviation value) for each of the plurality of electricity cost deterioration factors of the vehicle 20 by comparing the vehicle 20 with a plurality of other vehicles. Specifically, the analysis unit 12 calculates an index (deviation value) for each of the frequency of sudden acceleration, the frequency of sudden deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21, the load, and the air conditioner usage amount, etc., of the vehicle 20. Then, the analysis unit 12 extracts, as the electricity cost deterioration factors to be improved, the electricity cost deterioration factors that show an index higher than a predetermined threshold among the plurality of electricity cost deterioration factors of the vehicle 20.

[0018] In addition, the analysis unit 12 may further calculate the contribution rate of the power loss amount of each electricity cost degradation factor. Here, the contribution rate of the power loss amount of each electricity cost degradation factor refers to the ratio of the power loss amount of each electricity cost degradation factor to the total of the power loss amounts of all electricity cost degradation factors. Also, the power loss amount of each electricity cost degradation factor is the difference between the power consumption of the vehicle 20 and the market average in each electricity cost degradation factor. By improving the electricity cost degradation factor with a high contribution rate of the power loss amount, the electricity cost can be effectively suppressed.

[0019] Furthermore, the analysis unit 12 may extract the electricity cost degradation factors to be improved in consideration of the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20. For example, when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is a cold region, since it is highly likely that it is difficult to refrain from using the air conditioner, even if the index of the air conditioner usage amount is higher than a predetermined threshold value, the air conditioner usage amount may be excluded from the electricity cost degradation factors to be improved. Alternatively, when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is a cold region, the analysis unit 12 may adjust the threshold value set for the air conditioner usage amount to a higher value. Also, for example, when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is an area with many slopes, since it is highly likely that it is difficult to suppress the frequency of sudden acceleration, even if the index of the frequency of sudden acceleration is higher than a predetermined threshold value, the frequency of sudden acceleration may be excluded from the electricity cost degradation factors to be improved. Alternatively, when the driving area of the vehicle 20 is an area with many slopes, the analysis unit 12 may adjust the threshold value set for the frequency of sudden acceleration to a higher value.

[0020] The output unit 13 outputs one or more electricity cost improvement plans for the electricity cost degradation factors to be improved extracted by the analysis unit 12. The electricity cost improvement plan may be derived by the analysis by the analysis unit 12, or may be extracted from a database in which combinations of electricity cost degradation factors and their improvement plans are stored.

[0021] For example, when the air conditioner usage is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power cost improvement plan (or a power cost improvement plan that issues a notice to prompt the restriction) to limit the air conditioner usage to a predetermined amount or less. Also, when the frequency of sudden deceleration is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power cost improvement plan (or a power cost improvement plan that issues a notice to prompt gentle deceleration) to gently decelerate the vehicle 20 according to the stop line and the distance to the vehicle ahead. Further, when the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power cost improvement plan (or a power cost improvement plan that issues a notice to prompt the restriction) to limit the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 to a predetermined frequency or less. Moreover, when the deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21 is excessive, the output unit 13 outputs a power cost improvement plan such as suppressing the deterioration of the secondary battery 21 by maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 at a predetermined temperature or less.

[0022] Note that the output unit 13 may output the power cost deterioration factors to be improved together with the power cost improvement plan. Also, the output unit 13 may further output the contribution rate of the power loss amount of each power cost deterioration factor. Additionally, the output unit 13 may output the target power cost of the vehicle 20 and the calculation result of the power cost of the vehicle 20. Furthermore, the output unit 13 may further output the recommended degree of each of the one or more power cost improvement plans according to the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20.

[0023] These pieces of information output from the output unit 13 are displayed, for example, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30. When the monitor is provided separately from the operation terminal 30, it is displayed on the monitor provided separately from the operation terminal 30. Alternatively, these pieces of information output from the output unit 13 may be output from other output devices other than the monitor, such as being output as sound from a speaker.

[0024] When the output unit 13 further outputs the recommended degree of each of the one or more power cost improvement plans according to the surrounding environment of the vehicle 20, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30, the power cost improvement plan and the recommended degree may be displayed in pairs, or the power cost improvement plan with a high recommended degree may be highlighted, or the power cost improvement plan with a low recommended degree may be displayed so that it cannot be selected.

[0025] User U1 selects one of the one or more electricity cost improvement plans displayed on a monitor or the like by operating the operation terminal 30. The operation terminal 30 transmits the electricity cost improvement plan selected by the user U1 to the vehicle control device 10 via the network 50. Here, the electricity cost improvement plan can be said to be the control content (control mode) of the vehicle 20 for improving the electricity cost.

[0026] In the vehicle control device 10, the acquisition unit 14 acquires the electricity cost improvement plan transmitted from the operation terminal 30. The control unit 15 controls the vehicle 20 with the control content according to the electricity cost improvement plan acquired by the acquisition unit 14.

[0027] As described above, the vehicle control system 1 according to the present embodiment controls the vehicle based on any one selected by the user from among the one or more electricity cost improvement plans output to a monitor or the like, thereby improving the electricity cost of the vehicle according to the user's request. As a result, the user can obtain a sense of satisfaction with respect to the improvement of the vehicle's electricity cost. In addition, since the user can grasp his / her own driving habits from the electricity cost improvement plan presented by the vehicle control device 10, the user can strive to improve driving.

[0028] Subsequently, the operation of the vehicle control device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicle control device 10.

[0029] First, when the vehicle control device 10 acquires information regarding the target electricity cost of the vehicle 20 input to the operation terminal 30 by the user U1 (YES in step S101), it calculates the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 (step S102). Then, the vehicle control device 10 outputs the calculation result of the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 and the target electricity cost of the vehicle 20 (step S103). The calculation result of the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 and the target electricity cost of the vehicle 20 output from the vehicle control device 10 are displayed on, for example, the monitor of the operation terminal 30.

[0030] Note that if the vehicle control device 10 does not acquire information regarding the target electricity cost of the vehicle 20 (NO in step S101), it does not perform control for improving the electricity cost of the vehicle 20.

[0031] After calculating the electricity cost of the vehicle 20, if the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 has reached the target electricity cost (YES in step S104), that is, if the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 is equal to or higher than the target electricity cost, the vehicle control device 10 does not perform control to improve the electricity cost of the vehicle 20. On the contrary, if the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 has not reached the target electricity cost (NO in step S104), that is, if the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 is less than the target electricity cost, the vehicle control device 10 performs control to improve the electricity cost of the vehicle 20.

[0032] Specifically, first, the vehicle control device 10 analyzes the factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 (step S105). For example, the vehicle control device 10 calculates the index (deviation value) of each of the multiple factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost of the vehicle 20 by comparing the vehicle 20 with a plurality of other vehicles. Specifically, the vehicle control device 10 calculates the index (deviation value) of each of the frequency of rapid acceleration, the frequency of rapid deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of deterioration of the capacity of the secondary battery 21, the load capacity, and the air conditioner usage amount of the vehicle 20. Then, the vehicle control device 10 extracts, as the factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost to be improved, the factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost that show an index higher than a predetermined threshold among the multiple factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost of the vehicle 20.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the analysis result of the factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost by the vehicle control device 10. In the example of FIG. 3, the relationship between the frequency of rapid acceleration and the electricity cost, the relationship between the frequency of rapid deceleration and the electricity cost, the relationship between the frequency of rapid charging and the electricity cost, and the relationship between the degree of deterioration of the battery capacity and the electricity cost are shown. In the example of FIG. 3, the index of the frequency of rapid acceleration of the vehicle 20 shows a value equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, while the index of the frequency of rapid deceleration of the vehicle 20, the index of the frequency of rapid charging, and the index of the degree of deterioration of the battery capacity show values higher than the predetermined threshold. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 3, among the four factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost, there are three factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost to be improved.

[0034] Thereafter, the vehicle control device 10 outputs one or more electricity cost improvement plans for the factors causing deterioration of the electricity cost to be improved (step S106).

[0035] For example, the vehicle control device 10 outputs electricity cost improvement plans that limit the frequency of rapid deceleration of the vehicle 20, an electricity cost improvement plan that limits the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 to a predetermined frequency or less, and an electricity cost improvement plan that suppresses deterioration of the secondary battery 21 by maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 at a predetermined temperature or less. These electricity cost improvement plans output from the vehicle control device 10 are displayed, for example, on the monitor of the operation terminal 30.

[0036] When any one of the one or more electricity cost improvement plans displayed on the monitor is selected by the user U1 (YES in step S107), the vehicle control device 10 acquires the selected electricity cost improvement plan (step S108) and controls the vehicle 20 with the control content according to the acquired electricity cost improvement plan (step S109). When none of the electricity cost improvement plans is selected by the user U1 (NO in step S107), the vehicle control device 10 does not perform control for improving the electricity cost of the vehicle 20.

[0037] FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are diagrams showing an example of the electricity cost improvement plans displayed on the monitor. First, in the example of FIG. 4, an electricity cost improvement plan that limits the frequency of rapid deceleration of the vehicle 20, an electricity cost improvement plan that limits the frequency of rapid charging of the secondary battery 21 to a predetermined frequency or less, and an electricity cost improvement plan that suppresses deterioration of the secondary battery 21 are shown. For example, the user U1 selects an electricity cost improvement plan that suppresses deterioration of the secondary battery 21. Note that the user U1 may select a plurality of electricity cost improvement plans.

[0038] And in the example of FIG. 5, multiple levels of electricity cost improvement plans for suppressing the deterioration of the secondary battery 21 are shown. User U1 can select an electricity cost improvement plan with a desired level from among the multiple levels of electricity cost improvement plans for suppressing the deterioration of the secondary battery 21. That is, in order to suppress the deterioration of the secondary battery 21, user U1 can adjust, for example, the ratio of maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature. For example, when a strong-intensity electricity cost improvement plan is selected, the vehicle control device 10 controls the vehicle 20 so as to always maintain the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature in order to suppress the deterioration of the secondary battery 21. On the other hand, when a weak-intensity electricity cost improvement plan is selected, the vehicle control device 10 controls the vehicle 20 by, for example, reducing the ratio of maintaining the temperature of the secondary battery 21 below a predetermined temperature.

[0039] In this way, the vehicle control device 10 according to the present embodiment controls the vehicle based on any one selected by the user from among one or more electricity cost improvement plans output to a monitor or the like, thereby improving the vehicle's electricity cost according to the user's request. As a result, the user can obtain a sense of satisfaction with the improvement of the vehicle's electricity cost. In addition, since the user can grasp their own driving habits from the electricity cost improvement plans presented by the vehicle control device 10, the user can strive to improve their driving.

[0040] Also, part or all of the processing of the vehicle control device 10 can be realized by causing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a computer program.

[0041] When the above program is loaded into a computer, it includes a set of instructions (or software code) for causing the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, the computer-readable medium or tangible storage medium includes RAM (Random-Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory), flash memory, SSD (Solid-State Drive) or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc or other optical disc storage, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disc storage or other magnetic storage devices. The program may be transmitted on a transient computer-readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, the transient computer-readable medium or communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

[0042] Some or all of the above embodiments may be described as follows, but are not limited thereto.

[0043] (Appendix 1) A vehicle control system A vehicle control method for controlling an electrically driven vehicle, analyzing the deterioration factors of the electricity cost of the vehicle, outputting one or more electricity cost improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the electricity cost, acquiring any one of the electricity cost improvement plans selected on an operation terminal among the output one or more electricity cost improvement plans, controlling the vehicle with control content according to the acquired electricity cost improvement plan. Vehicle control method.

[0044] (Appendix 2) A control program for causing a computer to execute a vehicle control process for controlling an electrically driven vehicle, a process of analyzing the deterioration factors of the electricity cost of the vehicle, A process of outputting one or more electricity cost improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the electricity cost; A process of obtaining any one of the output electricity cost improvement plans selected on the operation terminal; A process of controlling the vehicle with the control content according to the obtained electricity cost improvement plan; A control program for causing a computer to execute the above.

Explanation of Signs

[0045] 1 Vehicle control system 10 Vehicle control device 11 Data collection unit 12 Analysis unit 13 Output unit 14 Acquisition unit 15 Control unit 20 Vehicle 21 Secondary battery 30 Operation terminal 50 Network

Claims

1. A vehicle control system for controlling an electrically driven vehicle, comprising: an analysis unit that analyzes deterioration factors of the electricity cost of the vehicle; an output unit that outputs one or more electricity cost improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the electricity cost; an acquisition unit that acquires any one of the electricity cost improvement plans selected on an operation terminal from among the one or more electricity cost improvement plans output from the output unit; a control unit that controls the vehicle according to control content according to the electricity cost improvement plan acquired by the acquisition unit; A vehicle control system comprising the above.

2. The analysis unit analyzes the deterioration factors of the electricity cost based on at least any one of the frequency of rapid acceleration, the frequency of rapid deceleration, the frequency of rapid charging, the degree of battery capacity deterioration, the load, and the air conditioner usage amount. The vehicle control system according to Claim 1.

3. The output unit further outputs information regarding the deterioration factors of the electricity cost. The vehicle control system according to Claim 1.

4. The acquisition unit further acquires information regarding the target electricity cost of the vehicle via the operation terminal. The analysis unit analyzes the deterioration factors of the electricity cost of the vehicle when the electricity cost of the vehicle is deteriorated more than the target electricity cost. The vehicle control system according to Claim 1.

5. The acquisition unit further acquires information regarding the surrounding environment of the vehicle. The output unit further outputs the recommendation degree according to the surrounding environment of the vehicle for each of the one or more electricity cost improvement plans for improving the deterioration factors of the electricity cost. The vehicle control system according to Claim 1.

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