Electric vehicle

Abstract

To provide an electric vehicle capable of preventing inflow of a gas generated from a battery into a passenger compartment.SOLUTION: An electric vehicle 10 includes: a floor panel 16; a groove-like depressed portion 18 formed on the floor panel 16 and extending in a vehicle width direction; a battery case 42 disposed in the depressed portion 18; one or more replaceable batteries 44 which can be attached to and detached from the battery case 42; a smoke exhaust duct 52 that extends from the battery case 42, penetrates through a bottom surface of the depressed portion 18, and is opened to the outside of the vehicle; and a check valve 54 which is provided at the smoke exhaust duct 52 and prohibits inflow of a fluid from the outside of the vehicle into the battery case 42.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present specification discloses an electric vehicle equipped with a replaceable battery. [Background technology]

[0002] Electric vehicles equipped with a motor as a power source and a battery that supplies power to the motor have been widely known. The battery installed in an electric vehicle is a rechargeable secondary battery that is charged as needed by an external power source.

[0003] To effectively utilize an electric vehicle even while the battery is being charged, it has been proposed to use a replaceable battery that can be attached to or detached from the electric vehicle. When a replaceable battery is used, if the charge rate of a battery installed in the electric vehicle decreases, the battery is removed from the electric vehicle and replaced with another battery that has been pre-charged. The battery removed from the electric vehicle is then charged outside the electric vehicle. Since the electric vehicle can still be driven while the removed battery is being charged, the electric vehicle can be used more effectively. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-091824 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] It is known that such secondary batteries generate gas due to internal short circuits, external short circuits, etc. Patent Document 1 discloses a battery unit having an exhaust passage through which such gas flows. According to the technology of Patent Document 1, the gas generated from the battery is guided to the outside of the case without remaining inside the case of the battery unit.

[0006] However, if the battery is placed in a space that is not completely separated from the vehicle interior, a configuration is required that prevents gas from entering the vehicle interior. However, Patent Document 1 does not consider how to deal with gas that has been guided to the outside of the case.

[0007] Therefore, this specification discloses an electric vehicle that can prevent gas generated from the battery from entering the vehicle interior. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The electric vehicle disclosed in this specification is characterized by comprising a floor panel, a groove-shaped recess formed in the floor panel and extending in the vehicle width direction, a battery case arranged in the recess, one or more replaceable batteries that can be attached to and detached from the battery case, a smoke exhaust duct extending from the battery case, the smoke exhaust duct penetrating the bottom surface of the recess and opening to the outside of the vehicle, and a check valve provided in the smoke exhaust duct to prevent fluid from flowing into the battery case from outside the vehicle.

[0009] This configuration allows gas generated by the battery to be released to the outside of the vehicle through the smoke exhaust duct, thereby preventing gas generated by the battery from entering the vehicle interior.

[0010] In this case, the battery pack may further include a deck board that covers and conceals the recessed portion, and a heat insulating member that is disposed between the deck board and the battery case.

[0011] This configuration prevents heat generated by the battery from being transferred to the space above the deck board, reducing the risk of deterioration of luggage placed in the passenger compartment and discomfort to passengers inside the passenger compartment.

[0012] The battery case may have a loading opening for the battery formed at one end in the vehicle width direction, and the smoke exhaust duct may extend from an end face of the battery case opposite to the loading opening.

[0013] This configuration ensures that the end of the smoke exhaust duct is not hidden by the battery case, allowing workers to visually check the end position of the smoke exhaust duct while assembling the battery case, thereby simplifying the battery case assembly work.

[0014] The smoke exhaust duct may also pass through the bottom surface of the recessed portion at approximately the center in the vehicle width direction.

[0015] With this configuration, even if the battery case is placed in a reversed position, the position of the hole through which the smoke exhaust duct passes does not need to be changed.

[0016] The smoke exhaust duct may extend from the bottom surface of the battery case or from the rear end surface of the vehicle.

[0017] By providing the smoke exhaust duct on the bottom surface of the battery case, the vehicle width dimension of the battery case excluding the smoke exhaust duct can be increased. Also, by providing the smoke exhaust duct on the rear end surface of the battery case, the smoke exhaust duct can be separated from the front seats (and therefore the occupants). [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] The technology disclosed in this specification can prevent gas generated from the battery from entering the vehicle interior. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vicinity of a rear side door of the electric vehicle as viewed from outside the vehicle. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an electric vehicle. [Figure 3] 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along line B-B. [Figure 5] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other examples of arrangement of the smoke exhaust duct. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other examples of arrangement of the smoke exhaust duct. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] The configuration of the electric vehicle 10 will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the rear side door 12 of the electric vehicle 10 as seen from outside the vehicle. Fig. 2 is a schematic plan view of the electric vehicle 10. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in Fig. 2. In each drawing, "Fr", "Up", and "Rh" indicate the front, upper, and right side of the electric vehicle 10, respectively.

[0021] The electric vehicle 10 has a traction motor (not shown) and a battery 44 that supplies power to the traction motor. The electric vehicle 10 exemplified below is a commercial vehicle used to transport luggage. The rear seats of the electric vehicle 10 have been removed to improve luggage loading efficiency. Therefore, the entire area behind the front seats 29 (not visible in FIG. 1, see FIG. 3) can be used as a luggage compartment. A front side door 11 and a rear side door 12 are arranged side by side in the front and rear directions on the sides of the electric vehicle 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the front side door 11 is a hinged door that swings around an axis extending vertically. The rear side door 12 is a sliding door that slides in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle. The rear side door 12 opens and closes a rear side door opening 14.

[0022] The battery 44 is a replaceable battery that can be easily replaced from the electric vehicle 10. The battery 44 is configured by housing a battery body made up of a plurality of unit cells in a housing. The housing of the battery 44 is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped that is elongated in the vehicle width direction. A battery-side connector is provided at one end of the battery 44. By connecting this battery-side connector to a vehicle-side connector, the on-board power system and the battery 44 are electrically connected. The battery body is a chargeable and dischargeable secondary battery (for example, a lithium-ion battery). Therefore, the battery 44 removed from the electric vehicle 10 can be charged outside the vehicle.

[0023] In this way, by making the batteries 44 replaceable, the utilization efficiency of the electric vehicle 10 is improved and peak demand for commercial electricity can be moderated. That is, if the batteries 44 are replaceable, after removing a battery 44 from the electric vehicle 10, another charged battery 44 can be installed in the electric vehicle 10. This allows the electric vehicle 10 to run even while some of the batteries 44 are being charged, improving the utilization efficiency of the electric vehicle 10. Furthermore, if the batteries 44 are replaceable, the time to perform charging can be freely selected regardless of the usage status of the electric vehicle 10. Therefore, the batteries 44 can be charged during times when demand for commercial electricity is low (for example, late at night), thereby moderating peak demand for commercial electricity.

[0024] Such a battery 44 is mounted in a location that allows the user to easily replace it, but does not interfere with the loading of luggage. In the case of the electric vehicle 10 disclosed in this specification, a battery loading section 40 into which the battery 44 is loaded is located adjacent to the rear side door opening 14. This battery loading section 40 will be described in detail below.

[0025] First, before describing the battery loading section 40, the basic body structure of the electric vehicle 10 will be described. The electric vehicle 10 reuses the body structure of existing vehicles almost as is. By reusing the body structure of existing vehicles, it becomes possible to share parts and manufacturing processes with existing vehicles, thereby reducing the development and manufacturing costs of the electric vehicle 10. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the electric vehicle 10 has a pair of side members 24 arranged at a distance in the vehicle width direction, and a plurality of cross members 26 connecting the pair of side members 24. The side members 24 and the cross members 26 both form the frame of the electric vehicle 10.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 4, a floor panel 16 is provided above the side members 24. The floor panel 16 is a steel plate panel that forms the floor surface of the vehicle interior. The floor panel 16 is welded to the frame (side members 24, etc.) of the electric vehicle 10. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, a depression 18 exists immediately behind the front seat 29. The depression 18 extends in the vehicle width direction and is a groove-shaped depression. In the case of an existing vehicle, a rear seat is located immediately behind this depression 18. As mentioned above, in the case of the electric vehicle 10 of this example, the rear seat has been removed.

[0027] The rear side door opening 14 is located immediately beside the recess 18. As shown in FIG. 4, the lower end of the rear side door opening 14 is defined by a rocker 28. The rocker 28 is a type of frame that extends in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle. In this example, as shown in FIG. 4, a battery loading section 40 is provided in this recess 18. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the battery loading section 40 is completely contained within the fore-and-aft width of the rear side door opening 14. This arrangement allows the user to easily access the battery loading section 40 through the rear side door opening 14.

[0028] The battery loading section 40 is a section into which a battery 44 is loaded. The battery loading section 40 has a battery case 42. As shown in FIG. 4 , the battery case 42 is a container that houses one or more batteries 44 (three in the illustrated example), and is a substantially rectangular box that is open at one end in the vehicle width direction. The opening at one end in the vehicle width direction of the battery case 42 is a loading opening 48 through which the battery 44 is inserted or removed. When replacing the battery 44, the user accesses the battery case 42 from the side of the electric vehicle 10 (the left in the illustrated example) and inserts or removes the battery 44 through the loading opening 48. As described above, in this example, the rear side door 12 is a sliding door. By using a sliding door, interference between the inserted or removed battery 44 and the rear side door 12 can be effectively prevented, improving the workability when replacing the battery 44.

[0029] The loading opening 48 is opened and closed by a case lid 50. The case lid 50 covers the loading opening 48 airtightly. To maintain airtightness, for example, a seal member 51 that airtightly adheres to at least one of the case lid 50 and the loading opening 48 is attached to the other. By making the case lid 50 airtight in this way, it is possible to prevent gas, which will be described later, from leaking into the vehicle interior. How this gas is handled will be described later.

[0030] In this example, the case lid 50 swings around a position near the bottom of the loading opening 48. As shown in FIG. 4, the case lid 50 closes the loading opening 48 when in an upright position substantially parallel to a vertical plane. The upright case lid 50 swings downward to open the loading opening 48. By swinging the case lid 50 around the bottom of the loading opening 48, the case lid 50 is no longer positioned between the user's eyes (which are typically located above the loading opening 48) and the loading opening 48 when the case lid 50 is opened. This allows the user to easily see the area around the loading opening 48, improving the ease of replacing the battery 44. In the illustrated example, the vertical dimension of the case lid 50 is significantly smaller than the front-to-rear dimension of the case lid 50. Therefore, by making the case lid 50 open downward, the amount of protrusion when the case lid 50 is opened can be kept small compared to when the case lid 50 opens sideways. However, it goes without saying that the configuration of the case lid 50 is not limited to the illustrated example and can be changed as appropriate, and the case lid 50 may be changed to a side-opening type, a double-door type, a sliding type, or the like.

[0031] 2 and 4, the battery loading section 40 (i.e., the battery case 42) is contained within the width between the two side members 24 in a plan view. With this configuration, when the electric vehicle 10 is involved in a side collision, the side members 24 receive the impact before the battery loading section 40. Therefore, damage to the battery 44 housed in the battery loading section 40 is effectively prevented.

[0032] As shown in Figure 3, the height of battery case 42 is smaller than the depth of recessed portion 18. Electric vehicle 10 further includes deck board 30, which is disposed above floor panel 16 so as to cover recessed portion 18. In other words, battery loading section 40 is disposed within the space surrounded by deck board 30 and recessed portion 18. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, deck board 30 forms a flat floor surface that extends from the rear of front seats 29 to the rear end of the vehicle. By providing such deck board 30, the entire space behind front seats 29 can be used as a luggage compartment, thereby improving the efficiency of transporting luggage by electric vehicle 10.

[0033] Deck board 30 is not welded to any part of electric vehicle 10 and can be removed from electric vehicle 10 without damaging any parts of electric vehicle 10. Furthermore, by removing deck board 30 from electric vehicle 10 as needed, maintenance of battery loading section 40 can be easily performed.

[0034] As described above, luggage and the like are placed on the upper side of deck board 30. In this example, heat insulating member 60 is placed between deck board 30 and battery case 42. Heat insulating member 60 may be attached to deck board 30, or may be attached to the top surface of battery case 42. Heat insulating member 60 may also be a separate member that is separate from both deck board 30 and battery case 42.

[0035] In any case, providing such heat insulating member 60 can prevent heat from the battery 44 from being transferred to the upper side of the deck board 30 (and thus to the luggage), thereby suppressing deterioration of the luggage and discomfort to passengers due to temperature rise.

[0036] Incidentally, gas may be released from the battery 44 due to overcharging, over-discharging, short circuiting, etc. Replaceable batteries 44 are designed to release this gas to the outside of the battery 44. This gas is hot and, in some cases, may have an odor. If this gas flows into the space above the deck board 30, it can cause deterioration of luggage and discomfort to passengers.

[0037] Therefore, in this example, the battery case 42 is provided with a smoke exhaust duct 52 that guides the gas outside the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 4 , the smoke exhaust duct 52 is a duct that extends from the end face of the battery case 42 opposite the loading opening 48, penetrates the bottom face of the recessed portion 18, and opens to the outside of the vehicle. Gas generated from the battery 44 is released outside the vehicle through this smoke exhaust duct 52. By releasing the gas below the floor panel 16 in this way, the gas is effectively prevented from flowing into the space above the deck board 30.

[0038] In addition, a check valve 54 is attached to the smoke exhaust duct 52. The check valve 54 allows fluid to pass from the battery case 42 to the outside of the vehicle, while prohibiting fluid from passing from the outside of the vehicle to the battery case 42. Providing this check valve 54 prevents gas released to the outside of the vehicle from flowing back into the battery case 42.

[0039] Naturally, a through hole into which the smoke exhaust duct 52 is inserted is formed in the bottom surface of the recessed portion 18. In the example of FIG. 4, the smoke exhaust duct 52 extends from the end surface of the battery case 42 in the vehicle width direction, and the through hole of the recessed portion 18 is located outside the battery case 42. With this arrangement, when assembling the battery case 42, the worker can easily visually confirm the position of the through hole of the recessed portion 18. As a result, the assembling work of the battery case 42 can be simplified.

[0040] However, the arrangement of the smoke exhaust duct 52 is not limited to the example in Figure 4 and may be changed as appropriate. For example, the smoke exhaust duct 52 may extend from the bottom surface of the battery case 42, as shown in Figure 5. With this configuration, the vehicle width direction dimension of the battery case 42 can be made larger than in the example in Figure 4.

[0041] 5, the smoke exhaust duct 52 may penetrate the bottom surface of the recessed portion 18 at approximately the center in the vehicle width direction. This minimizes the structural changes to the electric vehicle 10 that are required when the battery loading unit 40 is reversed left and right. In FIG. 5, the battery 44 is configured to be replaced from the left side of the electric vehicle 10. However, some users prefer to replace the battery 44 from the right side of the electric vehicle 10. To accommodate such user preferences, the battery loading unit 40 may be reversed left and right before the user purchases the electric vehicle 10. In the case of FIG. 4, when the battery loading unit 40 is reversed left and right, the position of the through hole through which the smoke exhaust duct 52 is inserted changes significantly. On the other hand, if the smoke exhaust duct 52 is provided at approximately the center in the vehicle width direction as shown in FIG. 5, the position of the through hole does not change even when the battery loading unit 40 is reversed left and right. As a result, it is possible to minimize the structural changes to the electric vehicle 10 that are required when the battery loading unit 40 is reversed left and right.

[0042] 6, the smoke exhaust duct 52 may extend from the rear end surface of the battery case 42. This configuration allows the front seat 29 (and thus the occupant) to be spaced away from the gas flow path. As a result, gas can be more reliably prevented from flowing around the occupant. Note that even in this case, the smoke exhaust duct 52 may be disposed approximately in the center in the vehicle width direction.

[0043] Furthermore, the configurations described so far are merely examples, and other configurations may be modified as appropriate as long as the configuration of claim 1 is included. For example, in the above description, the rear side door 12 is a sliding door, but the rear side door 12 may be a hinged door like the front side door 11. The configuration of the battery loading section 40 may also be modified as appropriate. For example, the shape and size of the battery loading section 40 may be modified as appropriate. The number and arrangement of the smoke exhaust ducts 52 may also be modified as appropriate. For example, multiple smoke exhaust ducts 52 may be provided. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 10 Electric vehicle, 11 Front side door, 12 Rear side door, 14 Rear side door opening, 16 Floor panel, 18 Depression, 24 Side member, 26 Cross member, 28 Rocker, 29 Front seat, 30 Deck board, 40 Battery loading section, 42 Battery case, 44 Battery, 48 Loading port, 50 Case lid, 51 Sealing member, 52 Smoke exhaust duct, 54 Check valve, 60 Heat insulating member.

Claims

1. Floor panels and a groove-shaped recess formed in the floor panel and extending in the vehicle width direction; a battery case disposed in the recess; one or more replaceable batteries that are detachable from the battery case; a smoke exhaust duct extending from the battery case, the smoke exhaust duct penetrating a bottom surface of the recessed portion and opening to the outside of the vehicle; a check valve provided in the smoke exhaust duct to prevent fluid from flowing into the battery case from outside the vehicle; An electric vehicle comprising:

2. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: a deck board that covers and conceals the recessed portion; a heat insulating member disposed between the deck board and the battery case; An electric vehicle comprising:

3. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, A loading port for the battery is formed at one end of the battery case in the vehicle width direction, The smoke exhaust duct extends from the end face of the battery case opposite the loading opening. An electric vehicle characterized by:

4. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, The electric vehicle, wherein the smoke exhaust duct penetrates the bottom surface of the recessed portion at approximately the center in the vehicle width direction.

5. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, The electric vehicle, wherein the smoke exhaust duct extends from a bottom surface of the battery case or a rear end surface of the vehicle.

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