Vehicle battery charging system

Abstract

This invention provides a vehicle battery charging system that efficiently charges vehicle batteries before the predicted time of disaster occurrence. [Solution] A vehicle battery charging system 1 charges an on-board battery 2 mounted on a vehicle 3 via an EV charging outlet 11 using electricity supplied to a house 10, comprising: a disaster occurrence time acquisition means for acquiring a predicted time of disaster occurrence based on weather information; a control unit 30 for controlling the supply of power to the on-board battery and the electrical equipment 21 and energy storage device 22 of the house; and a charge rate acquisition means provided in the vehicle for acquiring the charge rate of the on-board battery, wherein when the on-board battery 2 is being charged via the EV charging outlet 11, the control unit 30 prioritizes charging the on-board battery 2 over the electrical equipment 21 and energy storage device 22 of the house if the charge rate of the on-board battery 2 is below a predetermined value and the time until the predicted time of disaster occurrence is greater than or equal to a predetermined time.

Description

Technical Field

[0005] , , , , ,

[0004]

[0001] The present invention relates to charging control of a vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, plug-in hybrid vehicles and EV vehicles are equipped with a large-capacity battery for driving and supplying power to the outside. These batteries are charged by supplying power from vehicle charging equipment. For example, a house is equipped with vehicle charging equipment, and the vehicle battery is charged by the vehicle charging equipment at night or the like. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle battery charging system that charges a vehicle battery from the outside. When the predicted disaster occurrence time is obtained, a system that controls charging and discharging so as to reach the target charge amount by the predicted time is disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, the power supplied to one house (distribution power) has an upper limit set by a breaker or the like. Therefore, when the house is equipped with vehicle charging equipment as described above, since it is necessary to supply power to other electrical equipment provided in the house, the distribution power is shared between the vehicle charging equipment and the electrical equipment in the house. Therefore, even if an attempt is made to fully charge the vehicle battery by the predicted disaster occurrence time, if the power supplied to other electrical equipment is large, sufficient charging may not be possible by the predicted disaster occurrence time.

[0005] Furthermore, if a disaster occurs earlier than the predicted time, it may become impossible to fully charge the vehicle's battery, which presents a problem. This invention has been made in view of these problems, and its objective is to provide a vehicle battery charging system that efficiently charges the vehicle's battery by the predicted time of disaster occurrence. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a vehicle battery charging system in which power supplied to a predetermined facility is supplied to electrical equipment and charging equipment installed in the facility, and a battery mounted on a vehicle is charged via the charging equipment, comprising: disaster occurrence time acquisition means for acquiring a predicted time of disaster occurrence based on weather information; control means for controlling the power supply to the battery and the electrical equipment; and charge rate acquisition means for acquiring the charge rate of the battery, wherein the control means prioritizes charging the battery over the electrical equipment when the charge rate is less than or equal to a predetermined value and the time until the predicted time of disaster occurrence is greater than or equal to a predetermined time. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the vehicle battery charging system of the present invention, when a disaster is predicted, charging of the battery is prioritized over charging of electrical equipment in the facility by the predicted time of the disaster, and the vehicle's battery can be sufficiently charged by the predicted time of the disaster. As a result, if the vehicle's battery is a battery that supplies power for driving, the vehicle's drivable range can be greatly increased at the predicted time of the disaster, and if the vehicle's battery can supply power to the outside, the capacity to supply power to the outside during a disaster can be greatly increased. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle battery charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2]This is a diagram showing the configuration of the control system in the vehicle battery charging system of this embodiment. [Figure 3] This table shows an example of charging control measures in response to various disasters. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle battery charging system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control system in the vehicle battery charging system 1 of this embodiment. The vehicle battery charging system 1 of this embodiment is applied to a vehicle 3 and its charging equipment that charges an on-board battery 2 by supplying power from an external source, such as a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) or electric vehicle that can be charged or powered externally.

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, the vehicle 3 in this embodiment is equipped with an electric motor 4 for driving and an on-board battery 2 that supplies power to the electric motor 4. Furthermore, the vehicle 3 is equipped with a charging port 6 to which one end of the charging cable 5 is connected, and a charging control unit 7 that controls the charging of the onboard battery 2 (rechargeable battery). The charging control unit 7 is, for example, provided in one of the various ECUs that control the operation of the vehicle's equipment.

[0011] The other end of the charging cable 5 is connected to an EV charging outlet 11 (charging equipment) provided in the house 10 (facility), and a portion of the power supplied to the house 10 is supplied to the vehicle 3 via the charging cable 5, and the onboard battery 2 is charged via the charging control unit 7. House 10 is supplied with electricity from power supply lines 14 such as utility poles 13, and distributed by a distribution board 20 to EV charging outlets 11 and residential electrical equipment (electrical equipment for facilities). Residential electrical equipment includes electrical appliances 21 (home appliances) such as lights and air conditioners installed in house 10, and energy storage devices 22 that store electricity. The energy storage device 22 stores electricity from nighttime electricity and solar panels 25 installed in house 10, and supplies it to the electrical equipment 21 in house 10 as needed.

[0012] Furthermore, the house 10 is equipped with a circuit breaker 23 that regulates the maximum instantaneous value of electricity used. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the vehicle battery charging system 1 of this embodiment includes a distribution board 20 installed in a house, a control unit 30 (control means) that controls the distribution board 20, and a means 31 for acquiring the time of disaster occurrence.

[0013] The control unit 30 controls the distribution of power by the power distribution panel 20. The control unit 30 may be installed in the house 10 as an integral part of or separately from the power distribution panel 20, or it may be installed in the vehicle 3. If the control unit 30 is installed in the vehicle 3, the power distribution panel 20 of the house can be controlled wirelessly or by other means from the control unit 30 installed in the vehicle 3. Furthermore, the control unit 30 has a function to control the operation of residential electrical appliances. These residential electrical appliances include the energy storage device 22, air conditioners, lights, and other electrical appliances 21, which have adjustable operating capacity and adjustable power consumption (usage) or its upper limit.

[0014] Furthermore, the control unit 30 can exchange various information with the charging control unit 7 installed in the vehicle 3 via the transceivers 35a and 35b. The transceivers 35a and 35b may also exchange information directly via the cloud, or through wired or wireless communication. Vehicle 3 is equipped with a weather acquisition means 41 for acquiring surrounding weather information and a charge rate acquisition means 42 for acquiring the state of charge (SOC) of the onboard battery 2.

[0015] The weather acquisition means 41 estimates the weather condition around the vehicle 3, such as the amount of rain or snow, from the surrounding image of the vehicle 3 taken by an in-vehicle camera or the like. The weather acquisition means 41 may be any means that acquires information related to the surrounding weather other than an in-vehicle camera. The charge rate acquisition means 42 is, for example, a battery monitoring unit provided in the in-vehicle battery 2 that monitors the input / output current and temperature of the in-vehicle battery 2.

[0016] The charging control unit 7 receives the weather information around the vehicle input from the weather acquisition means 41 and the charge rate of the in-vehicle battery 2 acquired by the charge rate acquisition means 42, and transmits them to the control unit 30 via the transceivers 35b and 35a. In addition, the house 10 is provided with notification means 45 for notifying the occurrence of a disaster. The notification means 45 is a means for notifying the residents of the house 10, such as sound, voice, image display, etc., and may be notified by a speaker or dedicated device provided in the house 10, or by interrupt display or sound on a TV or computer terminal. Also, the notification means 45 may not only be installed in the house 10, but may also notify the residents by a previously registered smartphone or the like.

[0017] The control unit 30 and the charging control unit 7 are configured to include an input / output device, a storage device (ROM, RAM, non-volatile RAM, etc.), a central processing unit (CPU), etc. When the control unit 30 has not acquired the predicted disaster occurrence time from the disaster occurrence time acquisition means 31 during normal times, for example, the power supply set in advance can be supplied to the EV charging outlet 11. During normal times, in a state where the charging cable 5 is connected to the EV charging outlet 11, the charging control unit 7 of the vehicle 3 performs charging control so that the in-vehicle battery 2 of the vehicle 3 is fully charged at a preset time.

[0018] The disaster occurrence time acquisition means 31 acquires the predicted disaster occurrence time caused by weather or the like. The disaster occurrence time acquisition means may be extracted or estimated from information such as weather acquired from the Internet, for example, or may acquire the estimated disaster occurrence time provided externally. Disasters here include heavy rain, typhoons (strong winds), thunder, heavy snow, blizzards, and guerrilla heavy rain (short-term heavy rain). If possible, the predicted earthquake time may also be included. These disasters occur when there is a possibility of evacuation from the house 10 or when there is a possibility of a power outage.

[0019] When the control unit 30 receives the estimated disaster occurrence times of various disasters from the disaster occurrence time acquisition means 31, it executes charging control during disasters. In charging control during disasters, when the charging rate of the in-vehicle battery 2 is below a predetermined value (for example, 80%) and the time until the estimated disaster occurrence time is longer than a predetermined time, the charging control unit 7 of the vehicle 3 controls the charging so that the in-vehicle battery 2 is fully charged at a time before the estimated disaster occurrence time by a predetermined time. At the same time, rapid charging is executed to control the distribution board 20 so that the required power is supplied preferentially to the EV charging outlet 11.

[0020] As a method of supplying power preferentially to the EV charging outlet 11, for example, the upper limit value of the supply power to household electrical appliances other than the EV charging outlet 11 may be restricted. Among household electrical appliances, power may be supplied to the minimum necessary electrical appliances 21 such as electric lights. Alternatively, the electrical appliances 21 such as the energy storage device 22 that can be stopped without problem may be stopped. Also, when the operation intensity can be controlled, such as in an air conditioner, the set temperature may be increased to reduce the power consumption.

[0021] The predetermined time may be, for example, one hour, and may be set to a time when the charging cable 5 can be put away and the vehicle 3 can be sufficiently prepared for departure. The control unit 30 may vary the implementation content of the charging control during disasters according to the type of disaster for which the estimated disaster occurrence time is input. Figure 3 is a table showing an example of charging control during disasters for various disasters. In Figure 3, 〇 indicates that the control described in the implemented control items is implemented, - indicates that it is not implemented. △ indicates that either implementation or non-implementation is acceptable, but when there is 〇 for the same disaster type, it is preferable to execute the control marked with 〇.

[0022] For example, as shown in Figure 3, when heavy rain is predicted, that is, when rainfall exceeding a certain amount is expected, but not to the extent of a sudden downpour (where a large amount of rainfall is expected in a short period of time), the normal charging schedule is implemented to complete the charging of the vehicle battery 2 at a predetermined time. When a typhoon (strong winds) is predicted, heavy snow is predicted, or hail is predicted, the normal charging schedule will be implemented, but rapid charging may be implemented using disaster-response charging control. During rapid charging, the power supply to the electrical equipment 21 in the house 10 will be stopped (or reduced).

[0023] When an earthquake is predicted, charging to the energy storage device 22 in the house 10 will be stopped. In addition, power supply to the EV charging outlet 11 will be stopped, and charging of the vehicle battery 2 will be stopped. When lightning strikes are predicted, rapid charging will be implemented using disaster-response charging control. Alternatively, the normal charging schedule may be followed. When sudden, heavy rainfall is predicted, the normal charging schedule will be suspended, and rapid charging will be implemented using disaster-specific charging control.

[0024] As described above, when the vehicle battery charging system 1 is charging the vehicle battery 2 from the EV charging outlet 11 by connecting the charging cable 5, if a disaster is predicted, the vehicle battery 2 is in a low charge state below a predetermined value, and the time until the predicted time of disaster is predetermined time (1 hour) or more, the system will perform rapid charging, prioritizing the charging of the vehicle battery 2 over residential electrical appliances by the predicted time of disaster. This makes it possible to bring the vehicle battery 2 close to full charge by the predicted time of disaster. Therefore, it is possible to significantly secure the driving range of the electric vehicle 3 before the predicted time of disaster, and to significantly secure the power supply capacity from the vehicle battery 2 to the outside, thereby increasing the usefulness of the vehicle 3 in the event of a disaster.

[0025] Furthermore, when the control unit 30 is performing rapid charging using disaster-response charging control and prioritizing the supply of power to the EV charging outlet 11, if the power supplied to the house 10 exceeds the allowable power of the circuit breaker 23, it is preferable that the control unit 30 switches to power-saving operation, stopping the operation of all electrical appliances (21, 22) except for the minimum necessary electrical appliances 21 etc., which are set in advance, or reducing their power consumption, before the circuit breaker 23 trips. This allows the onboard battery 2 to be charged as a priority even when the power distribution is limited during rapid charging.

[0026] When the control unit 30 obtains the predicted time of disaster occurrence from the disaster occurrence time acquisition means 31, it may correct the predicted time of disaster occurrence using weather information around the vehicle 3 obtained by the weather acquisition means 41 installed on the vehicle 3. For example, by comparing the current weather information obtained from the internet, etc., with the weather information around the vehicle 3 obtained by the weather acquisition means 41, if, for example, the amount of rainfall around the vehicle 3 is greater than the amount of rainfall near the location obtained from the internet, etc., the predicted time of disaster occurrence may be corrected to an earlier position.

[0027] Furthermore, when the control unit 30 obtains the predicted time of disaster occurrence and performs disaster-time charging control, if the time until the predicted time of disaster occurrence falls below a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour), it is preferable to stop charging the onboard battery 2 and notify the system of the disaster occurrence via the notification means 45. This allows for the tidying up of the charging cable 5 and preparation for starting the vehicle 3. The control unit 30 may change the charging power over time when performing rapid charging using disaster-response charging control. For example, the charging power may be set high at the start of rapid charging and then decreased over time. This allows for setting a high charging power at the start of rapid charging when the onboard battery 2 is in a low state of charge (SOC), thereby efficiently promoting an increase in the charge level of the onboard battery 2.

[0028] This concludes the description of the embodiments, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above. For example, the equipment equipped with charging devices such as an EV charging outlet 11 for charging the on-board battery 2 in the vehicle battery charging system 1 may be various facilities other than a house 10, such as a factory or a store. The present invention can be applied to equipment that distributes power to various electrical devices installed in such facilities and uses it for charging equipment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1. Vehicle battery charging system 2. Onboard battery (rechargeable battery) 3 vehicles 10. Housing (Equipment) 11. EV charging outlet (charging equipment) 21. Electrical equipment (electrical equipment for installation) 22. Energy storage devices (electrical equipment for commercial facilities) 23 Circuit breakers 30 Control Unit (Control Means) 31. Means for obtaining the time of disaster occurrence 41 Weather acquisition means 42 Charging rate acquisition means 45. Notification methods

Claims

1. A vehicle battery charging system in which power supplied to a predetermined facility is supplied to electrical equipment and charging equipment installed in said facility, and a rechargeable battery mounted on a vehicle is charged via the charging equipment, A means for obtaining the predicted time of disaster occurrence based on weather information, Control means for controlling the power supply to the rechargeable battery and the electrical equipment for the facility, The system includes a charge rate acquisition means for acquiring the charge rate of the rechargeable battery, The control means prioritizes charging the rechargeable battery over the electrical equipment for the facility when the charge level is below a predetermined value and the time until the predicted time of disaster occurrence is greater than or equal to a predetermined time. A vehicle battery charging system characterized by the following features.

2. The aforementioned vehicle is equipped with weather acquisition means for acquiring surrounding weather information. The control means corrects the predicted time of disaster occurrence based on weather information around the vehicle. The vehicle battery charging system according to feature 1.

3. The equipment includes a circuit breaker that regulates the maximum amount of power supplied to the aforementioned predetermined equipment, When the control means prioritizes charging the rechargeable battery over the electrical equipment for the facility, if the power supplied to the predetermined equipment exceeds the maximum value, it stops the operation of the electrical equipment for the facility or switches to power-saving operation. The vehicle battery charging system according to feature 1.

4. Equipped with a means of notifying the occurrence of a disaster, The control means obtains the predicted time of disaster occurrence, and if the time until the predicted time of disaster occurrence is less than the predetermined time, it stops charging the rechargeable battery and notifies the occurrence of the disaster via the notification means. The vehicle battery charging system according to feature 1.

5. The control means acquires the predicted time of disaster occurrence and, when prioritizing charging the rechargeable battery over the electrical equipment for the facility, changes the charging power to the rechargeable battery over time. The vehicle battery charging system according to feature 1.

6. The aforementioned specified facility is a house equipped with the aforementioned electrical equipment. A vehicle battery charging system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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