Method and system for determining remaining battery charge time

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining the remaining charging time of a battery, including: obtaining a first charging current which is the current charging current of the battery; determining a second charging current which is the charging current when the battery is fully charged; determining an average charging current value according to the first charging current and the second charging current; and determining the remaining charging time according to the average charging current value, thereby reducing the error in the calculation process and accurately obtaining the remaining charging time of the battery in the early stage of charging.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202111631835.3, entitled "Method and system for determining remaining battery charging time," filed on December 29, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. [Technical field]

[0002] The present application relates to the field of battery technology, and in particular to a method and system for determining remaining charge time for a battery. [Background technology]

[0003] With the rapid development of the new energy industry, new energy vehicles have become increasingly popular. During the use of a vehicle, the charging speed and charging time length are the issues that the vehicle owner is most concerned about. In particular, the charging time length not only affects the vehicle owner's vehicle use time, but also affects the vehicle owner's vehicle use arrangement. The charging time length is generally calculated during charging and notified to the vehicle owner in advance, thereby providing a basis for the vehicle owner's subsequent vehicle use time and arrangement. However, the current calculation method for the battery charging time remaining has a relatively large error, which makes the vehicle owner's vehicle use inconvenient and the vehicle use experience relatively poor. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present application provides a method and system for determining remaining battery charge time, which can more accurately determine the current remaining battery charge time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] According to a first aspect, the present application provides a method for determining a remaining charging time of a battery, including obtaining a first charging current which is a current charging current of a battery, determining a second charging current which is a charging current when the battery is fully charged, determining an average charging current value based on the first charging current and the second charging current, and determining a remaining charging time based on the average charging current value.

[0006] According to the embodiment of the present application, a method for determining the remaining charging time of a battery can be realized. The average value of the charging current is determined based on the current charging current of the battery and the charging current when the battery is fully charged, and the remaining charging time is determined based on the average charging current. In this way, the error caused in the calculation process can be greatly reduced by using the current value output in real time, and the remaining charging time of the battery can be obtained relatively accurately at the early stage of charging, and the calculated remaining charging time of the battery can be closer to the actual charging time. The calculation result can be provided to the car owner, charging station, etc., to facilitate the car owner to rationally arrange the use of the car, and the charging plan by the charging station can be more scientifically and reliably planned.

[0007] In one possible embodiment, determining the second charging current includes determining the second charging current for the current charging based on the first full charge voltage, which is a calculated value of the battery charging cut-off voltage, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0008] In the above embodiment, the charging current at full charge of the current charging is obtained according to the calculated battery charging cut-off voltage and the constant charging power of the charging device. The use of this method to predict the charging current at full charge of the current charging has higher calculation accuracy, which makes it easier to determine the remaining battery charging time more accurately.

[0009] In one possible embodiment, determining the second charging current includes determining the second charging current for the current charging based on a second full charge voltage, which is the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0010] In the above embodiment, the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging is recorded, and during the current charging, the charging current at full charge for the current charging is obtained according to the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging according to the constant charging power of the charging device. Since the battery charging cut-off voltage is related to the battery's state of health (SOH) and changes with the number of charging times, the actual battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging can be used to more accurately calculate the charging current at full charge for the current charging, thereby making the calculation result of the remaining battery charging time more reliable.

[0011] According to a second aspect, the present application further provides a system for determining a remaining charging time of a battery, comprising: a processing module for obtaining a first charging current, the first charging current being a current charging current of the battery; determining a second charging current, the second charging current being a charging current when the battery is fully charged; determining an average charging current value based on the first charging current and the second charging current; and determining a remaining charging time based on the average charging current value.

[0012] In one possible embodiment, the processing module is further configured to determine a second charging current for the current charging based on the first full-charge voltage, which is a calculated value of the battery charging cut-off voltage, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0013] In one possible embodiment, the processing module is further for determining a second charging current of the current charging based on a second full-charge voltage, which is the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0014] In one possible embodiment, the system further includes a storage module for storing the second full-charge voltage.

[0015] According to a third aspect, the present application further provides a battery management system including a memory for storing a computer program and a processor for calling the computer program to perform the method of any possible embodiment in the first aspect above.

[0016] According to a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a readable storage medium for storing a computer program for performing the method of any possible embodiment in the first aspect above. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for the embodiments of the present application. It is obvious that the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can obtain other accompanying drawings based on the accompanying drawings without paying creative efforts.

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a charging system according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 2] 2 is a flowchart of a method for determining the remaining charging time of a battery according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart of a second charging current determining method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] 11 is a flowchart of another method for determining a second charging current according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart of another method for determining the remaining charging time of a battery according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a battery management system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] The following describes the embodiments of the present application in more detail with the aid of drawings and examples. The detailed description of the following examples and the accompanying drawings are intended to illustratively explain the principles of the present application, but do not limit the scope of the present application, i.e. the present application is not limited to the described examples.

[0020] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more. The orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", etc. are intended to facilitate and simplify the description of this application, and do not indicate or suggest that the indicated devices or elements have a particular orientation and must be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and should not be understood as limiting this application. The terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are merely for descriptive purposes and should not be understood as indicating or suggesting relative importance. "Perpendicular" is not strictly perpendicular, but is within a margin of error. "Parallel" is not strictly parallel, but is within a margin of error.

[0021] The directional terms in the following description are all directions shown in the drawings, and do not limit the specific structure of the present application. In the description of the present application, it should be further explained that unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "attached", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, they may be fixedly connected, detachably connected or integrally connected, directly connected, or indirectly connected via an intermediate medium. Those skilled in the art may understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application in light of the specific circumstances.

[0022] With the rapid development of the new energy industry, new energy vehicles have become increasingly popular. During the use of a vehicle, the charging speed and charging time length are the issues that the vehicle owner is most concerned about. The charging time length not only affects the vehicle owner's vehicle use time, but also affects the vehicle owner's vehicle use arrangement. The charging time length is generally calculated by a software algorithm during charging to notify the vehicle owner in advance, thereby providing a basis for the vehicle owner's subsequent vehicle use time and arrangement.

[0023] Currently, the calculation method of the remaining charge time for slow charging used in the market is mainly: remaining charge time = remaining capacity / charging current output by the charging station in real time. However, during slow charging of an electric vehicle, the output power of the charging station is a constant power output, and the voltage of the electric vehicle battery gradually increases during the charging process, so the charging current output by the charging station in real time changes accordingly as follows: In the section where the battery's state of charge (SOC) is low, the total battery voltage is relatively low and the current actually output by the charging station at this time is relatively large, but in the section where the battery's state of charge (SOC) is high, the total battery voltage is relatively high and the current actually output by the charging station is relatively small. Therefore, if the above method is adopted to calculate the remaining charge time using the charging current output by the charging station in real time during the charging process of an electric vehicle, especially in the initial stage of charging, the predicted calculated value of the remaining charge time will be smaller than the actual charging time, and therefore the remaining charge time may not change for a relatively long time or the remaining charge time may become increasingly large. If the error in the predicted remaining charging time is relatively large and the car owner's waiting time for charging becomes longer and longer, it will affect the car owner's car usage time and car usage arrangement, making it inconvenient for the car owner to use the car and worsening the car usage experience.

[0024] In order to solve the above problems and more accurately determine the current remaining battery charging time during the charging process, the present application provides a method and system for determining the remaining battery charging time.

[0025] FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a charging system that can be applied to an embodiment of the present application.

[0026] 1, the charging system 100 may include a charging device 110 and a battery system 120. Optionally, the battery system 120 may be a battery system in an electric vehicle (including a pure electric vehicle and a pluggable hybrid electric vehicle) or a battery system in other application scenarios.

[0027] Optionally, the battery system 120 may be provided with at least one battery pack, and the at least one battery pack may be collectively referred to as a battery 121. In terms of the type of battery, the battery 121 may be any type of battery, including but not limited to a lithium ion battery, a lithium metal battery, a lithium sulfur battery, etc. In terms of the size of the battery, the battery 121 in the embodiments of the present application may be a battery cell / single battery, a battery module, or a battery pack. The battery module or battery pack may be formed by connecting multiple batteries in series and parallel, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the specific type and size of the battery 121.

[0028] In order to perform intelligent management and maintenance on the battery 121, prevent overcharging and over-discharging of the battery, and extend the service life of the battery, the battery system 120 generally further includes a battery management system (BMS) 122 for monitoring the state of the battery 121. Optionally, the BMS 122 may be integrated with the battery 121 and provided in the same device / apparatus, or the BMS 122 may be provided separately from the battery 121 as an independent device / apparatus.

[0029] Specifically, the charging device 110 is a device for replenishing electric energy for the battery 121 in the battery system 120 and / or a device for controlling the discharge of the battery 121.

[0030] Optionally, the charging device 110 in the embodiment of the present application may be a normal charging station, a super charging station, a charging station capable of supporting a vehicle to grid (V2G) mode, or may be a charging device capable of charging a battery, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific type and specific application scenario of the charging device 110.

[0031] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 1 , the charging device 110 may be connected to the battery 121 via an electric wire 130 and to the BMS 122 via a communication cable 140, where the communication cable 140 is for realizing information exchange between the charging device 110 and the BMS.

[0032] By way of example, the communication cable 140 may include, but is not limited to, a control area network (CAN) communication bus or a daisy chain communication bus.

[0033] Optionally, the charging device 110 can not only communicate with the BMS 122 through the communication cable 140, but also communicate with the BMS 122 through a wireless network. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the wired communication type or wireless communication type between the charging device and the BMS 122.

[0034] 2, a method 200 for determining remaining battery charging time according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, which is for determining remaining charging time in a charging process of a battery 121. The method 200 may specifically include some or all of the following steps:

[0035] Step 210: Obtain a first charging current.

[0036] Here, the first charging current is the current charging current of the battery. To obtain the charging current of the battery at the current time, the current charging current of the battery may be obtained by obtaining the current output current of the charging station, or the current charging current of the battery may be obtained by sampling. In this application, the specific method of obtaining the charging current is not particularly limited.

[0037] Step 220: Determine a second charging current.

[0038] Here, the second charging current is the charging current when the battery is fully charged. Optionally, the second charging current of the current charging may be determined based on the first full charging voltage, i.e., the calculated value of the battery charging cut-off voltage, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging, or the second charging current may be determined based on the second full charging voltage, i.e., the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0039] Step 230: Determine a charging current average value based on the first charging current and the second charging current.

[0040] Specifically, the first charging current and the second charging current at this time are added together and averaged to obtain an average charging current value.

[0041] Step 240: Determine remaining charge time based on average charging current.

[0042] Specifically, the current remaining battery charging time can be obtained based on the formula for remaining battery charging time: "remaining battery charging time = remaining battery capacity / average charging current".

[0043] In the above embodiment, the average value of the charging current can be determined based on the current charging current of the battery and the charging current when the battery is fully charged, and the remaining charging time is determined based on this average charging current. In this way, the error caused in the calculation process can be greatly reduced by using the current value output in real time, and the remaining charging time of the battery can be accurately obtained at the early stage of charging, so that the calculated remaining charging time of the battery is closer to the actual charging time. By providing the calculation result to the vehicle owner, the charging station, etc., it is easy for the vehicle owner to rationally arrange the use of the vehicle, and the charging plan by the charging station can be more scientifically and reliably planned.

[0044] Optionally, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, determining the second charging current in step 220 may be realized by method 221 and method 222. Method 221 specifically includes:

[0045] Step 2211: Determine a first full-charge voltage.

[0046] Here, the first full charge voltage is a calculated value of the battery charging cut-off voltage. Specifically, the first full charge voltage may be determined based on the formula for the battery charging cut-off voltage: "battery charging cut-off voltage = battery cell full charge cut-off voltage x number of battery cells in series."

[0047] Step 2212: The charging power of the charging device during the current charging is acquired.

[0048] Step 2213: Determine a second charging current for the current charging based on the first full-charge voltage and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0049] Here, the second charging current is the charging current when the battery is fully charged. Specifically, the second charging current for this charging may be determined based on the formula "charging current when the battery is fully charged = charging power of the charging device / first full charging voltage".

[0050] Because the charging device performs constant power charging and the charging power output during the charging process is constant, the above method 221 can calculate the battery charging cut-off voltage, and determine the charging current when the battery is fully charged, i.e., the second charging current, based on this cut-off voltage and the charging power of the charging device during this charging, and further determine the remaining battery charging time by performing steps 230 and 240.

[0051] The method 222 specifically includes the following steps.

[0052] Step 2221: Obtain a second full-charge voltage.

[0053] Here, the second full charge voltage is the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging. Specifically, during the previous charging, the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging is recorded and stored in a memory module, and during the current charging, the second full charge voltage is obtained from the memory. Here, the memory module may be a nonvolatile memory (NVM), and the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging process may be stored as an NVM variable.

[0054] Step 2222: The charging power of the charging device during the current charging is acquired.

[0055] Step 2223: Determine a second charging current for the current charging based on the second full-charge voltage and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0056] Here, the second charging current is the charging current when the battery is fully charged. Specifically, the second charging current for this charging may be determined based on the formula "charging current when the battery is fully charged = charging power of the charging device / second full charging voltage."

[0057] Because the battery charging cut-off voltage is related to the state of health (SOH) of the battery and the voltage value of the single cell, as the number of charging increases, the SOH gradually decreases, the voltage value of the single cell changes, and the error between the actual value and the calculated value of the battery charging cut-off voltage becomes larger and larger. The above method 222 records and retrieves the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage in the previous charging, and determines the charging current when the battery is fully charged based on this cut-off voltage and the charging power of the charging device, and then performs steps 230 and 240 to determine the remaining battery charging time. By using the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage in the previous charging, the calculation error caused by the battery charging cut-off voltage can be reduced, and the charging current when the battery is fully charged in the current charging can be calculated more accurately, so that the calculation result of the remaining battery charging time is more reliable.

[0058] In addition, in the battery usage cycle, the execution of method 200 may involve executing either method 221 or method 222 alone, or the selection of method 221 or method 222 may be made based on changes in the battery state or the degree of battery deterioration.

[0059] 5 is a flow chart of one possible embodiment of the above method, in which the charging current average value is used to calculate the battery charging time remaining, thereby reducing the calculation error of the battery charging time remaining caused by the current change, and making the calculation accuracy of the battery charging time remaining higher.

[0060] Step 510: Charging begins.

[0061] Step 520: Select a calculation plan based on preset conditions.

[0062] Here, the judgment conditions may be preset based on the number of charging times or the degree of battery deterioration, and the calculation plan may be selected based on the preset conditions. By selecting an appropriate calculation method based on the specific conditions of the battery, the calculation result can be made more accurate.

[0063] For example, if the number of charges in the current charging is less than the set threshold or the deterioration degree of the rechargeable battery is relatively low, select method 221 and then proceed to step 531. If the number of charges in the current charging is equal to or greater than the set threshold or the deterioration degree of the rechargeable battery is relatively high, select method 222 and then proceed to step 532.

[0064] Step 531: Obtain a first charging current, where the first charging current is the current charging current of the battery.

[0065] Step 541: Determine a first full-charge voltage, where the first full-charge voltage is the calculated value of the battery charging cut-off voltage.

[0066] Step 551: The charging power of the charging device during the current charging is acquired.

[0067] Step 561: Determine a second charging current for the current charging. Here, the second charging current is the charging current when the battery is fully charged.

[0068] The specific execution methods of the above steps are the same as those in the previous embodiment, so the description is omitted here.

[0069] Step 532: Obtain a first charging current, where the first charging current is the current charging current of the battery.

[0070] Step 542: Obtain a second full-charge voltage, where the second full-charge voltage is the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging.

[0071] Step 552: The charging power of the charging device during the current charging is acquired.

[0072] Step 562: Determine a second charging current for the current charging, where the second charging current is the charging current when the battery is fully charged.

[0073] The specific execution methods of the above steps are the same as those in the previous embodiment, so the description is omitted here.

[0074] STEP 570: Determine the average charging current.

[0075] Specifically, the first charging current and the second charging current at this time are added and averaged to obtain an average charging current value.

[0076] STEP 580: Determine remaining charge time.

[0077] Specifically, the current remaining battery charging time can be obtained based on the formula for remaining battery charging time: "remaining battery charging time = remaining battery capacity / average charging current".

[0078] STEP 590: Determine whether charging is complete.

[0079] If the current charging is not completed, proceed to step 520 to determine the remaining charging time according to the selected method; if the charging is completed, end the calculation process.

[0080] As can be seen from the above feasible method, by calculating the remaining battery charging time using the average charging current value, the calculation error of the remaining battery charging time caused by the change in the current value output in real time can be reduced, the remaining battery charging time can be accurately obtained at the early stage of charging, and the calculated remaining battery charging time can be made closer to the actual charging time.

[0081] The storage module is for storing the second full-charge voltage.

[0082] The processing module is for obtaining a first charging current which is a current charging current of the battery, determining a second charging current which is a charging current when the battery is fully charged, determining an average charging current value based on the first charging current and the second charging current, and determining a remaining charging time based on the average charging current value.

[0083] The processing module is further for determining a second charging current of the current charging based on the first full-charge voltage, which is a calculated value of the battery charging cut-off voltage, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0084] The processing module is further for determining a second charging current of the current charging based on a second full charge voltage, which is the actual value of the battery charging cut-off voltage during the previous charging, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

[0085] In particular, the processing module may be used to perform method 200, method 221, method 222 and / or method 500 described above.

[0086] 6, the embodiment of the present application further provides a battery management system 122, including a processor 1221 and a memory 1222. The memory 1222 is for calling a computer program and executing the method for determining the remaining battery charging time in each embodiment of the present application described above.

[0087] The embodiments of the present application further provide a readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which is for performing the method for determining remaining battery charge time in each of the embodiments of the present application described above.

[0088] Although the present application has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, various modifications may be made thereto and parts therein may be replaced with equivalents without departing from the scope of the present application. In particular, the respective technical features mentioned in each embodiment may be combined in any manner, provided there is no structural contradiction. The present application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but includes all technical solutions within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method for determining remaining battery charging time in the case of constant power charging, comprising the steps of: Obtaining a first charging current, which is a current charging current of the battery for constant power charging; determining a second charging current which is a charging current when the battery voltage reaches a full charge voltage during constant power charging; determining a charging current average value based on the first charging current and the second charging current; determining the remaining charge time based on the average charging current; determining the second charging current A method for determining a remaining battery charging time, the method including determining the second charging current for the current charging based on a second full charge voltage, which is an actual value of the battery charging cutoff voltage during the previous charging, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

2. 1. A system for determining remaining battery charge time for constant power charging, comprising: Obtain a first charging current, which is the current charging current of the battery for constant power charging; determining a second charging current which is a charging current when the battery voltage reaches a full charge voltage during constant power charging; determining a charging current average value based on the first charging current and the second charging current; a processing module for determining the remaining charge time based on the average charging current; The processing module further comprises: The system is for determining the second charging current for the current charging based on a second full charge voltage, which is the actual value of the battery charging cutoff voltage during the previous charging, and the charging power of the charging device during the current charging.

3. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the system further comprises a storage module for storing a second full charge voltage, the second full charge voltage being an actual value of the battery charging cutoff voltage during a previous charge.

4. A battery management system comprising: a memory for storing a computer program; and a processor for calling the computer program to execute the method of claim 1.

5. A readable storage medium for storing a computer program for performing the method according to claim 1.

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