Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus, method and program for selecting a vehicle to be leased to a user more appropriately, based on CO2 emissions from the vehicle.SOLUTION: An information processing method includes: acquiring past fuel consumption of a first user (S101); extracting a plurality of vehicles to be available for reservation in a desired rental period of the first user (S102); determining whether a level of the past fuel consumption of the first user is lower than a predetermined level (S103); selecting, as a vehicle to be leased to the first user, a vehicle of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle (S104); calculating a ratio of the number of available vehicles 10 of the type other than the internal combustion engine vehicle for reservation in the desired rental period of the first user (S106); and selecting the internal combustion engine vehicle as a vehicle to be leased to the first user (S108) from among the vehicles available for reservation extracted in S102.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to techniques for managing the rental of vehicles to users. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an automobile rental system that provides a rental car company with service information based on rental cars that a user has used in the past. In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, a data management device acquires driving history information of a rental car currently being rented to a user via wireless communication with an access point. Furthermore, the data management device generates service information based on the driving history information of the rental car for each user identification information. Then, based on a request from a terminal of the rental car company, the data management device outputs the service information corresponding to the user identification information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-152955 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] This disclosure relates to CO 2 The objective is to provide a technology that enables more appropriate selection of vehicles to rent to users based on emissions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An information processing device according to a first aspect of the present disclosure includes: Acquiring information regarding past fuel efficiency, which is fuel efficiency when a user who wishes to rent a vehicle drives the vehicle in the past; When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a rental vehicle to the user; The control unit executes the above.

[0006] An information processing method according to a second aspect of the present disclosure includes: 1. A computer-implemented information processing method, comprising: Acquiring information regarding past fuel efficiency, which is fuel efficiency when a user who wishes to rent a vehicle drives the vehicle in the past; When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a rental vehicle to the user; Includes.

[0007] The program according to the third aspect of the present disclosure comprises: A program for causing a computer to execute an information processing method, The information processing method includes: Acquiring information regarding past fuel efficiency, which is fuel efficiency when a user who wishes to rent a vehicle drives the vehicle in the past; When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a rental vehicle to the user; Includes. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, CO from a vehicle 2 Taking the emissions into consideration, a vehicle to be rented to a user can be more appropriately selected. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle rental system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a management server according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of request information transmitted from a user terminal. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the history information stored in the history information database. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of vehicle information stored in the vehicle information database. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the selection process. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a modified example of the table configuration of the history information. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a part of the flow of the selection process according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The vehicles according to the present disclosure include various types of vehicles with different drive sources, such as internal combustion engine vehicles (vehicles that are driven only by an internal combustion engine), HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles), PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles), BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles), and FCEVs (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles). The information processing device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure is a device used in a business that rents out vehicles to users. The information processing device determines the type of rental vehicle to be rented out to the user.

[0011] The information processing device includes a control unit. The control unit acquires information regarding the past fuel efficiency of a user who wishes to rent a vehicle. Here, the past fuel efficiency refers to the fuel efficiency when the user drives the vehicle in the past. The information regarding the user's past fuel efficiency may be, for example, information indicating the fuel efficiency of a rented vehicle when an internal combustion engine vehicle was last rented to the user. In addition, a fuel efficiency ranking may be created for multiple users. The fuel efficiency ranking is a ranking indicating a relative evaluation of the fuel efficiency when each user drives a vehicle. The fuel efficiency ranking may be updated each time an internal combustion engine vehicle is rented to each of the multiple users. When such a fuel efficiency ranking is created, the information regarding the user's past fuel efficiency may be a fuel efficiency ranking for the target user.

[0012] If the user's past fuel efficiency level is lower than a predetermined level, the control unit selects a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle as a vehicle to be lent to the user. For example, the past fuel efficiency may be a value defined as the vehicle's travel distance per unit fuel consumption. In this case, the user's past fuel efficiency level being lower than a predetermined level means that the user's past fuel efficiency value is smaller than the fuel efficiency value of the predetermined level. The past fuel efficiency level may be a level expressed by an absolute evaluation or a level expressed by a relative evaluation.

[0013] Among the various types of vehicles with different drive sources as described above, internal combustion engine vehicles are 2 The lower the level of fuel efficiency of a certain user, the greater the amount of CO emissions when the user drives an internal combustion engine vehicle if the user is lent the vehicle. 2 It is assumed that the amount of emissions will be large. Therefore, in the information processing device according to the present disclosure, if the level of past fuel efficiency of a user is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a vehicle to be rented to the user. In other words, if the level of past fuel efficiency of a user who wishes to rent a vehicle is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a vehicle to be rented to the user. This allows internal combustion engine vehicles to be rented out to users who drive at a relatively low level in terms of fuel efficiency, reducing the amount of CO emitted from the rented vehicles. 2 It is possible to suppress an increase in the amount of emissions.

[0014] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative positions of the components described in the present embodiments are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise specified.

[0015] First Embodiment (System Overview) Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle rental system according to this embodiment. The vehicle rental system 1 is a system for renting out vehicles to users. In the vehicle rental system 1, a vehicle to be rented out to a user is selected from a plurality of rental vehicles 10. The plurality of rental vehicles 10 includes various types of vehicles with different drive sources, such as internal combustion engine vehicles, HEVs, PHEVs, BEVs, and FCEVs.

[0016] The vehicle rental system 1 includes a management server 100 and a user terminal 200. In the vehicle rental system 1, the management server 100 and the user terminal 200 are connected to each other via a network N1. As the network N1, for example, a WAN (Wide Area Network), which is a global public communication network such as the Internet, or a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone may be adopted.

[0017] The management server 100 is a server device that manages a plurality of rental vehicles 10. The management server 100 is used, for example, by a car rental agency or a car leasing agency. The management server 100 accepts vehicle rental requests from users. Furthermore, the management server 100 selects a rental vehicle to be rented to the user from the plurality of rental vehicles 10 under its management.

[0018] The management server 100 includes a computer having a processor 101, a main memory unit 102, an auxiliary memory unit 103, and a communication interface (communication I / F) 104. Here, the processor 101 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a DS. The main memory unit 102 is, for example, a random access memory (RAM). The auxiliary memory unit 103 is, for example, a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a flash memory. The auxiliary memory unit 103 is, for example, The communication I / F 104 may include a removable medium (portable recording medium). Here, the removable medium is, for example, a USB memory, an SD card, or a disk recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, or a Blu-ray disk. The communication I / F 104 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) interface board, or a wireless communication circuit for wireless communication.

[0019] The auxiliary storage unit 103 stores an operating system (OS), various programs, various information tables, and the like. The processor 101 loads the programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103 into the main storage unit 102 and executes them to realize processes required for lending a vehicle to a user, as described below. However, some or all of the functions of the management server 100 may be realized by hardware circuits such as ASIC and FPGA. The management server 100 does not necessarily have to be realized by a single physical configuration, and may be configured by multiple computers that cooperate with each other. In this embodiment, the management server 100 corresponds to the "information processing device" according to the present disclosure.

[0020] The user terminal 200 is a terminal used by a user who wishes to rent a vehicle. Examples of the user terminal 200 include a smartphone, a tablet computer, a mobile computer, a personal computer, and a wearable computer.

[0021] When a user wishes to rent a vehicle, the user inputs request information for requesting the rental of the vehicle to the user terminal 200. The request information is then transmitted from the user terminal 200 to the management server 100 via the network N1. Upon receiving the request information from the user terminal 200, the management server 100 selects a rental vehicle to be rented to the user from a plurality of rental vehicles 10.

[0022] (Functional configuration) Next, the functional configuration of the management server 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the management server 100 according to this embodiment. The management server 100 has a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a history information database (history information DB) 130, and a vehicle information database (vehicle information DB) 140 as functional units. The communication unit 110 has a function of connecting the management server 100 to the network N1. The communication unit 110 can be realized by the communication I / F 104.

[0023] The control unit 120 has a function of performing arithmetic processing for controlling the management server 100. The control unit 120 can be realized by the processor 101. The control unit 120 performs processing for receiving request information transmitted from the user terminal 200 using the communication unit 110. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the request information transmitted from the user terminal 200. As shown in FIG. 3, the request information has a user ID field and a desired time field. In the user ID field, a user ID that is identification information for identifying a user who wishes to rent a vehicle is input. In addition, in the desired time field, information indicating the time when the user wishes to rent a vehicle (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "desired rental time") is input.

[0024] The control unit 120 executes a selection process for selecting a rental vehicle to be rented to the user from a plurality of rental vehicles 10, based on the user information received from the user terminal 200. Details of the selection process executed by the control unit 120 will be described later.

[0025] The history information DB 130 and the vehicle information DB 140 are constructed in the auxiliary storage unit 103. The history information DB 130 is a database that stores information (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "history information") relating to the rental history of the vehicle 10 for each of a plurality of users. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the history information stored in the history information DB 130. As shown in FIG. 4, the history information has a user ID field, a rental time field, a vehicle ID field, a type field, and a fuel efficiency field.

[0026] In the user ID field, a user ID is input to identify each of a plurality of users who have rented out the vehicle 10 in the past. In the rental time field, information indicating the time when the rental vehicle was rented out to each user is input. In the vehicle ID field, a vehicle ID, which is identification information for identifying the rental vehicle rented out to each user, is input. In the type field, information indicating the type of each rental vehicle is input. The type of vehicle here is a type that is distinguished by the driving source of the vehicle as described above. Therefore, in the type field, information indicating the type of rental vehicle, such as an internal combustion engine vehicle, HEV, PHEV, BEV, or FCEV, is input.

[0027] In the fuel efficiency field, fuel efficiency data is entered if the type of rental vehicle is an internal combustion engine vehicle. The fuel efficiency data entered in the fuel efficiency field is information indicating the fuel efficiency of the rented vehicle when the user used the corresponding rented vehicle. In this case, the fuel efficiency data may be a value calculated as the average fuel efficiency of the rented vehicle during the period in which the user used the rented vehicle. The fuel efficiency data is indicated, for example, by the vehicle's travel distance per unit fuel consumption. In addition, the fuel efficiency data may be transmitted from the rented vehicle to the management server 100 when the user returns the rented vehicle, and may be stored in the history information DB 130. In this embodiment, the fuel efficiency data entered in the fuel efficiency field is treated as the past fuel efficiency of the user who rented the rented vehicle. Note that if the type of the rented vehicle is a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle, no data is entered in the fuel efficiency field.

[0028] The vehicle information DB 140 is a database that stores information about each of a plurality of rental vehicles 10 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "vehicle information"). Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the vehicle information stored in the vehicle information DB 140. As shown in Fig. 5, the vehicle information has a vehicle ID field, a type field, and a reservation status field.

[0029] In the vehicle ID field, a vehicle ID is input, which is identification information for identifying each vehicle 10 under the management of the management server 100. In the type field, information indicating the type of each vehicle 10 is input. In this type field, similar to the type field of the history information shown in Fig. 4, information indicating the type of vehicle 10, such as an internal combustion engine vehicle, HEV, PHEV, BEV, or FCEV, is input.

[0030] The reservation status field is entered with information indicating the rental reservation status of each vehicle 10. For example, the information "no reservation" is entered in the reservation status field of the vehicle information regarding a vehicle 10 that is not currently reserved. Also, the reservation status field of the vehicle information regarding a vehicle 10 that is currently reserved is entered with information indicating the reservation date and time.

[0031] Furthermore, the control unit 120 of the management server 100 includes an acquisition unit 121 and a selection unit 122. When the management server 100 receives request information transmitted from the user terminal 200, the acquisition unit 121 extracts, from the history information DB 130, history information related to a user corresponding to a user ID included in the request information. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 121 acquires the past fuel efficiency of the user from the extracted history information. Then, the selection unit 122 selects a rental vehicle to be rented to the user from among the multiple vehicles 10, based on the past fuel efficiency of the user acquired by the acquisition unit 121.

[0032] (Selection process) Next, the flow of the selection process executed in the management server 100 to select a rental vehicle to be rented out to a user according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the selection process. This flow is executed by the control unit 120 when request information is received from the user terminal 200. Note that, in the following, an example of the flow when request information is received from the user terminal 200 of the first user will be described. In this case, the user ID of the first user is entered in the user ID field of the request information received from the user terminal 200.

[0033] In this flow, first, in S101, the past fuel efficiency of the first user is acquired. More specifically, based on the user ID of the first user included in the request information, historical information from the previous time when an internal combustion engine vehicle was rented to the first user is extracted from the historical information DB 130. In other words, from among the historical information related to the first user, historical information in which the type of rented vehicle input in the type field is an internal combustion engine vehicle and the most recent rental time input in the rental time field is extracted from the historical information DB 130. Then, the fuel efficiency field of the extracted historical information is The fuel efficiency data input in the field is acquired as the first user's past fuel efficiency.

[0034] Next, in S102, a plurality of vehicles 10 that can be reserved at the first user's desired rental time are extracted from the plurality of vehicles 10. More specifically, the reservable vehicles 10 are extracted based on the first user's desired rental time included in the request information and the reservation status included in the vehicle information for each vehicle 10 in the vehicle information DB 140. In other words, vehicles 10 that have not been reserved at the first user's desired rental time are extracted as reservable vehicles 10.

[0035] Next, in S103, it is determined whether the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency acquired in S101 is lower than a predetermined level. Here, when the fuel efficiency data indicating the past fuel efficiency is shown as a vehicle travel distance per unit fuel consumption amount, if the value of the past fuel efficiency is smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined that the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency is lower than the predetermined level.

[0036] If the determination in S103 is affirmative, that is, if the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency is lower than a predetermined level, the process of S104 is then executed. In S104, a vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a vehicle to be lent to the first user from among the multiple reservable vehicles 10 extracted in S102. In other words, an HEV, a PHEV, a BEV, or an FCEV is selected as a vehicle to be lent to the first user from among the multiple reservable vehicles 10.

[0037] Next, in S105, information regarding the rental vehicle is transmitted to the user terminal 200 of the first user using the communication unit 110. At this time, the information regarding the rental vehicle transmitted to the user terminal 200 includes information indicating the type of the rental vehicle.

[0038] On the other hand, if the determination in S103 is negative, i.e., if the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency is equal to or higher than the predetermined level, the process of S106 is executed next. In S106, the ratio of the number of reservable vehicles 10 of types other than internal combustion engine vehicles at the first user's desired rental time is calculated. In other words, in S106, the ratio of the number of vehicles 10 of types other than internal combustion engine vehicles that have not been reserved at the first user's desired rental time to the total number of vehicles 10 of types other than internal combustion engine vehicles under the management of the management server 100 is calculated as the ratio of the number of reservable vehicles.

[0039] Next, in S107, it is determined whether the ratio of the number of vehicles that can be reserved calculated in S106 is lower than a predetermined ratio. If the determination in S106 is negative, that is, if the ratio of the number of vehicles that can be reserved is equal to or greater than the predetermined ratio, the process of S104 is then executed. In other words, in this case, as in the case where the determination in S103 is positive, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as the vehicle to be rented to the first user.

[0040] On the other hand, if the determination in S106 is affirmative, i.e., if the ratio of the number of reservable vehicles is lower than the predetermined ratio, the process of S108 is then executed. In S108, an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a vehicle to be rented to the first user from among the multiple reservable vehicles 10 extracted in S102. Next, the process of S105 is executed.

[0041] (Action and effect) Among various types of vehicles with different drive sources, internal combustion engine vehicles emit CO under the same conditions. 2 The lower the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency, the greater the amount of CO2 emissions when the first user drives the internal combustion engine vehicle if the first user rents the internal combustion engine vehicle. 2 Therefore, in the selection process according to the present embodiment, if the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a vehicle to be rented to the first user. If the fuel consumption is lower than the threshold, a vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is rented to the first user. In this way, the internal combustion engine vehicle is rented to a user who drives at a relatively low level in terms of fuel efficiency, thereby reducing the CO2 emission from the rented vehicle. 2 It is possible to suppress an increase in the amount of emissions.

[0042] In addition, even if the first user's past fuel efficiency level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, by preferentially lending a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to the first user, the CO2 emission from the rented vehicle can be reduced compared to the case where an internal combustion engine vehicle is rented. 2 The total amount of emissions can be suppressed. Therefore, in the selection process according to this embodiment, if the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, a vehicle to be lent to the first user is selected based on the proportion of the number of reservable vehicles 10 of types other than internal combustion engine vehicles at the first user's desired rental time. In other words, if the proportion of the number of reservable vehicles 10 of types other than internal combustion engine vehicles at the first user's desired rental time is equal to or higher than a predetermined proportion, a vehicle of a type other than internal combustion engine vehicles is selected as a vehicle to be lent to the first user.

[0043] However, there may be cases where another user wishes to rent the vehicle 10 at the same time as the first user wishes to rent the vehicle. In addition, there may be cases where the first user's past fuel efficiency level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, while the other user's past fuel efficiency level is lower than the predetermined level. In such cases, it may be more efficient to rent a vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to the other user than to rent a vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to the first user, as this may result in a reduction in CO2 emissions from the rented vehicle. 2 The total amount of emissions can be reduced.

[0044] However, in order to lend a vehicle 10 of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to another user, it is necessary to reserve a vehicle 10 of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle. Therefore, in the selection process according to the present embodiment, if the level of past fuel efficiency of the first user is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, and if the ratio of the number of reservable vehicles 10 of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is lower than a predetermined ratio, an internal combustion engine vehicle is selected as a vehicle to be lent to the first user. In other words, if the number of reservable vehicles 10 of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is small, an internal combustion engine vehicle is lent to the first user. This makes it possible to reserve a vehicle 10 of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle at the first user's desired lending time. Therefore, when a request to lend a vehicle 10 is made from another user whose level of past fuel efficiency is lower than a predetermined level at the same time as the first user's desired lending time, it becomes possible to lend a vehicle 10 of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to the other user.

[0045] (Variation 1) In the above embodiment, the fuel efficiency of the rented vehicle when the internal combustion engine vehicle was last rented to the first user is treated as the past fuel efficiency of the first user. However, the information treated as the past fuel efficiency of the user is not limited to the fuel efficiency of the rented vehicle when the internal combustion engine vehicle was last rented to the user.

[0046] For example, the management server 100 may store fuel efficiency rankings for multiple users who have a history of renting out internal combustion engine vehicles. The fuel efficiency rankings are rankings that indicate a relative evaluation of the fuel efficiency of each user when driving the vehicle. In this case, the control unit 120 may update the fuel efficiency rankings based on the fuel efficiency of the rented vehicle every time an internal combustion engine vehicle is rented out to each of the multiple users. Then, when such fuel efficiency rankings are stored in the management server 100, the fuel efficiency ranking for the first user may be treated as the first user's past fuel efficiency. In other words, in the selection process, it may be determined whether the level of the first user's past fuel efficiency is lower than a predetermined level based on the fuel efficiency ranking for the first user.

[0047] (Variation 2) Furthermore, the history information stored in the history information DB 130 may have a virtual fuel efficiency field in addition to the fuel efficiency field. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a modified example of the table configuration of the history information.

[0048] In the virtual fuel consumption field, data indicating the virtual fuel consumption is input when the type of the rented vehicle is a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle. Here, the virtual fuel consumption is the fuel consumption when the rented vehicle is used by the user, assuming that the rented vehicle is an internal combustion engine vehicle. The virtual fuel consumption can be calculated based on the change in acceleration during driving of the rented vehicle or the change in the remaining battery charge. In addition, when the user returns the rented vehicle, the data indicating the virtual fuel consumption may be transmitted from the rented vehicle to the management server 100 and stored in the history information DB 130.

[0049] Then, when data indicating the hypothetical fuel efficiency is stored in the history information DB 130, the hypothetical fuel efficiency of the rented vehicle when a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle was rented to the first user last time may be treated as the past fuel efficiency of the first user. In this case, in the selection process, based on the user ID of the first user included in the request information, history information when a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle was rented to the first user last time is extracted from the history information DB 130. Then, data indicating the hypothetical fuel efficiency entered in the hypothetical fuel efficiency field in the extracted history information is acquired as the past fuel efficiency of the first user. According to this, even if the vehicle 10 most recently rented to the first user is a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle, the most recent data related to the first user can be treated as the past fuel efficiency of the first user.

[0050] <Second embodiment> In this embodiment, the management server 100 of the vehicle rental system 1 executes a selection process similar to that of the first embodiment. Here, it is assumed that when a vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle should be selected as a rental vehicle for the user because the past fuel efficiency level of the user who wishes to rent the vehicle 10 is lower than a predetermined level, there is no vacancy for reservations of vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles. In this case, in this embodiment, a request is made to other users who have reserved vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles to change the reserved vehicle.

[0051] Hereinafter, a selection process flow executed in the management server 100 to select a rental vehicle to be rented to a user according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a part of the selection process flow. This flow is executed by the control unit 120 when a positive determination is made in S103 of the flow shown in Fig. 6.

[0052] In this flow, if a positive determination is made in S103 of the flow shown in FIG. 6, the process of S204 is then executed. In S204, it is determined whether or not there are any vacancies for reservations of vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles at the first user's desired rental time. That is, it is determined whether or not the reservable vehicles 10 extracted in S102 of the flow shown in FIG. 6 include vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles. Here, if the reservable vehicles 10 include vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles, a negative determination is made in S204. In this case, the process of S104 of the flow shown in FIG. 6 is then executed. On the other hand, if the reservable vehicles 10 do not include vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles, a positive determination is made in S204. In this case, the process of S205 is then executed.

[0053] In S205, a second user is extracted from other users who have reserved a vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle at the same time as the first user's desired rental period. The second users extracted here are users whose past fuel efficiency level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. The past fuel efficiency of other users can be ascertained by extracting history information about the other users from the history information DB 130.

[0054] Next, in S206, permission request information is transmitted to the user terminal of the second user extracted in S205 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "second user terminal"). Here, the permission request information is information for requesting permission from the second user to change the vehicle (a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle) that the second user has reserved to an internal combustion engine vehicle. After the permission request information is transmitted to the second user terminal, if the second user consents to changing the type of the reserved vehicle, permission information is transmitted from the second user terminal to the management server 100. Then, when the permission information is received by the management server 100, the process of S207 is executed next. In S207, the vehicle to be allocated to the second user is changed from a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to an internal combustion engine vehicle. As a result, a vacancy occurs in the reservation of a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle at the first user's desired rental time.

[0055] Next, the process of S104 in the flow shown in Fig. 6 is executed. As a result, a type of vehicle other than the internal combustion engine vehicle assigned to the second user is assigned to the first user.

[0056] According to this embodiment, an internal combustion engine vehicle is assigned as a rental vehicle to a second user whose past fuel efficiency level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, and a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle is assigned as a rental vehicle to a first user whose past fuel efficiency level is lower than the predetermined level. 2 The total amount of emissions can be further reduced.

[0057] <Other embodiments> The above embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure may be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the processes and means described in the present disclosure may be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0058] Furthermore, a process described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, a process described as being performed by different devices may be executed by one device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration (server configuration) by which each function is realized can be flexibly changed.

[0059] The present disclosure can also be realized by supplying a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors of the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer by a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the system bus of the computer, or may be provided to the computer via a network. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includes any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, such as, for example, a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a Blu-ray disk, etc.), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, or an optical card. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 1. Vehicle rental system 100 Management Server 110. Communications Department 120 Control section 130··Historical Information Database 140 Vehicle Information Database 200 User terminal

Claims

1. Acquiring information regarding past fuel efficiency of a user who wishes to rent a vehicle, the past fuel efficiency being defined as a vehicle travel distance per unit fuel consumption; When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle, which includes at least one of a HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), and a FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), is selected as a vehicle to be rented to the user; An information processing device comprising a control unit that executes the above.

2. The control unit is When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is equal to or higher than the predetermined level and the ratio of the number of reservable vehicles of types other than internal combustion engine vehicles at the time when the user wishes to rent the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined ratio, the method further executes selecting a type of vehicle other than internal combustion engine vehicles as a rental vehicle to the user. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The control unit is When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is equal to or higher than the predetermined level and the number of vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles that can be reserved at the time when the user wishes to rent the vehicle is less than the predetermined ratio, the method further executes selecting an internal combustion engine vehicle as a vehicle to be rented to the user. The information processing device according to claim 2 .

4. The control unit is When the first user's past fuel efficiency level is lower than the predetermined level and there are no vacancies for reservations of vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles during the first user's desired rental period, extracting a second user whose past fuel efficiency level is equal to or higher than the predetermined level from among other users who have reserved vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles during the same period as the first user's desired rental period; The second user is permitted to change the reserved vehicle to an internal combustion engine vehicle. To request the following: The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

5. The control unit is When the second user permits changing the reserved vehicle to an internal combustion engine vehicle, changing the vehicle allocated to the second user to an internal combustion engine vehicle, and allocating a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to the first user. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising:

6. The information regarding the user's past fuel efficiency is information indicating the fuel efficiency of a rented vehicle when an internal combustion engine vehicle was last rented to the user. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

7. The information regarding the user's past fuel efficiency is information indicating a hypothetical fuel efficiency, which is a fuel efficiency when a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle was previously rented to the user, assuming that the rented vehicle was an internal combustion engine vehicle. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

8. The control unit is and transmitting information indicating the type of vehicle selected for rental to the user to a user terminal associated with the user. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

9. 1. A computer-implemented information processing method, comprising: Acquiring information regarding past fuel efficiency of a user who wishes to rent a vehicle, the past fuel efficiency being defined as a vehicle travel distance per unit fuel consumption; When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle, which includes at least one of a HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), and a FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), is selected as a vehicle to be rented to the user; An information processing method comprising:

10. Further comprising: selecting a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle as a rental vehicle to the user when the level of the user's past fuel efficiency is equal to or higher than the predetermined level and the ratio of the number of reservable vehicles of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle at the time when the user wishes to rent the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined ratio. The information processing method according to claim 9.

11. The method further includes selecting an internal combustion engine vehicle as a vehicle to be rented to the user when the user's past fuel efficiency level is equal to or higher than the predetermined level and the number of vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles that can be reserved at the user's desired rental time is less than the predetermined ratio. The information processing method according to claim 10.

12. When the first user's past fuel efficiency level is lower than the predetermined level and there are no vacancies for reservations of vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles during the first user's desired rental period, extracting a second user whose past fuel efficiency level is equal to or higher than the predetermined level from among other users who have reserved vehicles other than internal combustion engine vehicles during the same period as the first user's desired rental period; requesting permission from the second user to change the reserved vehicle to an internal combustion engine vehicle; The information processing method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

13. When the second user permits changing the reserved vehicle to an internal combustion engine vehicle, changing the vehicle allocated to the second user to an internal combustion engine vehicle, and allocating a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle to the first user. The information processing method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

14. The information regarding the user's past fuel efficiency is information indicating the fuel efficiency of a rented vehicle when an internal combustion engine vehicle was last rented to the user. The information processing method according to any one of claims 9 to 13.

15. The information regarding the user's past fuel efficiency is information indicating a hypothetical fuel efficiency, which is a fuel efficiency when a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle was previously rented to the user, assuming that the rented vehicle was an internal combustion engine vehicle. The information processing method according to any one of claims 9 to 13.

16. and transmitting information indicating a type of vehicle selected as a vehicle for loan to the user to a user terminal associated with the user. The information processing method according to any one of claims 9 to 15.

17. A program for causing a computer to execute an information processing method, The information processing method includes: Acquiring information regarding past fuel efficiency of a user who wishes to rent a vehicle, the past fuel efficiency being defined as a vehicle travel distance per unit fuel consumption; When the level of the past fuel efficiency of the user is lower than a predetermined level, a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle, which includes at least one of a HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), and a FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), is selected as a vehicle to be rented to the user; Programs including.

18. The information processing method includes: Further comprising: selecting a type of vehicle other than an internal combustion engine vehicle as a rental vehicle to the user when the level of the user's past fuel efficiency is equal to or higher than the predetermined level and the ratio of the number of reservable vehicles of a type other than an internal combustion engine vehicle at the time when the user wishes to rent the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined ratio.

18. The program according to claim 17.

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