Battery Control Systems and Servers

Abstract

To improve the possibility of capable of shortening a charging waiting time of a vehicle for which a charging facility is reserved, while securing an amount of charge desired by a user for a vehicle to be charged.SOLUTION: A battery control system comprises: an acquisition unit for acquiring at least one of reservation information showing reservation time of a charging facility for charging batteries mounted on a vehicle and circumferential vehicle information showing a circumferential vehicle existing in a predetermined range including the charging facility; and a determination unit for determining whether or not occurrence of a conflict of the charging at the charging facility is estimated, on the basis of at least one of the reservation information and the circumferential vehicle information. When the occurrence of the conflict of the charging is estimated, the determination unit temporarily mitigates a battery protection function for preventing deterioration of the batteries.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery control system and a server. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 disclose systems for charging batteries mounted on vehicles. Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a system that, when a reservation for charging a second vehicle is made after a first vehicle is being charged, advances the charging end time of the first vehicle and the charging start time of the second vehicle. Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a system that, when there is a vehicle reserved for charging in addition to the vehicle being charged, shortens the charging time of the vehicle being charged from the charging time set based on a request from the user of the vehicle being charged, the greater the remaining capacity of the battery of the vehicle being charged. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-85343 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6551118 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the configuration of Patent Document 1, by advancing the charging completion time of the first vehicle, it is possible to shorten the waiting time for charging of the second vehicle, but there is a risk that the first vehicle will not be able to be charged as desired by the user (i.e., the amount of charge will not be secured).In addition, in the configuration of Patent Document 2, the amount of charge can be secured by charging according to the remaining capacity of the battery, but there is a risk that vehicles that have reserved the charging facility will have to wait longer for charging.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a system that increases the likelihood of shortening the waiting time for charging for vehicles that have reserved a charging facility, while ensuring the amount of charge desired by the user in the vehicle being charged. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the battery control system of the present invention comprises an acquisition unit that acquires at least one of reservation information indicating a reservation time for a charging facility to charge a battery installed in a vehicle and surrounding vehicle information indicating surrounding vehicles present within a specified range including the charging facility, and a judgment unit that determines whether or not a charging conflict is predicted to occur at the charging facility based on at least one of the reservation information and the surrounding vehicle information, and when a charging conflict is predicted to occur, the judgment unit temporarily relaxes a battery protection function that prevents deterioration of the battery.

[0007] That is, in the battery control system, when a charging conflict is predicted, such as when there is a vehicle with a reservation at a charging facility, the battery protection function that prevents battery degradation is temporarily relaxed. By temporarily relaxing the battery protection function, the battery charging speed can be increased, and as a result, the charging completion time of the battery can be advanced while ensuring the charge amount of the battery of the vehicle being charged. Furthermore, by advancing the charging completion time, the charging wait time for reserved vehicles can be shortened. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a battery control system. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of reservation information. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of charging facility information. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a battery control process. [Figure 5]5 is an example of a time chart showing changes in SOC and the like when the battery control process of FIG. 4 is executed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Here, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) Battery control system configuration: (2) Battery control processing: (3) Other embodiments:

[0010] (1) Battery control system configuration: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a battery control system 10 mounted on a vehicle. In this embodiment, the battery control system 10 is mounted on the vehicle. The battery control system 10 according to this embodiment cooperates with a server 100 and a charging facility 300. The vehicle according to this embodiment is an electric vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle) that is mounted with a battery 40, which is a rechargeable storage battery, and is driven using the power stored in the battery 40. When the SOC (State Of Charge) of the battery 40 of the vehicle decreases, the battery 40 is charged at a charging facility 300 that is provided, for example, at a rest facility (e.g., a service area) on a highway, a commercial facility, a gas station, a charging station, or the like.

[0011] The server 100 manages reservation information for the charging facility 300 and information indicating that the facility is in use, and is configured, for example, by a stationary general-purpose computer or a cloud-based server. The server 100 communicates with vehicles via a communication unit 110 and can also communicate with a reservation terminal 200 that makes reservations for the charging facility. The reservation terminal 200 is a terminal used by a user who uses the battery charging facility 300, and may be, for example, a PC, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone. The reservation terminal 200 includes a user I / F unit 210. The user I / F unit 210 is an interface unit for inputting user instructions and providing various information to the user. The user operates the user I / F unit 210 to make a reservation for the charging facility 300. When the user makes a reservation for the charging facility 300, reservation information (reservation information) is transmitted to the server 100. The server 100 receives the information via the communication unit 110 and records it on a recording medium 120 as reservation information 120a.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the reservation information 120a. The reservation information 120a is information indicating a reservation time (i.e., planned use) of the charging facility 300. In this reservation information 120a, information indicating the reservation time of each charging facility is associated with identification information for distinguishing the charging facility. In this embodiment, the reservation time is defined by defining the charging start time and charging end time of each charging facility. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the charging facility indicated by the identification information "0001" is reserved from 10:30 to 11:30. Furthermore, the charging facility indicated by the identification information "0002" is reserved from 10:00 to 11:00. During these time periods, users other than the user who made the reservation cannot use the charging facility. Note that during time periods when no reservations have been made, any user can use the charging facility if there is availability.

[0013] When the server 100 receives a request from the battery control system 10 to send reservation information corresponding to a charging facility 300 used by a vehicle equipped with the battery control system 10, the server 100 transmits the reservation information to the battery control system 10 via the communication unit 110 using the function of a control unit not shown.

[0014] The battery control system 10 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., a recording medium 30, a battery 40, a GNSS receiving unit 41, a vehicle speed sensor 42, a gyro sensor 43, a user I / F unit 44, and a communication unit 50. The control unit 20 can execute a battery control program 21 stored in the ROM, etc.

[0015] The recording medium 30 stores map information 30a and reservation information 30b. The map information 30a indicates information such as roads that are referenced for route guidance to the charging facility 300, for example. In this embodiment, the map information 30a includes node data, link data, shape interpolation point data, and facility data. The node data indicates the positions of intersections. The link data indicates road sections and is associated with nodes that correspond to the endpoints of the road sections. In other words, the link data indicates links that connect nodes. In this embodiment, the link data includes information indicating road attributes of the road sections indicated by the link data. The road attributes include information indicating the road type, for example, expressway, general road, narrow street, etc. Furthermore, the link data is associated with shape interpolation point data that indicates the positions of shape interpolation points for identifying the shape of the road between the nodes.

[0016] The facility data indicates the names, positions, and attributes of facilities that exist around roads, etc. In this embodiment, facilities include various types of facilities. For example, the names, positions, attributes, etc. of rest areas such as service areas, stores, trademark facilities, public facilities, etc. are defined as facility data. Furthermore, the facility data in this embodiment includes information about charging facilities. A charging facility is a facility for charging the battery 40 equipped in a vehicle. The facility data includes charging facility information 30a1 related to the charging facility.

[0017] FIG. 3 shows an example of charging facility information 30a1. Charging facility information 30a1 includes identification information, location, number, and charging capacity (kW) of charging facilities. Identification information is information for distinguishing charging facilities, and the location, number, and charging capacity are defined for each identification information. The location is the coordinate of the charging facility, and is defined using a coordinate system (for example, a coordinate system based on latitude and longitude) for indicating the location of the facility in map information 30a. The number indicates the number of chargers installed at the same charging facility, and is "1" for all charging facilities in the example shown in FIG. 3.

[0018] The charging capacity indicates the power that can be output at a charging facility. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the charging facility can output power in multiple patterns with different power values, and the charging facility corresponding to the identification information "0001" has charging capacities indicated as "P1, P2, P3." Power is the product of current and voltage, and if the current or voltage value can be controlled, the charging capacity (i.e., power) can be controlled. In this embodiment, the power value is controlled by controlling the voltage value. Note that in the example shown in FIG. 3, charging capacities are indicated by symbols such as P1, P2, etc., but the actual values ​​indicated by the symbols are, for example, 150 kW or 80 kW. Furthermore, the selection of charging capacities P1, P2, P3, etc. may be made by the user depending on, for example, the vehicle status (battery temperature, battery SOC), or may be made by the control unit 20 provided in the vehicle. Furthermore, the above-mentioned charging capacity may indicate the amount of energy that can be charged at the charging facility, and may be defined in various other ways, such as the magnitude of the current or voltage that can be flowed during charging.

[0019] The reservation information 30b is information indicating a reserved time (i.e., planned use) of the charging facility to be used by the vehicle. Using the function of the acquisition unit 21a described later, the control unit 20 acquires reservation information corresponding to the identification information of the charging facility 300 to be used by the vehicle from the reservation information 120a recorded in the recording medium 120 of the server 100. The acquired reservation information is recorded in the recording medium 30 as reservation information 30b.

[0020] The battery 40 is a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery or a nickel-metal hydride battery, or a high-voltage power storage device configured with a capacitor or the like. The battery 40 is electrically connected to a motor (not shown) that serves as a driving power source, and the vehicle is driven by supplying power from the battery 40 to the motor. When the SOC of the battery 40 decreases, the user charges the battery 40 at the charging facility described above. A sensor (not shown) is attached to the battery 40, and the sensor outputs information indicating the temperature and SOC of the battery. Based on the output of the sensor, the control unit 20 periodically acquires the temperature and SOC of the battery 40 and records the acquired information on the recording medium 30.

[0021] The GNSS receiver 41 is a device that receives signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System. The GNSS receiver 41 receives radio waves from navigation satellites and outputs a signal for calculating the vehicle position via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 acquires this signal to obtain the vehicle position. The vehicle speed sensor 42 outputs a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheels of the vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires this signal via an interface (not shown) to obtain the vehicle speed.

[0022] The gyro sensor 43 detects angular acceleration of the vehicle when it turns in a horizontal plane and outputs a signal corresponding to the orientation of the vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires this signal to determine the vehicle's traveling direction. The vehicle speed sensor 42, gyro sensor 43, and the like are used to identify the vehicle's traveling trajectory. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 identifies the vehicle's position based on the vehicle's departure point and traveling trajectory, and corrects the vehicle's current position, identified based on the departure point and traveling trajectory, based on the output signal of the GNSS receiver 41. The control unit 20 also performs map matching based on the vehicle's position trajectory and map information 30a to identify the vehicle's position on the road.

[0023] The user I / F unit 44 is an interface unit for inputting user instructions and providing various information to the user, and includes a display unit consisting of a touch panel display (not shown), an input unit such as switches, and an output unit such as a speaker. The user I / F unit 210 in the reservation terminal 200 has a similar configuration to this user I / F unit. The communication unit 50 includes a circuit for wireless communication with other devices. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 can exchange information with the server 100 via wireless communication via the communication unit 50.

[0024] The control unit 20 can execute a program stored in the recording medium 30 or a ROM. In this embodiment, the program can be a battery control program 21. When charging the battery 40 at the charging facility 300, depending on the reservation status of the charging facility 300, the reservation time for another vehicle may arrive before the charge amount of the battery 40 reaches a target value, and the battery 40 may not be fully charged. In such a case, it is possible to charge the battery 40 until the charge amount of the battery 40 reaches the target value, but this would increase the waiting time of the other vehicles that have reserved the charging facility 300. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit 20 controls the battery 40 so as to increase the possibility of shortening the waiting time for charging of the other vehicles that have reserved the charging facility 300 while achieving the target charge amount of the battery 40. The battery control program 21 is a program for controlling the battery. When the battery control program 21 is executed, the control unit 20 functions as an acquisition unit 21a and a determination unit 21b. In the following description, the processes that are described as being performed by the acquisition unit 21a and the determination unit 21b are processes that are realized by the control unit 20.

[0025] The acquisition unit 21a has a function of acquiring reservation information for the charging facility 300 used by the vehicle. That is, the control unit 20 acquires reservation information corresponding to the charging facility 300 from the server 100 via the communication unit 50 using the function of the acquisition unit 21a. The reservation information includes a reservation time that defines the charging start time and charging end time at the charging facility 300, and serves as a parameter for determining whether or not the time until charging of the vehicle is completed overlaps with the reservation time of another vehicle at the charging facility 300 (predicting whether or not a conflict will occur). The reservation information acquired using the function of the acquisition unit 21a is recorded in the recording medium 30 as reservation information 30b.

[0026] The determination unit 21b has a function of determining whether or not a charging conflict is estimated to occur at the charging facility 300, based on the reservation information. Specifically, the control unit 20 estimates that a charging conflict will occur when it determines that a reserved time for charging another vehicle's battery falls before the estimated time until charging completion if the battery 40 is charged using a battery protection function that prevents deterioration of the battery 40 based on the reservation information acquired by the function of the acquisition unit 21a. When a charging conflict is estimated to occur at the charging facility 300, the control unit 20 temporarily relaxes the battery protection function that prevents deterioration of the battery 40, using the function of the determination unit 21b.

[0027] Here, the battery protection function refers to a function that prevents battery deterioration by setting a limit (upper limit) on the temperature of the battery 40. The battery 40 generates heat when it is charged or discharged, causing the temperature of the battery to rise. If the temperature of the battery 40 rises and deviates from a predetermined temperature range, the output of the battery 40 decreases and the life of the battery 40 is shortened. Therefore, when there is no competition with charging of other vehicles (normal operation), the control unit 20 sets the upper limit of the battery temperature to a predetermined temperature (e.g., 40°C) as a temperature limit for the battery 40. Furthermore, the control unit 20 limits the voltage value during charging to a predetermined value so that the temperature of the battery 40 does not exceed the predetermined temperature. In this way, the control unit 20 controls the charging and discharging of the battery 40 when there is no competition with charging of other vehicles. Note that the temperature of the battery 40 can be high or low, which affects its output and life. Therefore, considering the output and life, it is preferable to control the temperature to a predetermined temperature range (e.g., 20°C to 30°C).

[0028] On the other hand, as described above, when the function of the determination unit 21b determines that a charging conflict is predicted, the control unit 20 temporarily relaxes the battery protection function. This temporary relaxation of the battery protection function is at least one of control to increase the temperature limit of the battery 40 from a preset temperature by a predetermined temperature and control to cool the battery 40. Specifically, when the function of the determination unit 21b predicts that a charging conflict will occur, the control unit 20 relaxes the temperature limit of the battery 40, for example, by increasing the temperature limit from a preset temperature (e.g., 40°C) by a predetermined temperature (e.g., 10°C) to 50°C. This increases the charging rate of the battery 40, for example, by increasing the voltage output from the charging facility 300 from a preset value. By increasing the charging rate, it is possible to achieve the user's target amount of charge while increasing the possibility of avoiding the charging end time overlapping with the reserved time of another vehicle.

[0029] Furthermore, the control unit 20 may cool the battery 40 when the determination unit 21b estimates that a charging conflict will occur. When a charging conflict will not occur, the temperature of the battery 40 is limited to a predetermined temperature, and therefore cooling of the battery 40 is not necessary. However, when a charging conflict is estimated to occur, the charging rate is increased by increasing the voltage, as described above, which increases the amount of heat generated by the battery 40 and raises the temperature of the battery 40. Therefore, the control unit 20 cools the battery 40 when a charging conflict is estimated to occur. The battery 40 is cooled by supplying a coolant to the battery 40, for example, by driving an electric oil pump (not shown). Note that cooling the battery 40 consumes power. Therefore, the control unit 20 controls the amount of power consumed for the cooling so that it is at least smaller than the amount of charge of the battery 40. These specific aspects of the control unit 20 will be described later with reference to a flowchart.

[0030] This configuration increases the likelihood that the charging amount desired by the user can be ensured (the target value can be achieved) for the vehicle being charged, while shortening the waiting time for charging for vehicles that have reserved a charging facility.

[0031] (2) Battery control processing: Next, the battery control process executed by the control unit 20 will be described. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the battery control process. The control unit 20 executes the battery control process when, for example, a charging cable is connected to a vehicle at a charging facility 300 and charging of the battery 40 begins. The flowchart shown in Fig. 4 is repeatedly executed at predetermined short intervals.

[0032] When the battery control process is started, first, the control unit 20 acquires reservation information using the function of the acquisition unit 21a (step S1). Specifically, the control unit 20 acquires identification information of the charging facility 300 connected to the vehicle using the function of the acquisition unit 21a. Furthermore, the control unit 20 acquires reservation information corresponding to the identification information of the charging facility 300 to be used by the vehicle from the server 100 using the function of the acquisition unit 21a. Note that the reservation information is assumed to be input from the above-mentioned reservation user terminal 200 and recorded in the recording medium 120 of the server 100. Furthermore, the reservation information may be recorded not only when a reservation for charging of another vehicle has already been made, but also when a reservation is made while the vehicle is being charged. After acquiring the reservation information from the server 100, the control unit 20 records the reservation information as reservation information 30b in the recording medium 30. After acquiring the reservation information, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S2.

[0033] In step S2, the control unit 20 determines, using the function of the determination unit 21b, whether or not a charging conflict is estimated to occur at the charging facility 300. Specifically, the control unit 20 refers to the reservation information 30b to identify the reservation time of another vehicle at the same charging facility 300 used by the vehicle. Then, the control unit 20 determines whether the reservation time of the identified other vehicle falls before the estimated time until charging is completed when the vehicle is charged using the battery protection function. In other words, the control unit 20 determines whether charging of another vehicle will conflict (overlap) with charging of the vehicle.

[0034] The estimated time until the vehicle is fully charged when the battery protection function is used may be calculated using various methods. For example, the control unit 20 can calculate the estimated time from the battery capacity (e.g., 30 kWh), the charging rate (e.g., 50% / h), the current SOC of the battery 40 (e.g., 30%), and the SOC at which charging is completed (target value: e.g., 80%). The charging rate refers to the SOC that can be increased per unit time. The charging rate is defined in advance for each charging capacity and is defined, for example, from the amount of change in SOC due to charging and the time required for charging. The control unit 20 charges the battery 40 using the protection function when no charging contention occurs. The time required for charging when the battery protection function is used can be calculated by dividing the amount of change in SOC due to charging by the charging rate. For example, to restore the current SOC (30%) of the battery 40 to the target SOC (80%), the SOC needs to be charged to 50%. In this case, the control unit 20 divides the 50% change range by the speed (50% / h) to estimate that the predicted charging completion time is one hour after the charging start time (or the current time).The control unit 20 then determines whether the predicted charging completion time conflicts with the reserved time of another vehicle.In this way, the control unit 20 obtains the predicted charging completion time and determines whether the reserved time of another vehicle falls before the predicted time until charging completion when charging is performed using the battery protection function.

[0035] If the determination in step S2 is negative, i.e., if the reservation time of another vehicle does not fall before the estimated time until charging is completed when charging is performed using the battery protection function, and therefore it is not estimated that a charging conflict will occur, the control unit 20 temporarily ends the processing shown in Fig. 4. On the other hand, if the determination in step S2 is positive, i.e., if the reservation time of another vehicle falls before the estimated time until charging is completed when charging is performed using the battery protection function, and therefore it is estimated that a charging conflict will occur, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S3.

[0036] In step S3, the control unit 20, using the function of the determination unit 21b, increases the temperature limit of the battery 40 to temporarily relax the battery protection function. If charging is performed using the battery protection function as determined in step S2, there is a possibility that charging will compete with charging of another vehicle. Therefore, the control unit 20 temporarily relaxes the battery protection function by increasing the temperature limit of the battery 40 from a preset temperature (e.g., 40°C) by a predetermined temperature (e.g., 10°C). That is, in this embodiment, the control unit 20 increases the temperature limit of the battery from 40°C to 50°C.

[0037] Next, the control unit 20 increases the voltage when charging the battery 40 using the function of the determination unit 21b (step S4). That is, if a charging conflict is estimated to occur and charging is performed using the battery protection function, there is a risk that the SOC of the battery 40 will not reach the target value. Therefore, in step S4, the control unit 20 increases the voltage output at the charging facility 300 to increase the power supplied to the battery 40 and increase the charging speed. This is because increasing the charging speed makes it possible to achieve the charge amount target value of the user while reducing the possibility that the charging end time will overlap with the reserved time of another vehicle.

[0038] Here, the voltage increase will be specifically described. As explained in the charging facility information 30a1 above, each charging facility can output power in multiple patterns, each with a different charging capacity, and therefore the voltage value will be different for each pattern. Note that the current value may also be different for each pattern, but in this embodiment, the voltage values ​​are different. In this step S4, the control unit 20 selects which charging capacity from the multiple charging capacities to use to charge the battery 40, and causes the charging facility 300 to control the voltage so that the voltage corresponds to the selected charging capacity.

[0039] The determination of which charging capacity to select can be made based on the sum of the temperature rise of the battery 40 during charging and the current temperature of the battery 40 for each charging capacity. Taking into consideration the protection of the battery 40, it is preferable to select a charging capacity where the sum of these temperatures is equal to or less than the relaxed temperature limit. Specifically, the control unit 20 determines the amount of heat generated by the battery 40 per unit time. This amount of heat generated per unit time can be determined for each charging capacity using, for example, the internal resistance, number of cells, and number of parallel connections of the battery 40. Furthermore, the temperature rise per unit time can be determined for each charging capacity from the amount of heat generated, the specific heat, and mass of the battery 40. After determining the temperature rise for each charging capacity, the control unit 20 multiplies the temperature rise by the time required to complete charging of the battery 40 (i.e., charging to the target value) to calculate the temperature rise of the battery 40 until charging is complete for each charging capacity. The time required to complete charging of the battery 40 can be calculated by dividing the charge amount required to restore the battery 40 to the target value (SOC of the target value - current SOC) by the charging rate. The time required to complete charging of the battery 40 is set to be equal to or less than the time from the current time to the reserved charging time to avoid overlapping with the reserved charging time of another vehicle. Therefore, for each charging capacity, the control unit 20 selects a charging capacity such that the sum of the current time and the time required to complete charging does not exceed the reserved charging time.

[0040] Furthermore, after determining the temperature rise until the completion of charging, the control unit 20 adds the temperature rise to the current temperature of the battery 40 to determine the maximum temperature of the battery 40 during charging for each charging capacity. Then, the control unit 20 selects, from among the charging capacities, a charging capacity whose maximum temperature is equal to or less than the temporarily relaxed temperature limit (e.g., 50°C). In other words, if the battery 40 is charged at a charging capacity that exceeds the relaxed temperature limit, the temperature of the battery 40 will rise excessively, accelerating deterioration of the battery 40, and the control unit 20 will not select such a charging capacity.

[0041] If there are multiple charging capacities that are equal to or lower than the relaxed temperature limit, the control unit 20 selects the lowest charging capacity (i.e., the lowest voltage, in other words, the smallest temperature rise and heat generation per unit time) from among the multiple charging capacities. If there is no charging capacity that will take less time to complete charging of the battery 40 than the time from the current time to the reserved time, and if it is not possible to select a charging capacity that will not cause the sum of the current time and the time required to complete charging to exceed the reserved time, the control unit 20 charges the battery 40 while cooling it in step S8, which will be described later.

[0042] In this way, the control unit 20 selects which charging capacity to use to charge the battery 40 based on the temperature rise of the battery 40 during the time until the reservation time of the other vehicle where a conflict is estimated to occur. After determining the charging capacity to be selected, the control unit 20 increases the voltage to a voltage value corresponding to the selected charging capacity in order to charge the battery 40 at the selected charging capacity. In other words, the control unit 20 instructs the charging facility 300 to increase the voltage.

[0043] Next, the control unit 20 determines whether charging of the battery 40 is complete using the function of the determination unit 21b (step S5). That is, it determines whether the SOC of the battery 40 has reached a target value (e.g., 80%). Specifically, the control unit 20, using the function of the determination unit 21b, acquires the current SOC of the battery 40 from a sensor that outputs SOC information and determines whether the acquired SOC value has reached the target value. Whether the SOC of the battery 40 has reached the target value can also be determined from the value of the voltage increased in step S4. That is, if the charging capacity selected in step S4 is a charging capacity that does not overlap with the reservation time of another vehicle, charging up to the target SOC is possible. In this case, it can be determined that the SOC has reached the target value because the current time has reached the reservation time of another vehicle. If it is determined in step S5 that charging of the battery 40 is complete, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S6.

[0044] In step S6, the control unit 20, by the function of the determination unit 21b, ends the relaxation of the temperature restriction on the battery 40. That is, the control unit 20 ends the relaxation of the battery temperature restriction performed in step S3 and ends the temporary relaxation of the battery protection function because charging of the battery 40 is completed. Also in this step S6, the control unit 20 reduces the voltage increased in step S4.

[0045] On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S5 because charging of the battery 40 is not complete, the control unit 20 determines whether the temperature of the battery 40 has reached the limit value using the function of the determination unit 21b (step S7). That is, the control unit 20 determines whether the temperature of the battery 40 has reached the temperature limit relaxed in step S3. A negative determination in step S5 may be made, for example, when it is determined that the SOC of the battery 40 acquired from the sensor described above has not reached the target value. Alternatively, when charging is performed at the charging capacity selected when increasing the voltage in step S4, charging may not be completed by the scheduled time for charging of another vehicle.

[0046] As described above, a sensor (not shown) is attached to the battery 40. Therefore, in step S7, the control unit 20 acquires the temperature of the battery 40 from the sensor using the function of the determination unit 21b. If the control unit 20 determines using the function of the determination unit 21b that the acquired temperature of the battery 40 has not reached the limit value, the process returns to step S5.

[0047] On the other hand, if the control unit 20 determines, through the function of the determination unit 21b, that the acquired temperature of the battery 40 has reached the limit value, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S8. In step S8, the control unit 20 cools the battery 40 through the function of the determination unit 21b. That is, since it has been determined that the temperature of the battery 40 has reached the limit value, the control unit 20 cools the battery 40 to lower the temperature of the battery 40. Various methods can be used to cool the battery 40, as long as the temperature of the battery 40 can be controlled to at least the limit value or lower. For example, it is assumed that the cooling is performed by driving an electric oil pump (not shown) to supply a refrigerant to the battery 40. The refrigerant may be shared with other cooling systems, such as an air conditioning system or a cooling system for a motor used to drive a vehicle. Note that the control unit 20 consumes power by cooling the battery 40. Therefore, the control unit 20 controls the amount of power required for the cooling so that it is at least less than the charge amount of the battery 40. For example, a correction may be made such that the cooling rate due to cooling is subtracted from the rate of temperature increase due to charging of the battery 40. After the control unit 20 has performed the cooling process, the process returns to step S5.

[0048] If the temperature of battery 40 has not reached the limit value in step S7 described above, or if battery 40 has been cooled in step S8, control unit 20 returns the process to step S5 and continues charging battery 40, but this process will end when charging of battery 40 is not complete (Y in step S5) or when a predetermined time before the reservation time of another vehicle (for example, a few minutes before the reservation time) arrives.

[0049] Next, a time chart showing changes in the SOC and other parameters of the battery 40 when the battery control process of FIG. 4 is executed will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the time chart, showing changes in the SOC, voltage, and battery temperature. In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents SOC, voltage, and battery temperature. The time chart shown in FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which a charging conflict occurs when a vehicle is charging at a charging facility 300 without a reservation and another vehicle makes a reservation to charge at the same charging facility 300. In particular, the time chart illustrates an example in which charging to the target value is completed by the reservation time of the other vehicle and the temperature of the battery 40 does not exceed the relaxed temperature limit. In the example of FIG. 5, the solid line represents changes in the SOC and other parameters in this embodiment, and the dashed line represents changes in the SOC and other parameters in a comparative example in which charging is performed using the battery protection function without relaxing the battery temperature limit.

[0050] Specifically, first, at time t0, charging of the battery 40 is started. At time t0, it is not yet estimated that charging contention will occur at the charging facility 300, and the battery 40 is charged using the battery protection function. When charging starts, the SOC of the battery 40 begins to increase. At time t0, as described above, the battery 40 is being charged using the battery protection function, and the voltage is set to a default value, and the voltage remains constant until time t1, when it is estimated that charging contention will occur at the charging facility 300. Furthermore, the temperature of the battery 40 is suppressed by setting the voltage to the default value. Therefore, the temperature of the battery 40 remains lower than the battery temperature limit (40°C) from time t0 to time t1. The changes in each parameter, such as the SOC, from time t0 to time t1 are the same in this embodiment and the comparative example.

[0051] Next, at time t1, it is estimated that a charging conflict will occur at the charging facility 300 where the vehicle's battery 40 is being charged. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 can estimate the occurrence of a charging conflict by acquiring reservation information corresponding to the charging facility 300 where charging is being performed, as described above in the flowchart of FIG. 4 . At time t1, the control unit 20 estimates that a charging conflict will occur at the charging facility 300 because it estimates that there will be a conflict with the reservation time of another vehicle at the charging facility 300. Therefore, the control unit 20 relaxes the temperature limit on the battery 40, increasing the temperature limit from 40°C to 50°C, for example. In other words, the battery protection function is relaxed. Then, the control unit 20 increases the voltage when supplying power to the battery 40. Increasing the voltage increases the charging speed of the battery 40, and therefore, in FIG. 5, the rate of change of the SOC becomes larger than the rate of change from time t0 to time t1 (i.e., the rate of change during the period in which charging was performed using the battery protection function). Then, as the voltage increases, the amount of heat generated by battery 40 increases, and the temperature of battery 40, which had been kept constant until time t1, begins to increase, and between time t1 and time t2, it exceeds the battery temperature limit (40°C) before the relaxation.

[0052] Next, at time t2, the SOC of the battery 40 reaches the target value. That is, charging of the battery 40 is completed. Therefore, the control unit 20 ends the relaxation of the battery protection function. Furthermore, by ending the relaxation of the battery protection function, the control unit 20 reduces the voltage that was increased in the charging facility 300 to a default value. By reducing the voltage, the temperature of the battery 40 begins to decrease, and after time t3 (not shown), it decreases to below the battery temperature limit. Then, at time t3, it becomes the reserved time for charging of another vehicle, and charging of that other vehicle begins. In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to charge the battery 40 to the target value by the reserved time for charging of the other vehicle.

[0053] On the other hand, in the comparative example, because charging continues using the battery protection function, the voltage remains constant even after time t1, and the rate of change of the SOC also remains constant. Therefore, at time t3, which is the reservation time for the other vehicle, the SOC has not reached the target value. If the battery were to be charged to the target value, the start time of charging for the other vehicle would be delayed, and the other vehicle that has reserved the charging facility would have to wait until the charging is completed.

[0054] As described above, in this embodiment, when it is estimated based on the reservation information that a charging conflict will occur at a charging facility, the temperature limit of the battery 40 is increased, and the voltage when charging the battery 40 is increased. This increases the charging rate of the battery 40, and as a result, it is possible to advance the charging completion time of the battery 40 while ensuring the charge amount of the battery 40 in the vehicle being charged. In particular, in the above-described embodiment, the time required for the charging of the battery 40 to reach a target value is calculated, and the battery 40 is charged at a charging rate that does not conflict with the reservation times of other vehicles. Furthermore, while increasing the charging rate (in other words, increasing the voltage) increases the temperature of the battery 40, in this embodiment, the temperature of the battery is controlled to be equal to or lower than the relaxed temperature limit. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to complete charging of the battery 40 by the reservation time of the charging facility for the other vehicle while achieving the target charge amount, and further shorten the time that the other vehicle waits for charging.

[0055] (3) Other embodiments: The above-described embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and various other embodiments can be adopted. In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 20 estimates the occurrence of a conflict among charging facilities 300 based on reservation information, but the parameters used to estimate the occurrence of this conflict are not limited to reservation information. For example, the control unit 20 may estimate the occurrence of a conflict among charging facilities 300 based on surrounding vehicle information indicating surrounding vehicles (hereinafter referred to as surrounding vehicles) present within a predetermined range including the charging facility 300.

[0056] Specifically, surrounding vehicle information is acquired by a probe vehicle (not shown). The surrounding vehicle information includes position information of surrounding vehicles present within a predetermined range including at least the charging facility 300 and information on the current SOC of the surrounding vehicles. This surrounding vehicle information is transmitted to, for example, the server 100 and recorded on the recording medium 120. The control unit 20 acquires the surrounding vehicle information from the server 100 using the function of the acquisition unit 21a, and identifies surrounding vehicles whose current locations are within a predetermined distance from the charging facility 300 used by the vehicle using the function of the determination unit 21b. Furthermore, the control unit 20 identifies, among the identified surrounding vehicles, surrounding vehicles whose SOC is equal to or less than a reference value (for example, 40% or less). This is because surrounding vehicles whose SOC exceeds the reference value are unlikely to immediately use the charging facility 300. Then, the control unit 20 estimates, using the function of the determination unit 21b, that a contention will occur at the charging facility 300 used by the vehicle when the number of identified surrounding vehicles per unit area is equal to or greater than a threshold. This is because when the number of vehicles per unit area is less than the threshold, there is a low possibility that a conflict will occur immediately. Note that when the control unit 20 determines that there are surrounding vehicles located at the charging facility 300 used by the vehicle based on the surrounding vehicle information acquired by the function of the acquisition unit 21a, it can be estimated that there are surrounding vehicles already waiting to be charged, and therefore it may be estimated that a conflict will occur. Note that when the occurrence of a conflict is estimated using the surrounding vehicle information, the occurrence of a conflict may or may not be estimated based on reservation information.

[0057] In this way, the control unit 20 can estimate the occurrence of a contention for a charging facility based on the surrounding vehicle information, thereby determining the possibility of a contention with other vehicles that have reserved the charging facility, as well as with other surrounding vehicles. If the occurrence of a contention is estimated, the control unit 20 temporarily relaxes the above-described battery protection function to increase the voltage during charging. As a result, it is possible to increase the possibility of shortening the charging time for the batteries of other vehicles at the charging facility while achieving the target charge amount for the battery 40.

[0058] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, as shown in the reservation information 30b, there is one reservation for the same charging facility 300. However, there may be multiple reservations. When the control unit 20 determines that there are multiple reservations by referring to the reservation information 30b, using the function of the determination unit 21b, it may estimate that a charging conflict will occur. In other words, when there are multiple reservations, the possibility of a conflict occurring is higher than when there is only one reservation. In such a case, the control unit 20 performs charging with the battery protection function temporarily relaxed, regardless of whether the reservation includes a reservation that occurs before the estimated time until charging is completed when charging is performed using the battery protection function. In other words, when there are multiple reservations, the control unit 20 assumes that a conflict will occur at the charging facility 300. In this way, when there are multiple reservations at the same charging facility, the possibility of a conflict occurring at the same charging facility increases. However, by relaxing the battery protection function, it is possible to reduce the possibility that a user's target charging amount will not be achieved and that other vehicles will have to wait a long time for charging.

[0059] In the above-described embodiment, when a contention is predicted to occur at the charging facility 300, the temperature limit of the battery 40 is increased to relax the battery protection function, and when the battery temperature reaches the relaxed limit, the battery 40 is cooled. However, it is sufficient to execute at least one of the control for increasing the temperature limit of the battery 40 and the control for cooling the battery 40. That is, by increasing the temperature limit of the battery 40, the voltage can be increased to increase the charging rate. As a result, the charge amount can approach the target value more quickly than when charging is continued using the battery protection function, and charging contention can be suppressed. On the other hand, by cooling the battery 40, the temperature of the battery 40 decreases, and the voltage can be increased to increase the charging rate. Therefore, similarly, the charge amount can approach the target value more quickly than when charging is continued using the battery protection function, and charging contention can be suppressed.

[0060] In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle to be charged is required to have a battery mounted thereon and be able to charge the battery at a charging facility. Therefore, the vehicle is not limited to the above-described battery electric vehicle (BEV), but may also be a plug-in hybrid vehicle, a so-called range extender EV equipped with an engine dedicated to power generation, or the like.

[0061] Furthermore, the charging facility only needs to be capable of charging the battery. Therefore, the charging facility may be an external facility such as a rest area on a highway, or may be a charging facility installed at home. It may also be a charging facility installed at a workplace, a friend's house, a lodging facility, or the like. Furthermore, there may be multiple charging facilities on the same premises.

[0062] In the above embodiment, the voltage during charging is increased to increase the charging rate of the battery 40, but the current may be increased instead of the voltage. Alternatively, the voltage and current may be controlled in coordination with each other.

[0063] Furthermore, each system or device constituting the above-described embodiment may be configured with fewer devices that share functions. An example of such a configuration is a case where at least one system shown in FIG. 1 is configured with the same device as one or more other systems. For example, the battery control system 10 and the server 100 may be configured as an integrated device, or the server 100 and the reserver terminal 200 may be configured as an integrated device, or the battery control system 10 and the reserver terminal 200 may be configured as an integrated device. Furthermore, some of the functions of the battery control system 10 (at least some of the acquisition unit 21a and the determination unit 21b) may be realized by the battery control system 10. Furthermore, the system shown in FIG. 1 may be configured with more systems. For example, at least some of the battery control system 10, the server 100, and the reserver terminal 200 may be configured as a cloud server.

[0064] Furthermore, at least some of the components constituting the battery control system 10 (acquisition unit 21a, determination unit 21b) and the components constituting the server 100 may be separated into multiple devices. For example, the server 100 may be configured to include the acquisition unit 21a and the determination unit 21b. In this case, the server 100 acquires at least one of reservation information and nearby vehicle information, determines whether a conflict at a charging facility is predicted based on the acquired information, and, if a conflict is predicted, instructs an external device outside the vehicle or the charging facility to temporarily relax the battery protection function. Note that configurations in which some of the components of the above-described embodiments are omitted, or in which processing is changed or omitted, may also be envisioned.

[0065] Furthermore, the techniques of the present invention can also be applied as programs or methods. The above-described systems, programs, and methods may be realized as standalone devices or may be realized using components shared with various parts of a vehicle, and thus include various aspects. They can also be modified as appropriate, such as being partly software and partly hardware. Furthermore, the invention can also be realized as a recording medium for a program that controls the system. Of course, the recording medium for the program may be a magnetic recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and any recording medium developed in the future can be considered in the same way. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 10...battery control system, 20...control unit, 21...battery control program, 30...recording medium, 30a...map information, 30a1...charging facility information, 30b...reservation information, 40...battery, 41...GNSS receiving unit, 42...vehicle speed sensor, 43...gyro sensor, 44...user I / F unit, 50...communication unit, 100...server, 110...communication unit, 120...recording medium, 120a...reservation information, 200...reservation person terminal, 210...user I / F unit, 300...charging facility.

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires at least one of reservation information indicating a reservation time of a charging facility for charging a battery mounted on a vehicle and nearby vehicle information indicating nearby vehicles present within a predetermined range including the charging facility; a determination unit that determines whether or not the charging contention at the charging facility is estimated to occur based on at least one of the reservation information and the surrounding vehicle information, the determination unit temporarily relaxes a battery protection function that prevents deterioration of the battery when it is estimated that the charging contention will occur. Battery control system.

2. The determination unit Based on the surrounding vehicle information, the surrounding vehicle information includes a vehicle waiting to charge the battery at the charging facility, or based on the surrounding vehicle information, the predetermined range includes more vehicles than a standard number whose remaining battery charge is equal to or less than a threshold, or based on the reservation information, the reservation time for charging falls before an expected time until charging is completed if the vehicle uses the battery protection function to charge at the charging facility. When it is determined that at least one of the above conditions is satisfied, it is estimated that the charging contention will occur. The battery control system of claim 1 .

3. The determination unit When it is determined based on the reservation information that a plurality of reservations exist at the same charging facility, it is estimated that the charging conflict will occur. The battery control system of claim 1 .

4. The temporary relaxation of the battery protection function is At least one of control for increasing the temperature limit of the battery by a predetermined temperature from a predetermined temperature for preventing deterioration of the battery and control for cooling the battery. The battery control system of claim 1 .

5. an acquisition unit that acquires at least one of reservation information indicating a reservation time of a charging facility for charging a battery mounted on a vehicle and nearby vehicle information indicating nearby vehicles present within a predetermined range including the charging facility; a determination unit that determines whether or not the charging contention at the charging facility is estimated to occur based on at least one of the reservation information and the surrounding vehicle information, When it is estimated that the charging contention will occur, the determination unit instructs an external device of the vehicle or the charging facility to temporarily relax a battery protection function that prevents deterioration of the battery. server.

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