Vehicle control device

Abstract

To provide a controller of a vehicle which can accurately calculate energy consumption for electric travel in consideration of difference in a traveling scene.SOLUTION: A controller of a vehicle controls a vehicle which performs electric travel using an electric motor driven by electric power of a battery. The controller includes a processor. The processor executes calculation processing which calculates energy consumption of electric travel in a section of travel planned route of the vehicle from a first site to a second site. In the calculation processing, the processor estimates whether a travel load in the section is high or not based on a road type of the section and corrects a basic value of the energy consumption based on a correction coefficient that is different according to whether the travel load in the section is high or not.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle control device. This vehicle control device calculates road load information for a route to a destination. The road load information is calculated, for example, for each section of the route. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5780354 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When calculating the energy consumption of a vehicle that runs on electricity using an electric motor driven by power from a battery, it is desirable to accurately calculate the energy consumption by taking into account differences in driving situations.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a vehicle control device that can accurately calculate the energy consumption of electric driving by taking into account differences in driving situations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A vehicle control device according to a first aspect of the present disclosure controls a vehicle that runs on electricity using an electric motor driven by power from a battery. The control device includes a processor. The processor executes a calculation process to calculate the energy consumption due to electric running of a section from a first point to a second point on a planned travel route of the vehicle. In the calculation process, the processor estimates whether the road load of the section is high based on the road type of the section, and corrects a basic value of the energy consumption based on a correction coefficient that varies depending on whether the road load of the section is high.

[0007] A vehicle control device according to a second aspect of the present disclosure controls a vehicle that runs on electricity using an electric motor driven by power from a battery. The control device includes a processor. The processor executes a calculation process to calculate energy consumption due to electric running of a section from a first point to a second point on a planned travel route of the vehicle. In the calculation process, the processor estimates whether the road load of the section is high based on the magnitude of a basic value of energy consumption of the section, and corrects the basic value based on a correction coefficient that varies depending on whether the road load of the section is high.

[0008] A vehicle control device according to a third aspect of the present disclosure controls a vehicle that runs on electricity using an electric motor driven by power from a battery. The control device includes a processor. The processor executes a calculation process to calculate energy consumption due to electric running of the vehicle along a section from a first point to a second point on a planned travel route of the vehicle. In the calculation process, the processor estimates whether the road load of the section is high based on the vehicle speed of the section, and corrects a basic value of energy consumption based on a correction coefficient that varies depending on whether the road load of the section is high. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to each of the first to third aspects of the present disclosure, it becomes possible to accurately calculate the energy consumption during electric driving, taking into account differences in driving situations. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1]1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a calculation process according to calculation example 1 of the embodiment. [Figure 3] 2 is a graph that schematically shows a map of efficiency ηm of the electric motor shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a calculation process according to a second calculation example of the embodiment. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a calculation process according to a calculation example 3 of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] 1. Example of vehicle configuration 1 is a diagram that schematically illustrates the configuration of a vehicle 10 according to an embodiment. Vehicle 10 is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) that includes a battery 12 and an electric motor 14. Vehicle 10 is capable of electric running (EV running) using electric motor 14 that is driven by power from battery 12. The "vehicle" according to the present disclosure may be any vehicle that is capable of electric running, and may be, for example, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).

[0013] The vehicle 10 further includes an electronic control unit (ECU) 16, a power control unit (PCU) 18, a navigation device 20, and an HMI (Human Machine Interface) device 22.

[0014] The ECU 16 is a computer that controls the vehicle 10, and corresponds to an example of a "vehicle control device" according to the present disclosure. The ECU 16 includes a processor 24 and a storage device 26. The processor 24 executes various processes. The various processes include processes related to the control of the electric motor 14 and a process for calculating the consumed energy E, which will be described later. The storage device 26 stores various information required for the processes performed by the processor 24. The various processes performed by the ECU 16 are realized by the processor 24 executing a computer program. The computer program is stored in the storage device 26. Alternatively, the computer program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The ECU 16 may be configured by combining multiple ECUs.

[0015] The electric motor 14 is, for example, an AC electric motor. The PCU 18 is a power conversion device including an inverter for driving the electric motor 14. The PCU 18 controls the electric motor 14 using the power of the battery 12 based on a command from the ECU 16. Under the control of the PCU 18, the electric motor 14 generates vehicle driving torque. The electric motor 14 also functions as a generator that generates regenerative torque (negative torque) by being driven by the rotation of the wheels when the vehicle decelerates.

[0016] The navigation device (navigation device) 20 includes an ECU including a processor and a storage device. The navigation device 20 is configured to be able to communicate with external systems via a wireless communication network and can acquire various information from the external systems. The various information acquired by the navigation device 20 (e.g., section information) is transmitted to the ECU 16.

[0017] More specifically, the navigation device 20 acquires the current position of the vehicle 10 using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Furthermore, the navigation device 20 can identify the current position of the vehicle 10 on a map by acquiring map information from, for example, an external server. The map information also includes road information such as the gradient (longitudinal gradient) of the road surface, the position and curvature of curves, and road type. The navigation device 20 can accept operations by the user of the vehicle 10 via the HMI device 22. For example, when the user operates the HMI device 22 to input a destination, the navigation device 20 creates a planned driving route from the current position of the vehicle 10 to the destination and displays it on the HMI device 22.

[0018] The navigation device 20 generates section information for the generated planned driving route based on, for example, past driving data and map information. The navigation device 20 divides the planned driving route into multiple sections and generates section information that is information about each of the multiple divided sections. The section information includes the vehicle speed of the section (more specifically, the average vehicle speed of the section), the gradient of the road surface, and the road type.

[0019] 2. Calculation of energy consumption The ECU 16 (processor 24) executes a "calculation process" to calculate the energy consumption E [kWh] of the vehicle 10. This energy consumption E corresponds to the energy consumed when the vehicle 10 travels by electric power on a section from a first point to a second point on the planned travel route.

[0020] Specifically, when section information for each of a plurality of sections obtained by dividing the planned traveling route as described above is acquired from the navigation device 20, the ECU 16 calculates the consumed energy Es for each section. Then, the ECU 16 calculates the sum of the calculated consumed energy Es for each section as the total consumed energy Et of the planned traveling route. However, the calculation of consumed energy E is not necessarily limited to being performed for each of the divided sections. In other words, the calculation of consumed energy E may be performed for one section from a first point that is the current location of the vehicle 10 (e.g., the departure point) to a second point that is the destination (in other words, the entire planned traveling route is treated as one section).

[0021] Here, the energy efficiency ηe of a vehicle capable of electric running, such as vehicle 10, varies depending on the driving situation. More specifically, the energy efficiency ηe varies, for example, depending on the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling. The energy efficiency ηe also varies, for example, depending on whether the electric motor for driving the vehicle is in a powering state or a regenerative state. Furthermore, the energy efficiency ηe also varies, for example, depending on the vehicle speed. Therefore, if it is not taken into consideration that the energy efficiency ηe varies depending on the driving situation, in other words, if the energy efficiency ηe is treated as a constant regardless of the driving situation, an error will occur in the calculation result of the energy consumption E.

[0022] In view of the above-mentioned problems, in this embodiment, the consumed energy E is calculated using the following calculation example 1, 2, or 3.

[0023] 2-1. Calculation example 1 (road type) In the calculation process according to calculation example 1, the ECU 16 estimates whether the road load of a section (also simply referred to as a "section") for which the consumed energy Es is to be calculated is high based on the road type of the section. The ECU 16 then corrects the basic value Esb of the consumed energy Es based on the energy efficiency ηe (i.e., correction coefficient) that varies depending on whether the road load of the section is high. More specifically, the ECU 16 estimates whether the road load of the section for which the energy consumption Es is to be calculated is high based on, for example, whether the road type of the section is an expressway or an ordinary road.

[0024] 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of calculation processing according to calculation example 1 of the embodiment. When the planned driving route to the destination has multiple sections, the processing of this flowchart is executed for each section (i.e., for each calculation target section).

[0025] In step S100, the ECU 16 calculates a basic value Esb of the energy consumption Es for the current calculation target section. The calculation method for the basic value Esb is not particularly limited, but the basic value Esb is calculated, for example, based on section information for the current calculation target section acquired from the navigation device 20. The section information includes, for example, information on the vehicle speed (e.g., average vehicle speed for the section) and gradient for the calculation target section. In other words, the basic value Esb is a value that corresponds to parameters such as the vehicle speed and gradient for the calculation target section.

[0026] In step S102 following step S100, the ECU 16 determines whether the road type of the current calculation target section is an expressway or an ordinary road based on the section information from the navigation device 20. As a result, if the road type is an expressway (step S102; Yes), the process proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, if the road type is an ordinary road (step S102; No), the process proceeds to step S106.

[0027] In step S104, the ECU 16 sets the efficiency value ηe1 used when the vehicle 10 travels on a highway as the energy efficiency ηe. On the other hand, in step S106, the ECU 16 sets the efficiency value ηe2 used when the vehicle 10 travels on an ordinary road as the energy efficiency ηe.

[0028] More specifically, according to the process shown in FIG. 2, if the road type of the current calculation target section is an expressway, the road load of that section is estimated to be high. On the other hand, if the road type is an ordinary road, the road load of that section is estimated to be low. A high energy efficiency ηe means that the energy consumption Es when the vehicle 10 travels the same section is low. In this embodiment, the energy efficiency ηe is treated as being high when the road load is high and low when the road load is low. Therefore, the efficiency value ηe1 when traveling on an expressway is set to be higher than the efficiency value ηe2 when traveling on an ordinary road. For example, the efficiency value ηe1 is 0.9 (90%), and the efficiency value ηe2 is 0.75 (75%).

[0029] In addition, by repeatedly executing the processes of steps S102-S106 for each calculation target section, the energy efficiency ηe is set for each section so that it differs depending on whether the road type of each calculation target section is an expressway or an ordinary road.

[0030] In step S108 following step S104 or S106, the ECU 16 calculates the consumed energy Es for the current calculation target section by reflecting the energy efficiency ηe (efficiency value ηe1 or ηe2) on the basic value Esb calculated in step S100. More specifically, the basic value Esb is basically a positive value. When the basic value Esb is positive, the consumed energy Es is calculated, for example, by dividing the basic value Esb by the energy efficiency ηe. On the other hand, in a section including a downhill slope, the basic value Esb for that section may become negative due to the effect of energy regeneration during deceleration using the electric motor 14 as a generator. When the basic value Esb is negative in this way, the consumed energy Es is calculated, for example, by multiplying the basic value Esb by the energy efficiency ηe.

[0031] As described above, according to calculation example 1 shown in FIG. 2, whether the road load of a calculation target section is high or low is estimated based on the road type of the section. Then, the basic value Esb of the consumed energy Es is corrected based on the energy efficiency ηe (correction coefficient), which varies depending on the estimation result of whether the road load of the section is high or low. This makes it possible to easily estimate the level of the road load (in other words, the energy efficiency ηe) of the calculation target section of the consumed energy Es based on the section information, while accurately calculating the consumed energy Es of the section. In other words, the estimation accuracy of the consumed energy Es is improved.

[0032] Fig. 3 is a graph showing a map (motor efficiency map) of the efficiency ηm of the electric motor 14 shown in Fig. 1. The vertical axis of Fig. 3 is the torque [Nm] of the electric motor 14, and the horizontal axis is the rotation speed [rpm] of the electric motor 14. The efficiency ηm of the electric motor 14 is expressed as the relationship between the torque and rotation speed of the electric motor 14, as shown in Fig. 3. The energy efficiency ηe is basically proportional to the efficiency ηm of the electric motor 14.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows three use regions R1, R2, and R3. Use region R1 is a region where torque is positive and is located on the low rotation side. Use region R2 is a region where torque is positive and is located on the low rotation side. R1It is located on the high rotation side compared to the above. The usage area R3 will be described later.

[0034] The speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle 10 is basically proportional to the rotation speed of the electric motor 14. In other words, the rotation speed of the electric motor 14 increases at high vehicle speeds. The usage region R2 corresponds to the region used when traveling on expressways, and the usage region R1 corresponds to the region used when traveling on ordinary roads. As shown in FIG. 3, compared to the usage region R1, the usage region R2 includes more regions with high efficiency ηm. Therefore, it can be seen that when traveling on expressways, regions with high efficiency ηm are more likely to be used than when traveling on ordinary roads. Therefore, by setting the efficiency value ηe1 when traveling on expressways higher than the efficiency value ηe2 when traveling on ordinary roads as in the process shown in FIG. 2, the energy efficiency ηe of a section included in the planned travel route can be appropriately and simply estimated, taking into account the road type of the section. Then, by reflecting the energy efficiency ηe estimated in this way in the basic value Esb, the estimation accuracy of the consumed energy Es can be improved.

[0035] 2-2. Calculation example 2 (power running / regeneration) Calculation example 2 differs from calculation example 1 in that the magnitude (sign) of the basic value Esb of the energy consumption Es of the calculation target section is used instead of the road type of the section to estimate whether the road load of the calculation target section is high. More specifically, in the calculation process of calculation example 2, the ECU 16 estimates whether the road load of the calculation target section is high based on, for example, whether the basic value Esb of the calculation target section is positive or negative.

[0036] 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the calculation process according to calculation example 2 of the embodiment. Below, differences between the process of this flowchart and the process of the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0037] In FIG. 4, the process proceeds to step S200 after step S100. In step S200, ECU 16 determines whether the basic value Esb calculated in step S100 is positive or negative. As a result, if the basic value Esb is positive (step S200; Yes), the process proceeds to step S202. On the other hand, if the basic value Esb is negative (step S200; No), the process proceeds to step S204.

[0038] In step S202, the ECU 16 sets the energy efficiency ηe to the efficiency value ηe3 used when the basic value Esb is positive. Then, the process proceeds to step S108. On the other hand, in step S204, the ECU 16 sets the energy efficiency ηe to the efficiency value ηe4 used when the basic value Esb is negative. Then, the process proceeds to step S108.

[0039] More specifically, according to the process shown in FIG. 4, if the basic value Esb for the current calculation target section is positive, it is estimated that the road load for that section is high. On the other hand, if the basic value Esb is negative, it is estimated that the road load for that section is low. Accordingly, the efficiency value ηe3 when the basic value Esb is positive is set to be higher than the efficiency value ηe4 when the basic value Esb is negative. For example, the efficiency value ηe3 is 0.9 (90%), and the efficiency value ηe4 is 0.75 (75%).

[0040] In addition, the intervals where the basic value Esb is positive correspond to intervals where the impact of energy consumption by the electric motor 14 in the powering state on the basic value Esb is greater than the impact of energy regeneration by the electric motor 14 in the regenerative state on the basic value Esb, or to intervals where the electric motor 14 is used only in the powering state. Conversely, the intervals where the basic value Esb is negative correspond to intervals where the impact of energy regeneration by the electric motor 14 in the regenerative state on the basic value Esb is greater than the impact of energy consumption by the electric motor 14 in the powering state on the basic value Esb, or to intervals where the electric motor 14 is used only in the regenerative state.

[0041] As described above, according to calculation example 2 shown in Fig. 4, whether the road load of a calculation target section is high or low is estimated based on the magnitude (sign) of the basic value Esb of the energy consumption Es of the calculation target section. This method also makes it possible to easily estimate the level of the road load (in other words, the energy efficiency ηe) of the calculation target section of the energy consumption Es based on the section information, and accurately calculate the energy consumption Es of the section.

[0042] In FIG. 3, the use region R3 is located on the low rotation side, where the torque of the electric motor 14 is negative. This use region R3 is used when the electric motor 14 is in a regenerative state. On the other hand, when the electric motor 14 is in a powering state, the use regions R1 and R2 are used. Here, it can be seen from FIG. 3 that the proportion of the high-efficiency region (the region with high efficiency ηm) in the powering use regions R1 and R2 is higher than the proportion of the high-efficiency region in the regenerative use region R3. The electric motor 14 enters a regenerative state while the vehicle 10 is decelerating. For this reason, it can be said that, on average, the vehicle speed during electric traveling in a certain section is lower during regeneration than during powering. From these facts, it can be seen that when the basic value Esb is positive, the region with high efficiency ηm is more likely to be used than when the basic value Esb is negative. Therefore, by setting the efficiency value ηe3 when the basic value Esb is positive higher than the efficiency value ηe4 when the basic value Esb is negative, as in the process shown in Figure 4, it becomes possible to appropriately and simply estimate the energy efficiency ηe of a section included in the planned travel route, taking into account the magnitude (sign) of the basic value Esb of that section. Then, by reflecting the energy efficiency ηe estimated in this way, it is possible to improve the estimation accuracy of the energy consumption Es.

[0043] 2-3. Calculation example 3 (vehicle speed) Calculation example 3 differs from calculation example 1 in that the vehicle speed in the calculation target section is used instead of the road type of the section to estimate whether the road load in the calculation target section is high. More specifically, in the calculation process according to calculation example 3, ECU 16 estimates whether the road load in the calculation target section is high based on, for example, whether the vehicle speed in the calculation target section is equal to or higher than a threshold.

[0044] 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the calculation process according to Calculation Example 3 of the embodiment. Below, differences between the process of this flowchart and the process of the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0045] In FIG. 5, the process proceeds to step S300 after step S100. In step S300, the ECU 16 determines whether the vehicle speed in the current calculation target section (e.g., the average vehicle speed in the section) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (e.g., 80 km / h) based on the section information from the navigation device 20. As a result, if the vehicle speed in the section is equal to or greater than the threshold value (step S300; Yes), the process proceeds to step S302. On the other hand, if the vehicle speed in the section is less than the threshold value (step S300; No), the process proceeds to step S304.

[0046] In step S302, the ECU 16 sets the energy efficiency ηe to the efficiency value ηe5 used when the vehicle speed in the section is equal to or greater than the threshold (i.e., when traveling at high speed). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S108. On the other hand, in step S304, the ECU 16 sets the energy efficiency ηe to the efficiency value ηe6 used when the vehicle speed in the section is less than the threshold (i.e., when traveling at low speed). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S108.

[0047] More specifically, if the vehicle speed in the current calculation target section is equal to or greater than the threshold, the road load in that section is estimated to be high. On the other hand, if the vehicle speed in that section is less than the threshold, the road load in that section is estimated to be low. Accordingly, the efficiency value ηe5 during high-speed driving is set to be higher than the efficiency value ηe6 during low-speed driving. For example, the efficiency value ηe5 is 0.9 (90%), and the efficiency value ηe6 is 0.75 (75%).

[0048] As described above, according to calculation example 3 shown in Fig. 4, it is estimated whether the road load in a calculation target section is high or low based on the vehicle speed in that section. This method also makes it possible to accurately calculate the energy consumption Es in that section while easily estimating the level of the road load (in other words, the energy efficiency ηe) in the calculation target section for the energy consumption Es based on the section information.

[0049] In addition, as can be seen from the explanation already given for Calculation Example 1 with reference to Figure 3, it can be seen that when traveling at high speeds, the region with high efficiency ηm is more likely to be used than when traveling at low speeds. Therefore, by making the efficiency value ηe5 when traveling at high speeds higher than the efficiency value ηe6 when traveling at low speeds as in the process shown in Figure 5, it becomes possible to appropriately and simply estimate the energy efficiency ηe of a section included in the planned traveling route, taking into account the vehicle speed of that section. Then, by reflecting the energy efficiency ηe estimated in this way in the basic value Esb, it is possible to improve the estimation accuracy of the consumed energy Es. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 10 vehicle, 12 battery, 14 electric motor, 16 electronic control unit (ECU), 18 power control unit (PCU), 20 navigation device, 22 HMI device, 24 processor, 26 storage device

Claims

[Claim 1] A control device for controlling a vehicle that runs electrically using an electric motor driven by power from a battery, a processor that executes a calculation process to calculate energy consumption by the electric traveling of a section from a first point to a second point on a planned traveling route of the vehicle, The calculation process includes: an estimation process for estimating whether a road load in the section is high or not based on the road type of the section; a correction process for correcting the basic value of the consumed energy based on a correction coefficient that varies depending on whether the road load in the section is high or not; Including, the estimation process includes a process of determining whether the road type of the section is an expressway or an ordinary road, the correction coefficient is an energy efficiency proportional to the efficiency of the electric motor; The correction process includes: When the road type of the section is determined to be an ordinary road, an efficiency value for when the vehicle is traveling on an ordinary road is set as the correction coefficient; When the road type of the section is determined to be an expressway, setting an efficiency value for when the vehicle is traveling on an expressway that is higher than the efficiency value for when the vehicle is traveling on an ordinary road as the energy efficiency; Contains Vehicle control device.

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