Method for planning vehicle utilization of a vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for planning vehicle usage of a vehicle (1), in which at least one vehicle component is preconditioned during the vehicle usage, characterized in that the time, duration and / or number of vehicle downtimes to be performed during the vehicle usage are selected such that at the start of the vehicle downtime at least one traction battery (2) of the vehicle (1) has a state of charge within a defined state of charge range (3), such that an amount of electrical energy provided by a boil-off management system during the vehicle downtime is either fully stored in the traction battery (2) or partially stored in the traction battery (2) and fully consumed by a third party load (4) during the vehicle downtime, and the amount of electrical energy available in the traction battery (2) at the start of the vehicle downtime is sufficient to sufficiently heat a fuel cell system (5) of the vehicle (1) to an operating temperature at the end of the vehicle downtime.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for planning vehicle utilization of a vehicle of the type defined more precisely in the general terms of claim 1 and to a vehicle of the type defined more precisely in the general terms of claim 8. [Background technology]

[0002] With increasing environmental awareness and associated stricter environmental directives, alternative drive systems for vehicles are becoming increasingly important. In addition to hybrid vehicles and pure battery-electric vehicles, vehicles with fuel cell systems are also known, in which electric drive energy is obtained by reacting a fuel gas, usually hydrogen, with an oxidizer, usually oxygen, with the aid of a fuel cell. Storing fuel gas places greater demands on the tank than storing liquid fuels such as gasoline. Fuel gas is typically stored in a tank under relatively high pressure and / or low temperature to enable the vehicle to carry a sufficient fuel reserve. Therefore, corresponding fuel tanks are designed with thick walls and / or are insulated. The insulation prevents the fuel tank from heating up too quickly, which would evaporate the liquid fuel gas and cause the internal tank pressure to rise too quickly.

[0003] Typically, hydrogen is stored in such tanks in a liquid state at approximately -250°C. If a vehicle with such a tank is parked for an extended period of time, the tank will slowly warm up, causing the liquid hydrogen to evaporate, resulting in a buildup of pressure within the tank. When the internal pressure within the tank rises to a critical value, hydrogen must be vented from the tank to reduce the pressure within the tank again. The extracted hydrogen can be released into the environment via a catalytic converter or can be reacted in the vehicle's fuel cell system to form water, thereby producing electrical energy. This process, which results in a heat-induced pressure increase, is also known as boil-off.

[0004] At low ambient temperatures, it is possible for the water in the fuel cell system to freeze, meaning that the fuel cell system cannot function properly. In this case, heat must be supplied to the fuel cell system to re-thaw the frozen water, which requires energy to generate the heat.

[0005] A cryogenic tank system for cryogenically stored fuel is known, for example, from German Patent Application Publication No. DE 10304165 A1. In the case of boil-off, fuel gas to be discharged from the cryogenic tank system is reacted and converted into electrical energy with the help of two recycling devices, also known as boil-off management systems. These recycling devices can be, for example, burners, catalytic burners, fuel cells, or internal combustion motors. For safety reasons, the cryogenic tank system has at least two such recycling devices, which are connected to the cryogenic tank system via a common supply line. The supply line is provided with a switching valve that switches without auxiliary energy to distribute the fuel gas discharged from the cryogenic tank system between the recycling devices. Safe and reliable switching is ensured so that if one of the recycling devices fails, the fuel gas to be recycled can be supplied to the remaining recycling device.

[0006] Furthermore, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018 / 0334170 discloses a method for preconditioning a hybrid electric vehicle. In addition to a combustion motor, such a hybrid electric vehicle also includes at least one traction battery. According to the method disclosed in the publication, heat is supplied to the traction battery, the internal combustion motor, the exhaust gas aftertreatment system, and / or the vehicle's passenger compartment to heat the corresponding components to operating temperature. A traction battery heated to operating temperature is particularly energy-efficient. A combustion motor and / or an exhaust gas aftertreatment system warmed to operating temperature can be operated in a particularly low-emission operating mode. A heated passenger compartment ensures a high level of thermal comfort for people operating the vehicle in cold ambient conditions. Heat is supplied to the relevant components shortly before the vehicle starts and sets off. The moment the vehicle begins its journey is determined by analyzing user behavior and / or evaluating sensor data. The energy required to generate the heat is obtained in the form of electrical energy from the vehicle's traction battery and / or a charging station connected to the vehicle by a cable. When a charging station is not connected to the vehicle and the traction battery has a relatively low charge level, the system prioritizes which vehicle components should be heated and which should not. Therefore, there is a risk that individual vehicle components may not be sufficiently heated in certain situations. According to the publication, the vehicle may also include a fuel cell system. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] DE 10304165 A1 [Patent Document 2] US Patent Application Publication No. 2018 / 0334170 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The present invention serves to provide a method for planning vehicle utilization that helps to minimize energy losses when parking a vehicle supplied with electric drive energy by a fuel cell system and allows the vehicle to start reliably at ambient temperatures near freezing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to the invention, this problem is solved by a method for planning vehicle utilization of a vehicle having the features of claim 1 and a vehicle having the features of claim 8. Advantageous and further embodiments result from the claims dependent thereon.

[0010] In a method for planning vehicle utilization of a vehicle of the type mentioned in the introduction, at least one vehicle component is preconditioned during vehicle utilization. According to the invention, the time, duration and / or number of planned vehicle downtimes to be performed during vehicle utilization are selected so that at the start of the vehicle downtime, at least one traction battery of the vehicle has a state of charge within a defined state of charge range, so that the amount of electrical energy provided by the boil-off management system during the vehicle downtime is either completely stored in the traction battery or partially stored in the traction battery and completely consumed by third-party consumers during the vehicle downtime, and the amount of electrical energy available in the traction battery at the start of the vehicle downtime is sufficient to heat the vehicle's fuel cell system to operating temperature at the end of the vehicle downtime.

[0011] The method according to the present invention enables particularly energy-efficient and reliable vehicle operation. In the event of boil-off, all hydrogen removed from the vehicle's hydrogen tank is converted into electrical energy in the fuel cell system and stored in the traction battery or used by third-party consumers. This prevents unused hydrogen from having to be released into the environment. This also ensures that sufficient electrical energy is stored in the vehicle's traction battery at the end of vehicle downtime to thaw a frozen fuel cell system and / or heat it to operating temperature. This energy-efficient and reliable operation is possible thanks to the defined state-of-charge range of the traction battery. In this way, the traction battery's state of charge is coordinated with planned vehicle downtimes during vehicle use according to the state-of-charge range so that a sufficient charge reserve can be provided to absorb electrical energy or heat the fuel cell system.

[0012] As the capacity of the traction battery increases, the size of the state of charge region also increases, thus facilitating greater flexibility in planning vehicle utilization, as more vehicle downtimes can be performed, vehicle downtimes can last longer, and vehicle downtimes can be performed in shorter succession or at longer intervals.

[0013] An advantageous further development of the method is that the following parameters are taken into account when planning vehicle utilization: Weather forecasts valid for the vehicle's current and / or future location; current and / or future vehicle loads, a traffic forecast valid for at least one section of the route to be traveled by the vehicle; the current and / or future tank pressure of the vehicle's cryogenic tank; current and / or future cryogenic tank temperatures, the current and / or future charge of fuel gas to be filled into the cryogenic tank; and / or the amount of electrical energy required by third-party consumers during vehicle downtime; It is provided that at least one of the following is taken into consideration.

[0014] By taking the listed parameters into account, the state of charge range and the state of charge of the traction battery during vehicle downtime can be predicted even more accurately. The ambient temperature around the vehicle can be determined taking into account the weather forecast valid for the vehicle's location. When the ambient temperature is relatively high, the cryogenic tank also heats up more quickly, which results in a faster increase in internal tank pressure. This means that the boil-off management system must also be activated earlier to convert the fuel gas, specifically hydrogen, extracted from the cryogenic tank into electrical energy in the fuel cell system and store it in the vehicle's traction battery. On the other hand, when the ambient temperature is relatively low, boil-off is also delayed.

[0015] If the vehicle is carrying a relatively large and therefore heavy load, the vehicle's consumption will also increase. As a result, the charge level of the vehicle's traction battery will decrease more quickly when traveling a certain distance, which means that the lower end of the state-of-charge range will also be reached more quickly.

[0016] Similarly, when a traffic obstruction occurs, such as a traffic jam or slow-moving traffic, the fuel consumption of a vehicle increases.

[0017] By monitoring the current and / or future internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank, it is possible to more reliably predict when a boil-off event will occur and fuel gas will need to be vented from the cryogenic tank. For example, if the internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank is closer to its upper load limit at the start of vehicle downtime, fuel gas will have to be vented from the cryogenic tank sooner. Conversely, if the internal tank pressure is relatively low, the boil-off time will also be slower.

[0018] Taking into account the listed parameters, vehicle downtimes where no boil-off occurs can also be planned.

[0019] Since the internal tank pressure also depends on the fuel gas charge and the cryogenic tank temperature, by monitoring the cryogenic tank temperature and the cryogenic tank charge, the point at which boil-off occurs can be determined with more certainty.

[0020] If it is expected that a certain amount of electrical energy will have to be supplied to third-party consumers during vehicle downtime, such as a crane, a trash compactor, a cooling system, or a concrete mixer, the electrical energy supplied by the boil-off management system may not only be stored in the traction battery, but may also be consumed by the third-party consumers. This means that the time it takes for the traction battery to be fully charged from a specified charge level increases compared to charging the traction battery without the third-party consumers. In other words, the simultaneous operation of the third-party consumers allows the upper limit of the state-of-charge region to be shifted upward toward a fully charged traction battery.

[0021] According to a further advantageous embodiment of the method, the vehicle utilization is planned so that the state of charge of at least one traction battery corresponds to an upper or lower limit of the state of charge range at the start of the vehicle downtime. To ensure that the state of charge of the traction battery is within the state of charge range at the start of the vehicle downtime, the operating mode of the vehicle may need to be adjusted in time before the vehicle downtime occurs. If the state of charge is set so that the state of charge is at the upper or lower limit of the state of charge range at the start of the vehicle downtime, the point in time at which the operating mode of the vehicle needs to be adjusted may be delayed. This means that the vehicle can be operated as long as possible during the journey, taking into account other optimization parameters.

[0022] In this way, the vehicle can be operated in a particularly fuel-efficient, cost-optimized, life-optimized, performance-optimized, or other optimal manner during the journey, which means that more degrees of freedom can be used when selecting an operating strategy for the vehicle, and therefore also for the vehicle's fuel cell system, during the journey.

[0023] To adapt the vehicle's operating mode so that the traction battery's state of charge is within the state of charge region at the start of vehicle downtime, the following occurs: - If the traction battery's state of charge is too low, the power output from the fuel cell system is increased and / or more electrical energy is stored in the traction battery, which is recovered during recovery phases that occur while driving. A positive side effect of increasing the fuel cell system power is a reduction in the internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank. If the state of charge is too high, the fuel cell system output is reduced and the energy required to power the vehicle and / or third party consumers is taken from the traction battery. Also, to prevent the cryogenic tank from heating up too quickly, the cooling power of the cryogenic tank can be increased or the heat power supplied to the cryogenic tank can be reduced. If the cryogenic tank is actively cooled, the excess electrical energy can also be dissipated by an appropriate cooling unit. If the tank internal pressure is too high, the heat supply to the cryogenic tank is reduced, the cooling power of the cryogenic tank is increased, and / or the power output of the fuel cell system is increased. If there is a relatively high expected electrical energy requirement of third-party consumers during vehicle downtime, a relatively high state of charge and / or a relatively high tank pressure of the traction battery is set.

[0024] A further advantageous embodiment of the method also provides that the planning of vehicle usage is performed inside or outside the vehicle. To plan the vehicle usage, an authorized person, such as a vehicle officer or a fleet coordinator, can input the corresponding journey to be performed by the vehicle into a computing unit for evaluation. Any program suitable for evaluating journeys or planning vehicle usage can be executed on the computing unit. The computing unit can be, for example, an internal or external computing unit. The on-board computing unit can be, for example, a central on-board computer, a telematics unit, a control unit of a vehicle subsystem, etc. The on-board computing unit can also be a mobile terminal device transported with the vehicle, such as a laptop, a tablet computer, a smartphone, etc. For example, a cloud server or a backend can be used as the external computing unit. In addition to the planned route, planned breaks and idle times are also taken into account.

[0025] This makes it possible to predict how much fuel the vehicle will consume during the journey and therefore how full the cryogenic tank will be at the start of the vehicle downtime. By simultaneously considering the resulting tank pressure and the cryogenic tank temperature, the time at which boil-off will occur can be predicted with a certain accuracy. Furthermore, the time at which the vehicle's operating strategy is changed can be planned to ensure that the traction battery's charge level at the start of the corresponding vehicle downtime is specifically within the state-of-charge region.

[0026] According to a further advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the off-vehicle planning of the vehicle usage is carried out by a service provider. The service provider may be, for example, a vehicle manufacturer, a transport company, a construction company, a public institution, etc. In particular, the service provider centrally coordinates the vehicle fleet. The corresponding vehicle fleet communicates with the vehicle control center via a wireless communication connection, for example via mobile radio, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, etc. The communication may also take place via the Internet, at least on a segment-by-segment basis. Individual segments of the journey to be performed by the vehicle may also be planned and analyzed in the vehicle itself, while other segments may be planned and analyzed off-vehicle by the service provider.

[0027] Specifically, service providers may evaluate data acquired by vehicle fleets and thus improve the accuracy of predictions of estimated values ​​such as fuel consumption, tank pressure at the start of vehicle downtime, and traction battery state of charge.

[0028] A further advantageous embodiment of the method also provides that, before the start of vehicle downtime, fuel gas consumption is increased compared to the normal operating mode, and / or heating power for thermal conditioning of the cryogenic tank is reduced compared to the normal operating mode, or cooling power for thermal conditioning of the cryogenic tank is increased compared to the normal operating mode, in order to set the internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank to an adjustable minimum pressure. Minimizing the internal tank pressure at the start of vehicle downtime increases the time until boil-off occurs. In this way, the internal tank pressure can be reduced by draining a particularly large amount of fuel gas from the cryogenic tank and / or by cooling the cryogenic tank. The cryogenic tank can be cooled by actively cooling the cryogenic tank or by reducing the heating power for heating the cryogenic tank. Preferably, the power of the fuel cell system is increased before the vehicle downtime, and the resulting electrical energy is used to actively cool the cryogenic tank. This allows the internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank to be reduced particularly quickly.

[0029] Preferably, the upper and / or lower limits of the state of charge region and / or the time, duration, and / or number of vehicle downtimes are re-determined at least once during vehicle use. During vehicle use, unexpected events may occur that adversely affect the planned vehicle strategy, such that it may no longer be possible to maintain the traction battery's state of charge within the specified state of charge region when the vehicle downtime occurs. By recalculating at least one of the aforementioned variables, the vehicle use may be rescheduled for at least certain segments of the vehicle use, thereby making it possible to again maintain the traction battery's state of charge within the specified state of charge region. For example, vehicle downtimes may be shifted forward or backward in time, their number may be increased or decreased, the duration of vehicle downtimes may be shortened or extended, and / or the state of charge region itself may be adjusted, for example, because more or less energy has been consumed or is being consumed by third-party consumers during the vehicle downtime than previously planned.

[0030] In a vehicle having at least one traction battery, a fuel cell system, a cryogenic tank, an electric drive machine, and a computing unit, the traction battery, the fuel cell system, the cryogenic tank, the electric drive machine, and the computing unit are configured according to the present invention to perform the above-mentioned method. The vehicle can be any vehicle, such as a car, a truck, a van, a bus, or even a construction machine, such as a crane, an excavator, a concrete mixer, etc. The fuel cell system is specifically a PEM fuel cell system.

[0031] The vehicle is preferably designed as a utility vehicle. Utility vehicles are characterized by relatively large dimensions and a high transportable payload. Furthermore, utility vehicles often need to cover long distances, which is difficult to achieve with purely battery-powered vehicles because this means that a relatively large number of charging stops must be made. Utility vehicles are therefore particularly suitable for providing fuel cell systems to supply electric drive energy. The method according to the present invention is therefore particularly advantageous for use in utility vehicles.

[0032] Furthermore, such vehicles preferably have at least partially automated control systems. It is particularly advantageous if the vehicles can be controlled fully automatically, thereby enabling the use of the method according to the invention in autonomously controlled fleets. This allows, for example, the use of autonomous trucks operated in a base-to-base operation mode to be planned in an even more environmentally friendly and reliable manner.

[0033] Further advantageous embodiments of the method and vehicle according to the invention also result from the exemplary embodiments that are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1] 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a vehicle according to the present invention; [Figure 2] 1A and 1B are two charge state diagrams for a vehicle traction battery; [Figure 3] 1 is a flowchart of a method according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a vehicle 1 according to the present invention. The vehicle 1 may be, for example, a car, a truck, a bus, or a construction machine. The vehicle 1 has at least one electric drive machine 7 for driving a drivetrain 24; in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 has two electric drive machines 7. To supply energy to the electric drive machines 7, the vehicle 1 has at least one traction battery 2 and a fuel cell system 5, specifically a PEM fuel cell system. The traction battery 2, the fuel cell system 5, and the electric drive machines 7 are connected to a common high-voltage network 9 of the vehicle 1. When the vehicle 1 is stationary, the traction battery 2 may draw power from a charging station 11 via a charging interface 10. The vehicle 1 may also have further components, such as a retarder 12 and / or a brake chopper 13.

[0036] The vehicle 1 also includes at least one computing unit 8, e.g., a central on-board computer. For controlling and / or coordinating the individual vehicle components, the vehicle components are connected to the computing unit 8 via individual control units 14 and a data bus 15.

[0037] Furthermore, the vehicle 1 includes a wireless communication interface 16, through which the vehicle 1 may exchange data with a computing unit 17 external to the vehicle, such as a cloud server. For example, the vehicle 1 may receive control commands and / or communicate planned actions for the vehicle 1 from a vehicle control center.

[0038] To supply fuel cell system 5 with fuel, fuel cell system 5 is connected to cryogenic tank 6. Fuel gas, for example hydrogen, is stored in liquid form under pressure at a relatively low temperature in cryogenic tank 6. Cryogenic tank 6 is insulated from the environment. However, such insulation cannot completely adiabatically seal cryogenic tank 6 from the environment, and therefore cryogenic tank 6 slowly heats up when vehicle 1 is parked. This causes the liquid fuel gas to evaporate over time, which in turn causes the internal tank pressure in cryogenic tank 6 to slowly increase. If the internal tank pressure exceeds a critical value, there is a risk that cryogenic tank 6 will burst. To prevent this, the fuel gas is vented from cryogenic tank 6 and released into the environment or reacted by fuel cell system 5 to generate energy.

[0039] To ensure that the energy thus obtained can be fully stored in the traction battery 2 during the vehicle 1's downtime, the state of charge of the traction battery 2 at the start of the downtime must be set low enough to allow a sufficient buffer to be stored in the traction battery 2 to absorb the electrical energy released by the fuel cell system 5 when the vehicle 1 is stationary. For this purpose, the intended vehicle use of the vehicle 1 is planned before the start of the journey. The planning can be carried out by the computing unit 8 in the vehicle or by a computing unit 17 outside the vehicle. For this purpose, an authorized person can enter corresponding information into the respective computing unit 8, 17. For this purpose, the vehicle 1 can also include input means (not shown), such as a touchscreen, or an interface for data communication with a mobile terminal device, such as a laptop, tablet computer, or smartphone. Such a mobile terminal device can communicate with the vehicle 1 wired or wirelessly, for example via WiFi, Bluetooth, or NFC. Furthermore, when planning vehicle use, the state of charge of the traction battery 2 is set so that at the end of vehicle downtime, there is still enough electrical energy in the traction battery 2 to operate the heating system (not shown) of the fuel cell system 5 for a sufficient time to thaw a frozen fuel cell system 5 and / or heat it to operating temperature.

[0040] Furthermore, the vehicle 1 may have at least one third-party consumer 4, e.g., a concrete mixer, a crane, a refrigeration unit, etc. Vehicle utilization may be planned so that excess electrical energy generated by the fuel cell system 5 in a so-called boil-off case is not only stored in the traction battery 2, but is also used to operate the at least one third-party consumer 4. At least one of the electric drive machines 7 may also be operated to generate shaft power. All of the electrical energy generated by the fuel cell system 5 may also be used to operate the third-party consumer 4.

[0041] 2 shows a qualitative representation of two state-of-charge diagrams 18 for the traction battery 2. The upper end of the state-of-charge diagram 18 corresponds to a fully charged traction battery 2, indicated by a 100% state-of-charge. The lower end of the state-of-charge diagram 18 corresponds to a depleted traction battery 2, indicated by a 0% state-of-charge.

[0042] FIG. 2a) shows a charge state diagram 18 during a journey by the vehicle 1. The charge state diagram 18 has two darkly shaded areas 19 representing charge reserves for component protection. The light area 20 is used to symbolize the allowable range within which the charge state of the traction battery 2 may move during the journey. The area 20 is relatively large and provides a relatively large degree of freedom for adapting the operating strategy of the vehicle 1 to different operating situations, taking into account various optimization objectives. For example, the vehicle 1 may be operated in a particularly fuel-efficient, cost-optimized, life-saving, or similar manner during the journey.

[0043] Figure 2b) shows a further state-of-charge diagram 18 for symbolizing an acceptable state-of-charge region 3 during vehicle downtime. An operating strategy for the vehicle 1 based on the state-of-charge region diagram 18 shown in Figure 2b) is used at the start of vehicle downtime to ensure that the state of charge of the traction battery 2 is maintained within the state-of-charge region 3 just before vehicle downtime. The acceptable state-of-charge region 3 is delimited by a lower limit 3.L from a reserve 21 for the heating process and by an upper limit 3.U from a reserve 22 for storing excess electrical energy.

[0044] Ideally, the vehicle 1 is operated according to an operating strategy based on the charge state diagram 18 shown in FIG. 2b) until the very last moment before the vehicle downtime occurs. This results in the traction battery 2's state of charge matching the upper or lower limit 3.U, 3.L at the start of the vehicle downtime. This allows the vehicle 1 to be operated as long as possible according to an operating strategy based on the charge state diagram 18 shown in FIG. 2a).

[0045] 3 shows a flowchart of the method according to the invention. In method step 301, a planned journey to be performed by vehicle 1 including associated expected vehicle downtimes is determined. Planning data 310 are used as input variables for this purpose. The planning data 310 include, for example, the planned route to be traveled by vehicle 1, departure times, arrival times, the number of planned vehicle downtimes and their duration, etc.

[0046] In a subsequent method step 302, upper and lower limits 3.U, 3.L of the state-of-charge region 3 are determined in order to define the acceptable state-of-charge region 3. Similarly, the time and / or location at which the operating mode of the vehicle 1 must be adjusted before the respective vehicle downtime occurs is determined in order to bring the state of charge of the traction battery 2 into the state-of-charge region 3. Here, forecast data 320 are used as input variables. The forecast data 320 include, for example, the current tank contents of the cryogenic tank 6, the state of charge of the traction battery 2, the load of the vehicle 1, weather forecasts, traffic forecast data, etc.

[0047] In method step 303, it is checked whether the time or position has come for the vehicle 1 to adjust its operating mode so that the state of charge of the traction battery 2 corresponds to the state of charge region 3 when the next vehicle downtime occurs. If so, in method step 304, the aforementioned target values ​​are adjusted until the vehicle 1 is stationary. However, if this is not the case, the individual target values ​​can be recalculated by repeating method step 302. In method step 305, appropriate measures are taken in the event of boil-off, such as starting up the fuel cell system 5, switching on the third-party consumers 4, preheating the fuel cell system 5, tempering the cryogenic tank 6, etc. According to the illustrated arrow 23, the strategies or target values ​​defined for method steps 304 and 305 can be adapted by executing method step 302 again.

[0048] With the help of the method according to the invention, it is possible to prevent fuel gas from being wasted during vehicle downtime in order to keep the internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank 6 within acceptable limits, and to increase the reliability of the operational readiness of the vehicle 1. This ensures that sufficient battery capacity is available in the parked vehicle 1 at the end of the vehicle downtime to thaw the frozen fuel cell system 5 and / or heat it up to operating temperature.

Claims

1. A method for planning a vehicle utilization of a vehicle (1), during which at least one vehicle component is preconditioned, the time, duration and / or number of vehicle downtimes to be performed during vehicle use are selected such that at the start of a vehicle downtime, at least one traction battery (2) of the vehicle (1) has a state of charge within a specified state of charge region (3), so that an amount of electrical energy provided by a boil-off management system during the vehicle downtime is either completely stored in the traction battery (2) or partially stored in the traction battery (2) and completely consumed by a third-party consumer (4) during the vehicle downtime, and the amount of electrical energy available in the traction battery (2) at the start of the vehicle downtime is sufficient to heat a fuel cell system (5) of the vehicle (1) to an operating temperature at the end of the vehicle downtime; The vehicle utilization is planned so that the state of charge of the at least one traction battery (2) coincides with an upper limit (3.U) or a lower limit (3.L) of the state of charge region (3) at the start of a vehicle downtime. A method characterized by:

2. To plan said vehicle utilization, the following parameters are taken into account: weather forecasts valid for the current and / or future position of said vehicle (1), - current and / or future vehicle load, a traffic forecast valid for at least one section of the route to be traveled by said vehicle (1); the current and / or future internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank (6) of said vehicle (1), - current and / or future cryogenic tank temperatures; the current and / or future charge of fuel gas to be filled into said cryogenic tank (6), and / or - the amount of electrical energy required by third party consumers (4) during vehicle downtime; At least one of the following is taken into consideration:

2. The method of claim 1.

3. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the planning of the vehicle usage is performed inside or outside the vehicle.

4. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the off-vehicle planning of the vehicle utilization is performed by a service provider.

5. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, before the start of a vehicle downtime, fuel gas consumption is increased compared to a normal operating mode and / or heating power for thermal conditioning of the cryogenic tank (6) is reduced compared to the normal operating mode or cooling power for thermal conditioning of the cryogenic tank (6) is increased compared to the normal operating mode in order to set the internal tank pressure of the cryogenic tank (6) to an adjustable minimum pressure.

6. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the upper limit (3.U) and / or the lower limit (3.L) of the state of charge region (3) and / or the time points, the duration and / or the number of vehicle downtimes are re-determined at least once during vehicle use.

7. A vehicle (1) having at least one traction battery (2), a fuel cell system (5), a cryogenic tank (6), an electric drive machine (7), and a computing unit (8), 3. A vehicle, characterized in that the traction battery (2), the fuel cell system (5), the cryogenic tank (6), the electric drive machine (7) and the computing unit (8) are configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 2.

8. 8. A vehicle (1) according to claim 7, characterized by its design as a utility vehicle.

9. 8. A vehicle (1) according to claim 7, characterized by an at least partly automated control system.

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