electric vehicles

Abstract

To control external power supply and indoor air-conditioning cooperatively in an electric-motor coach.SOLUTION: An electric-motor coach comprises a battery which supplies electrical power to a motor, an air conditioner which air-conditions a passenger compartment of the electric-motor coach by power supply from the battery, an external power supply device which supplies power to outside of the electric-motor coach by the power supply from the battery, a temperature detection device which detects temperature in the passenger compartment, a crew member detection device which detects a crew member which exists in the passenger compartment and a control device which controls operation of the air conditioner and the external power supply device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The technology disclosed in this specification relates to electric vehicles. As used herein, the term "electric vehicle" broadly refers to an electric vehicle driven by a motor to drive wheels, including, for example, battery electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel cell electric vehicles.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes an electric vehicle. This electric vehicle includes an air conditioner and an external power supply device. The air conditioner and the external power supply device operate by the supplied power from the battery. During the operation of the external power supply device, the operation of the air conditioner is interrupted according to the presence or absence of passengers. Thereby, the power consumption of the battery during external power supply is suppressed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] During external power supply by an electric vehicle, the remaining charge of the battery may significantly decrease. In this case, by forcibly stopping the air conditioner, the external power supply can be continued for a longer time. On the other hand, when the air conditioner stops while there are passengers in the vehicle compartment, depending on the climate and weather conditions at that time, the comfort in the vehicle compartment may be impaired, and there is a risk that the passengers may feel uncomfortable.

[0005] In view of the above, this specification provides a technology related to the control of external power supply and indoor air conditioning when the remaining charge of the battery decreases.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The technology disclosed herein is embodied in an electric vehicle whose wheels are driven by a motor. This electric vehicle includes a battery that supplies power to the motor, an air conditioning system that uses power supplied from the battery to air-condition the vehicle's interior, an external power supply system that uses power supplied from the battery to supply power to the outside of the electric vehicle, a temperature detection device that detects the temperature of the vehicle's interior, an occupant detection device that detects occupants present in the vehicle's interior, and a control device that controls the operation of the air conditioning system and the external power supply system.

[0007] The control device is capable of performing a priority stop process to preferentially stop the operation of either the air conditioning system or the external power supply system when the battery charge level drops to a predetermined value while both the air conditioning system and the external power supply system are operating, according to the detection results of the occupant detection system and the temperature detection system. In the priority stop process, the operation of the external power supply system is preferentially stopped when the presence of an occupant is detected by the occupant detection system and the temperature detected by the temperature detection system is outside a predetermined range.

[0008] According to the above configuration, when both the cabin air conditioning and external power supply are operating and the battery charge level drops to a predetermined value, one of the cabin air conditioning or external power supply will shut off depending on the presence of occupants and the cabin temperature. In particular, when occupants are present in the cabin and the cabin temperature deviates from the appropriate temperature, the external power supply will be preferentially shut off to maintain cabin air conditioning. This maintains comfort inside the cabin. On the other hand, when there are no occupants in the cabin, or when the cabin temperature is appropriate, the cabin air conditioning may be preferentially shut off, thereby allowing the external power supply to continue. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electric vehicle 10. [Figure 2] This flowchart shows an example of a series of control procedures performed by the control device 24. [Figure 3] The flow of various information in the control device 24 is schematically shown. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The electric vehicle 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Although it is just one example, the electric vehicle 10 of this embodiment is a so-called battery electric vehicle (BEV). Note that the configuration described in this embodiment is not limited to battery electric vehicles and can be similarly adopted for other types of electric vehicles.

[0011] As shown in Figure 1, the electric vehicle 10 comprises a battery 12, a motor 14, an air conditioning unit 16, and an external power supply unit 18. The battery 12 is a high-voltage battery. Here, high voltage means an operating voltage exceeding 60V DC. The battery 12 contains multiple secondary battery cells and is configured to be rechargeable by an external power source (not shown). The secondary battery cells may be, for example, lithium-ion cells.

[0012] Motor 14 is a device that drives the wheels (not shown) of the electric vehicle 10 using power supplied from the battery 12. Motor 14 is electrically connected to the battery 12 and mechanically connected to the wheels. Although not particularly limited, motor 14 is a three-phase AC motor. A power conversion device including a voltage converter and an inverter is provided between the battery 12 and motor 14. The wheels driven by motor 14 may be front wheels or rear wheels. In one example, in the electric vehicle 10 of this embodiment, motor 14 is connected to a pair of front wheels via a reduction gear and a differential. In another embodiment, motor 14 may be a so-called in-wheel motor. In this case, the electric vehicle 10 can be equipped with multiple motors 14 depending on the number of drive wheels.

[0013] The air conditioning unit 16 is a device that air-conditions the passenger compartment of the electric vehicle 10 using power supplied from the battery 12. The specific configuration of the air conditioning unit 16 is not particularly limited. For example, in this embodiment, the air conditioning unit 16 can perform heating, cooling, dehumidification, and ventilation of the passenger compartment according to the user-set temperature, the temperature inside the passenger compartment, the outside temperature, the amount of sunlight, etc.

[0014] The external power supply device 18 is a device that supplies power to the outside of the electric vehicle 10 using power supplied from the battery 12. The specific configuration of the external power supply device 18 is not particularly limited. For example, the external power supply device 18 is configured using a charging inlet and a power converter, and is connected to V2H (Vehicle to Home) equipment installed in a home or business via the charging inlet. The external power supply device 18 may supply DC power to the outside, or it may supply AC power to the outside.

[0015] The electric vehicle 10 further includes a temperature detection device 20, an occupant detection device 22, and a control device 24. The temperature detection device 20 is a device that detects the temperature inside the vehicle of the electric vehicle 10. The specific configuration of the temperature detection device 20 is not particularly limited. The aforementioned air conditioning system 16 can adjust the temperature inside the vehicle according to the temperature detected by the temperature detection device 20. The occupant detection device 22 is a device that detects occupants present inside the vehicle of the electric vehicle 10. The specific configuration of the occupant detection device 22 is not particularly limited. For example, the occupant detection device 22 may be a seat sensor (weight sensor) provided on the passenger seat of the electric vehicle 10. Alternatively, the occupant detection device 22 may determine the presence or absence of occupants according to the operation history of multimedia equipment mounted on the electric vehicle 10. In this case, the occupant detection device 22 can be configured using part or all of the control device 24. In addition, the occupant detection device 22 may be a drive recorder that takes pictures inside the vehicle, or a vibration sensor that detects vibrations of the electric vehicle 10, etc.

[0016] The control device 24 operates using power supplied from the battery 12 and controls the operation of the air conditioning unit 16 and the external power supply unit 18. The specific configuration of the control device 24 is not particularly limited. The control device 24 can be composed of one or more computer devices. As an example, in this embodiment, the control device 24 is configured using an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on the electric vehicle 10. A temperature detection device 20 and an occupant detection device 22 are connected to the control device 24. The control device 24 controls the operation of the air conditioning unit 16 and the external power supply unit 18 according to the detection results from the temperature detection device 20 and the occupant detection device 22.

[0017] Referring to Figure 2, the priority stop process executed by the control device 24 will be explained. The control device 24 executes the priority stop process described below by repeatedly performing the series of control procedures shown in Figure 2 while the external power supply device 18 is operating (in this case, while V2H is being executed). First, the control device 24 determines whether or not the air conditioning system 16 is operating (S10). If the air conditioning system 16 is operating (S10:Y), the control device 24 checks the detection results (seat sensor, multimedia operation history) from the occupant detection device 22 (S12). If the detection result indicates the presence of an occupant (S12:Y), the control device 24 stops the operation of the external power supply device 18 before the operation of the air conditioning system 16 when the remaining charge of the battery 12 drops to a predetermined value. This prevents over-discharge of the battery 12 while maintaining comfort in the vehicle cabin where an occupant is present.

[0018] Furthermore, if the temperature detected by the temperature detection device 20 is within a predetermined range that is comfortable for the occupants, the control device 24 may stop the operation of the air conditioning system 16 before the operation of the external power supply device 18. This is because the comfort level inside the vehicle can be maintained even if the operation of the air conditioning system 16 is temporarily stopped. In this case, the control device 24 will stop the operation of the external power supply device 18 before the operation of the air conditioning system 16 when the remaining charge of the battery 12 has fallen to a predetermined value and the temperature inside the vehicle is outside the predetermined range. After that, when the temperature inside the vehicle returns to within the predetermined range, the control device 24 may stop the operation of the air conditioning system 16 and restart the operation of the external power supply device 18.

[0019] In contrast, if the occupant detection device 22 does not detect the presence of an occupant (S12:N), the control device 24 stops the operation of the air conditioning system 16 before the operation of the external power supply device 18 when the remaining charge of the battery 12 drops to a predetermined value. Since there is no occupant in the vehicle compartment, stopping the air conditioning in the vehicle compartment preferentially allows the external power supply to continue for a longer period. Note that if the air conditioning system 16 is not operating at all in the first step S10 (S10:N), the operation of the external power supply device 18 continues even if the remaining charge of the battery 12 drops to a predetermined value.

[0020] As described above, in the electric vehicle 10 of this embodiment, when the remaining charge of the battery 12 drops to a predetermined value while both the cabin air conditioning and external power supply are operating, one of the cabin air conditioning or external power supply will stop depending on the presence of occupants and the temperature of the cabin. In particular, when occupants are present in the cabin and the cabin temperature deviates from the appropriate temperature, the external power supply will be preferentially stopped to maintain the cabin air conditioning. This maintains comfort inside the cabin. On the other hand, when there are no occupants in the cabin, or when the cabin temperature is appropriate, the cabin air conditioning may be preferentially stopped, thereby allowing the external power supply to continue.

[0021] When executing the control process of FIG. 2, the specific information used by the control device 24 is not particularly limited. As an example, as shown in FIG. 3(A), for passenger determination, the multimedia operation history and the detection result of the seat weight sensor value are used. For stop priority determination, the battery remaining amount decrease information of the battery 12, the vehicle interior temperature detected by the temperature detection device 20, the operating state of the air conditioner 16, the operating information (V2H operating information) of the external power supply device 18, and the passenger determination result are used. Using these information, in the stop priority determination, it is determined which of the air conditioner 16 and the external power supply device 18 is to be preferentially stopped when the battery remaining amount of the battery 12 decreases. Then, as shown in FIG. 3(B), using the result of the stop priority determination and the battery remaining amount decrease information of the battery 12, the stop determination of the air conditioner 16 or the stop determination of the external power supply device 18 is executed.

Description of Signs

[0022] 10: Electric vehicle, 12: Battery, 14: Motor, 16: Air conditioner, 18: External power supply device, 20: Temperature detection device, 22: Occupant detection device, 24: Control device

Claims

[Claim 1] An electric vehicle whose wheels are driven by a motor, A battery that supplies power to the motor, An air conditioning system that uses power supplied from the battery to air-condition the passenger compartment of the electric vehicle, An external power supply device that provides external power to the electric vehicle using power supplied from the aforementioned battery, A temperature detection device for detecting the temperature of the vehicle interior, An occupant detection device for detecting occupants present in the vehicle interior, A control device that controls the operation of the air conditioning system and the external power supply device, Equipped with, The control device is capable of executing a priority stop process to preferentially stop the operation of either the air conditioning system or the external power supply system when the battery charge level drops to a predetermined value while both the air conditioning system and the external power supply system are operating, according to the detection results of the occupant detection system and the temperature detection system. In the priority stop process, the operation of the external power supply device is preferentially stopped when the presence of the occupant is detected by the occupant detection device and the temperature detected by the temperature detection device is outside a predetermined range. Electric car.

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