In-car charging system

Abstract

This in-vehicle charging system charges a battery mounted on an electric vehicle by power supplied from a home and comprises: an outside world recognition unit that is mounted on the electric vehicle and detects information outside the electric vehicle; an information acquiring unit that acquires the device information of electric devices provided in the home; a power consumption estimation unit that calculates, on the basis of the outside world information and the device information, the power consumption estimation value of the electric devices provided in the home during battery charging time; and a charging power determination unit that determines a battery charging plan on the basis of the power consumption estimation value. The charging power determination unit determines the charging plan so that the sum of battery charging power and the power consumption estimation value becomes less than the upper limit value of the power consumable in the home.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an in-vehicle charging system.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a charging system that charges the battery of an electric vehicle using the power supplied from outside to the inside of a house has been known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The house is equipped with a power detection device provided between the distribution board and the in-house power load, and a charger for an electric vehicle provided with a charging controller, a converter, a charging paddle, and the like. The charging controller constantly senses the power load status of the in-house power load via the power detection device.

[0003] When charging the battery of an electric vehicle, the paddle of the charger for the electric vehicle is connected to the inlet of the electric vehicle. The charging controller provided in the charger for the electric vehicle receives signals regarding the battery state and the like from the electric vehicle side via a communication antenna, calculates the charging power for the electric vehicle, and transmits the control signal to the electric vehicle side.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the device described in Patent Document 1, special equipment such as a power detection device for detecting the power load status of the in-house power load and a charging controller for calculating the charging power is required on the house side.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An in-vehicle charging system according to an aspect of the present invention is an in-vehicle charging system that charges a battery mounted on an electric vehicle using electricity supplied from a house, and comprises: an external environment recognition unit mounted on the electric vehicle that detects external information of the electric vehicle; an information acquisition unit that acquires equipment information of electrical equipment installed in the house; a power consumption estimation unit that calculates an estimated power consumption value of the electrical equipment installed in the house when charging the battery based on the external environment information and the equipment information; and a charging power determination unit that determines a charging plan for the battery based on the estimated power consumption value, wherein the charging power determination unit determines the charging plan such that the sum of the charging power of the battery and the estimated power consumption value is below the upper limit of the electricity that can be consumed in the house. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, there is no need for a device in the house to estimate power consumption or generate a charging plan; the electric vehicle alone can estimate the power consumption of the house and generate a charging plan. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the integrated controller. [Figure 3] Figure 3 illustrates the power consumption estimation performed by the power consumption estimation unit. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows an example of a projected electricity consumption for a house. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the details of how to generate a charging plan. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows an example of a charging plan. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing a series of operations in an in-vehicle charging system. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing of the information acquisition process in step S202 shown in Figure 7. [Figure 9]Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the in-vehicle charging system in the second embodiment. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the details of the charging plan modification process shown in step S220 of Figure 10. [Figure 12] Figure 12 shows an example of the display in the information display section. [Figure 13] Figure 13 shows another example of the display in the information display section. [Figure 14] Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating the first modified example. [Figure 16] Figure 16 illustrates a modified example (modification 2). [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the semiconductor device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following description and drawings are illustrative examples for illustrating the present invention, and have been omitted and simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation. In addition, in the following description, the same or similar elements and processes are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations may be omitted. It should be noted that the contents described below are merely examples of embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and can be implemented in various other forms.

[0010] (First embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention, showing the device configurations of an electric vehicle 1 and a house 2. The house 2 trades electricity with an electric power company through a power grid 21. A distribution board 24 provided in the house 2 is connected to the power grid 21 via a watt-hour meter 22 for measuring the traded electricity and a circuit breaker 23 for cutting off the power supply when the power capacity contracted with the electric power company is exceeded. The distribution board 24 distributes power to an electric load 25 and outlets 26 used in the house 2.

[0011] The electric vehicle 1 includes an in-vehicle charging system 10 including an in-vehicle charger 12 and a battery 11 for driving the vehicle. The in-vehicle charger 12 includes a charger controller 13 for controlling the voltage and current when charging the battery 11. The battery 11 includes a battery sensor 14 for monitoring the battery state.

[0012] The in-vehicle charging system 10 further includes an integrated controller 110, an external recognition unit 120, and an information acquisition unit 130. The integrated controller 110, the external recognition unit 120, and the information acquisition unit 130 are configured to be communicable with the charger controller 13 and the battery sensor 14 via a communication bus 16. Details of the integrated controller 110, the external recognition unit 120, and the information acquisition unit 130 will be described later. The integrated controller 110 includes an arithmetic unit composed of a CPU or the like and a storage unit composed of a memory such as a RAM and a ROM, a hard disk, a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and functions as the integrated controller 110 by executing a program stored in the storage unit.

[0013] When charging the battery 11 of the electric vehicle 1, the in-vehicle charger 12 is connected to the outlet 26 of the house 2 via a charging cable 27. Although not shown, the charging cable 27 includes a control box. The control box checks the connection state with the electric vehicle 1 and notifies the charger controller 13 and the integrated controller 110 of information such as the availability of power supply and the current value that can be supplied to the electric vehicle 1. The integrated controller 110 generates a charging plan during battery charging as will be described later.

[0014] The charger controller 13 obtains the charge status and temperature of the battery 11 through the battery sensor 14. When the charger controller 13 is notified that power can be supplied via the charging cable 27, it charges the battery 11 using the onboard charger 12. The charger controller 13 controls the voltage and current of the onboard charger 12 based on the charging plan generated by the integrated controller 110 and the obtained charge status and temperature of the battery 11, and charges the battery 11.

[0015] <External world recognition section 120> The external environment recognition unit 120 is an on-board sensor installed in the electric vehicle 1, and includes, for example, a temperature sensor, an illuminance sensor, a humidity sensor, a raindrop sensor, as well as a camera, radar, a GPS (Global Positioning System) device, and an acceleration sensor. The detection information from the temperature sensor, illuminance sensor, and humidity sensor is used to calculate and correct the power consumption of electrical loads 25 used in the house 2, such as air conditioners and refrigerators. The raindrop sensor is used to estimate the operating status of electrical loads 25, such as lighting and washing machines / dryers. The camera and radar are used to detect garages and covered parking areas installed in the house 2. These detections are performed when it is recognized that the vehicle is in motion or outdoors. The GPS device is used to detect the position information of the electric vehicle 1. The acceleration sensor is used, for example, for earthquake detection, and if an earthquake is detected, charging is stopped.

[0016] <Information acquisition unit 130> The information acquisition unit 130 is composed of, for example, a human-machine interface provided by the electric vehicle 1 and includes an input unit. A touch panel display device is preferred as the human-machine interface. Such a human-machine interface can be used for various settings and adjustments of the electric vehicle 1's driving characteristics and comfort devices, as well as for the navigation system and audio system. By operating the input unit of the information acquisition unit 130, the user can provide information to the on-board charging system 10 through the information acquisition unit 130 while riding in the electric vehicle 1. The user operates the input unit of the information acquisition unit 130 to input information about the electrical load 25 that consumes power to the on-board charging system 10. The input information is stored in the memory unit of the integrated controller 110 described above.

[0017] Information regarding electrical load 25 includes the contracted capacity with the power company which represents the upper limit of the power capacity of residence 2, whether there is a time-of-day variable electricity rate plan in the contract, the time of day and the rates, the floor plan and structure of residence 2, the type of residence such as a detached house or apartment building, and other residential information including water heaters and heating appliances, as well as information on the home appliances in residence 2. The home appliance information includes the type of appliance and its power consumption, as well as information necessary for estimating power consumption, such as the time of day and operating time of the appliances. Home appliances include AV appliances such as televisions, radios, and electronic musical instruments; information appliances such as personal computers, video game consoles, and telephones; household appliances such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners; cooking appliances such as refrigerators, rice cookers, and microwave ovens; seasonal appliances such as air conditioners, fans, electric heaters, and electric blankets; and residential equipment such as lighting fixtures, heat pump water heaters, and ventilation fans.

[0018] In this embodiment, the information acquisition unit 130 is described using a touch-panel display device such as a navigation system installed in the electric vehicle 1 as an example, but it is not limited to this as long as it is a device that can acquire the information necessary to estimate the power consumption of the house 2. For example, the information acquisition unit 130 may be configured on a server that can be accessed from any terminal by the residents of the house 2 via the internet, etc. The electric vehicle 1 is then equipped with a device (for example, a display device) that constitutes part of the information acquisition unit 130. When a user inputs information such as the capacity of the ampere breaker 23 of the house 2 and information about the home appliances of the house 2 from the information acquisition unit 130 on the server, the vehicle accesses this information via a communication system (not shown) and acquires it on the vehicle side.

[0019] <Integrated Controller 110> Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the integrated controller 110. The integrated controller 110 includes at least a power consumption estimation unit 111 and a charging power determination unit 112.

[0020] The power consumption estimation unit 111 receives external information detected by the external environment recognition unit 120 and information about the electrical load 25 acquired by the information acquisition unit 130. Based on this input information, the power consumption estimation unit 111 generates operating patterns for each home appliance and estimates the power consumption of the house 2. Details of the estimation process will be described later.

[0021] The charging power determination unit 112 receives information about the electrical load 25 acquired by the information acquisition unit 130, battery information (charge status and temperature of the battery 11) acquired by the battery sensor 14, and the estimated power consumption of the house 2 (sometimes called the estimated power consumption value) estimated by the power consumption estimation unit 111. The charging power determination unit 112 sets an upper limit power at which the ampere breaker 23 will cut off the current (i.e., the breaker will trip) based on the acquired power contract information of the house 2. Furthermore, based on the estimated power consumption of the house 2 estimated by the power consumption estimation unit 111 and the battery information from the battery sensor 14, the charging power determination unit 112 generates a charging plan such that the sum of the estimated power consumption of the house 2 and the power required to charge the battery 11 does not exceed the above upper limit power.

[0022] For example, the charging plan is provided in the form of a table that sets the time and the upper limit of the power that can be used when charging the battery 11 (hereinafter referred to as the charging limit power). The generated charging plan is output to the charger controller 13. The charger controller 13 charges the battery 11 with power below the charging limit power according to the charging plan.

[0023] <Estimation of power consumption of house 2 by power consumption estimation unit 111> Figure 3 illustrates the power consumption estimation performed by the power consumption estimation unit 111. The power consumption estimation predicts the power consumption in the house 2 from the time t1 when the electric vehicle 1 starts charging until the time t2 when the battery 11 finishes charging. The estimation results are generated as a power consumption profile map (or table) plotted with time on the horizontal axis and power on the vertical axis. In the example shown in Figure 3, the electric vehicle 1 returns home at 10:00 (time t1), starts charging from there, and finishes charging at 22:00 (time t2). Here, the time to finish charging is shown up to 22:00, but it is also possible to make predictions including times beyond that. For example, the time to make predictions can be determined regardless of the time when charging will be completed, such as 24 hours or 48 hours in advance. By making predictions beyond the time when charging will be completed, even if, for example, the charging of the electric vehicle 1's battery 11 is not completed as planned, it is possible to determine whether continuing to charge would exceed the contracted power of the house 2, thereby preventing a power outage in the house 2.

[0024] The power consumption estimation unit 111 generates power consumption forecasts for each appliance, as shown in Figures 3(a), (b), and (c), based on information about home appliances used in the house 2 obtained by the information acquisition unit 130. In doing so, the power consumption estimation unit 111 categorizes the appliances according to their usage patterns and power consumption, and generates power consumption forecasts by estimating the power consumption corresponding to each category.

[0025] Figure 3(a) shows an example of projected power consumption for home appliances that are expected to be running for most of the time while the user is at home in residence 2, such as AV appliances and information appliances. Since such appliances consume almost constant power regardless of environmental factors such as temperature, the power consumption values ​​entered by the user are reflected. For example, power consumption may be set to 0 during the time when the residents of residence 2 are expected to be sleeping, and this time may be adjusted by obtaining the residents' sleeping times. Alternatively, the designer may pre-set that the power consumption from 0:00 to 5:00 is equivalent to 1 / 10 of the standby power.

[0026] Figure 3(b) shows an example of a projected power consumption for home appliances whose power consumption fluctuates depending on the outside temperature, humidity, etc., and here it shows a projected power consumption for an air conditioner. Appliances that use a heat pump cycle as their operating principle, such as air conditioners and refrigerators, have their efficiency changed depending on the temperature setting conditions and the temperature of the surrounding environment in which they are installed. For this reason, it is preferable to appropriately correct and estimate the power consumption of air conditioners and refrigerators based on the measurement results of the temperature and solar radiation intensity by the ambient temperature sensor and illuminance sensor, which are part of the ambient recognition unit 120. Air conditioners consume a large amount of power immediately after starting up, and the power consumption decreases as the temperature of the room being air-conditioned approaches the set temperature.

[0027] The example shown in Figure 3(b) illustrates a scenario where the air conditioner is operated from time t1, when charging begins. Here, it is assumed that immediately after the air conditioner is turned on, power consumption equivalent to the rated power consumption occurs, and then the air conditioner enters steady-state operation, where a constant power consumption dependent on the outside temperature occurs, and this is used to generate the power consumption forecast. For example, it is assumed that it takes 1 hour from the time the air conditioner is turned on until it transitions to the power consumption of steady-state operation. The power consumption during steady-state operation is then set by referring to a power consumption map during steady-state operation based on the ambient temperature and illuminance around the house 2 detected by the ambient awareness unit 120.

[0028] One method for setting the power consumption value during steady-state operation is, for example, the non-patent literature (Tsuyoshi Ueno, Hiroyuki Kitahara; Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Report, Development of a Heat Source Characteristic Model for Household Air Conditioners, Comprehensive Report, R09 (2015), https: / / criepi.denken.or.jp / hokokusho / pb / reportDetail?reportNoUkCode=R09) (see August 18, 2022). Alternatively, the power consumption of the air conditioner may be calculated from the housing information of housing 2 acquired by the information acquisition unit 130 using a technique such as that shown in the non-patent literature (National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management; Technical Information on Evaluation of Energy Consumption Performance in accordance with the 2016 Energy Conservation Standards (Housing), https: / / www.kenken.go.jp / becc / documents / house / 4-3_210401_v07.pdf), (see August 18, 2022).

[0029] Figure 3(c) shows the projected power consumption of home appliances that are affected by the time of day or weather conditions. As an example, it shows the projected power consumption of an induction heater, a type of cooking appliance. Appliances that are affected by the time of day include cooking appliances, household appliances, and lighting. Appliances that are affected by weather conditions include lighting and washer-dryers.

[0030] For home appliances that consume power at certain times of the day, the power consumption value and the time period during which they are primarily used are acquired by the information acquisition unit 130 and reflected in the plan. The time period is divided into 1-hour, 30-minute, or 3-hour intervals throughout the day, and the user is allowed to select which time period to use the appliance. In the case of the IH heater (cooking appliance) shown in Figure 3(c), power consumption demand occurs around the time when the user in house 2 eats meals, so the plan is generated based on the time of meal. For appliances that operate on a timer (such as water heaters), the operating time is acquired from the user or the appliance itself.

[0031] For home appliances that consume power depending on the weather, the occurrence of power consumption is estimated based on detection information from the raindrop sensor and illuminance sensor, which are part of the external environment recognition unit 120. For example, in the case of a washer-dryer, if rainfall is detected by the raindrop sensor and information is obtained that the user will use the washer-dryer in rainy weather, the power consumption forecast is planned assuming that power will be consumed.

[0032] Furthermore, in the case of lighting that consumes power depending on the time of day and weather, the amount of power consumption is estimated by determining the number of lights corresponding to the floor plan and number of rooms from the housing information acquired by the information acquisition unit 130. The power consumption estimation unit 111 generates an operation forecast from the time of day after sunset or from ambient illuminance information obtained from the illuminance sensor as the external environment recognition unit 120, and predicts the power consumption forecast based on that operation forecast. For example, if it is assumed that the brightness is not sufficient even before sunset, such as during rainy weather, an operation forecast is generated assuming that the lights will be used. In addition, the time period for using the lights may be set based on the sunset of the previous day or the past week detected by the external environment recognition unit 120.

[0033] Figure 4 shows an example of a projected power consumption for House 2, obtained by summing the power consumption of the home appliances shown in Figures 3(a), (b), and (c). In Figure 4, the solid line represents the projected power consumption, and the dashed line represents the maximum power consumption at which the ampere breaker 23 will activate. Naturally, this is merely a projected power consumption for House 2, and the actual power consumption may not necessarily match the predicted value shown in Figure 4. In Figures 3(a), (b), and (c), televisions, lighting, air conditioners, and induction heaters are shown as examples, but it goes without saying that there may be other home appliances used in House 2. Similarly, for other home appliances and power loads used, projections will be made to forecast power consumption appropriate to their usage patterns.

[0034] As mentioned above, the power consumption of home appliances used in House 2 varies depending on how they are used and the influence of the outside world. Not limited to the aforementioned lighting, televisions, air conditioners, and induction heaters, the operating patterns of home appliances that may be used in House 2 can be set in advance, and further, the power consumption values ​​can be corrected with information provided by the user, thereby setting a power consumption pattern for each appliance. For induction heaters, etc., the time of day when the residents of House 2 generally eat meals is collected as home appliance information as described above.

[0035] <Generation of a charging plan by the charging power determination unit 112> Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the details of the charging plan generation by the charging power determination unit 112. In Figure 5, the dashed line indicating the maximum power consumption and the solid line indicating the projected power consumption of House 2 are the same as the dashed line indicating the maximum power consumption and the solid line indicating the projected power consumption of House 2 shown in Figure 4. Based on the projected power consumption of House 2 estimated by the power consumption estimation unit 111 and the maximum power consumption of House 2 acquired by the information acquisition unit 130, the charging power determination unit 112 plans the power that the onboard charger 12 can use to charge the battery 11.

[0036] In Figure 5, the thick solid line shows the charging plan for the battery 11 by the onboard charger 12, and the thick dashed line shows the total power consumption, which is the sum of the projected power consumption Whome for house 2 and the power Wchg for the battery 11 charging plan. Here, a reserve power Wres is set relative to the total power consumption. The reserve power Wres may be set to a predetermined value such as 5% or 10% of the capacity of the ampere breaker 23 of house 2, or it may be set to 0.

[0037] Then, the power Wchg for the charging plan is set so that at each time, the sum of the projected power consumption Whome of house 2, the power Wchg for the charging plan, and the reserve power Wres is less than the maximum power consumption Wlim, as shown in equation (1) below. Wlim(t)≧Whome(t)+Wres(t)+Wchg(t) ···(1)

[0038] In equation (1), t represents any time in the plan. By planning the charging power to satisfy equation (1) from time t1 to time t2 when the charging plan is generated, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a power outage caused by the ampere breaker 23 tripping due to the power consumption of the house 2 exceeding the contracted power (maximum power consumption) while the battery 11 is being charged.

[0039] Furthermore, while the power Wchg represents the power available to the onboard charger 12, it is not necessarily used solely for charging the battery 11. For example, it is conceivable that the air conditioner in the electric vehicle 1 could be powered by receiving power from the house 2 via the charging cable 27 to set the interior temperature to a comfortable level before boarding the electric vehicle 1. Even in such a case, measures should be taken to ensure that the house 2 does not experience a power outage. Therefore, the power Wchg in the charging plan may include not only power for battery charging but also power for the air conditioning of the electric vehicle 1.

[0040] As mentioned above, the backup power Wres is set to a predetermined value such as 5% or 10% of the capacity of the ampere breaker 23 of house 2, but it may also be set based on weather conditions around the house detected by the external environment recognition unit 120. For example, if the raindrop sensor of the external environment recognition unit 120 predicts a high probability of rainfall, the backup power Wres is adjusted to increase. This prevents a situation where the power consumption of house 2 increases due to the use of appliances such as washing machines and dryers, which are more likely to be used during rainfall, causing the ampere breaker 23 to trip and resulting in a power outage.

[0041] On the other hand, if a large value is set for the reserve power Wres, for example, a value exceeding 30% of the capacity of the ampere breaker 23, the amount of power available to the onboard charger 12 will decrease, potentially leading to an excessively long charging time for the battery 11. Therefore, it is undesirable to set an excessively large value for the reserve power Wres.

[0042] Regarding the maximum power consumption Wlim, while it was described above as the capacity at which the ampere breaker 23 operates, it is not limited to this. For example, a maximum power consumption set in advance by the user to save on electricity costs may be used. Also, when a power wholesaler supplying power to the power grid 21 implements demand response in response to requests to reduce electricity use in order to stabilize the local power supply, a target power value is set. In such cases, that target power value may be set as the maximum power consumption Wlim. The target power value is obtained by receiving information from the power wholesaler supplying power to the power grid 21, for example.

[0043] In addition to the method described above, the charging plan may also be generated using the following method. First, it is assumed that the power consumption forecast for house 2 by the power consumption estimation unit 111 and the upper limit of the power at which the ampere breaker 23 operates (maximum power consumption) have been obtained. Based on this assumption, the problem of maximizing the power margin (= "maximum power consumption" - { "forecast power consumption of house 2" + "charging power of battery 11"}) and the amount of energy to be charged is formulated as shown in equation (2) below, and by optimizing it as a linear programming problem, a charging plan that can suppress charging time while avoiding power outages can be obtained. In equation (2), the first term on the right side is the power margin and the second term is the amount of energy to be charged, k is the time, and T is the length of the period ahead of the time t at which the plan is generated. α and β are weighting coefficients, which are parameters that adjust whether to place more weight on the size of the margin or the amount of energy to be charged. Limit This is the maximum power, and the W with a tilde (~) is the projected power consumption for house 2. Item 2, b j v is the charging power of battery 11. N is the number of electric vehicles 1 that are charged at house 2, and j is the number corresponding to each vehicle.

number

[0044] Figure 6 shows an example of a charging plan in the case of a charging contract where the electricity rate for House 2 fluctuates depending on the time of day. Similar to Figure 5, in Figure 6, the thin dashed line shows the maximum power consumption, the thin solid line shows the projected power consumption of House 2, the thick solid line shows the charging plan for battery 11, and the thick dashed line shows the total power consumption, which is the sum of the projected power consumption of House 2 and the power in the charging plan. During the time periods indicated by the arrows, the cheaper nighttime rate applies.

[0045] As shown in Figure 6, if the electricity rates for House 2 fluctuate depending on the time of day, the charging power determination unit 112 may generate a plan that uses electricity at a lower rate for charging. Such electricity rate information may be input by the user via the information acquisition unit 130, or it may be provided by a wholesale electricity provider by sequentially distributing it to the information acquisition unit 130. The charging power determination unit 112 generates a charging plan that maximizes the amount of electricity used for charging during off-peak hours. In Figure 6, the charging plan is generated in such a way that the area enclosed by the horizontal axis and the thick solid line representing the charging plan is maximized.

[0046] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a series of operations in the in-vehicle charging system 10 described above, which are executed by the integrated controller 110. The processing shown in the flowchart in Figure 7 starts, for example, when the user sets the shift lever of the electric vehicle 1 to parking or turns off the ignition. Alternatively, it may start with a start command operation by the user.

[0047] In step S201, the integrated controller 110 determines whether the contracted power and appliance information necessary for estimating the power consumption of house 2 has already been acquired by the information acquisition unit 130. If it is determined in step S201 that the information has not been acquired (no), the process proceeds to step S202, where the information acquisition subroutine is executed, and then to step S203. The detailed processing of step S202 will be described later. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S201 that the information has been acquired (yes), the process proceeds to step S203. Note that if a power outage occurred during the previous charging, it is possible that new appliances have been added to house 2, so in step S201, the user may be asked whether there have been any updates to the appliance information.

[0048] In step S203, the integrated controller 110 reads out the appliance information that has been acquired or acquired in step S202. In step S204, the integrated controller 110 reads out the external information detected by the external recognition unit 120. In step S205, the power consumption estimation unit 111 of the integrated controller 110 estimates the projected power consumption of the house 2 based on the read appliance information and external information. In step S206, the charging power determination unit 112 of the integrated controller 110 generates a charging plan for the battery 11 based on the projected power consumption of the house 2 obtained in step S205 and the maximum power consumption of the house 2.

[0049] Furthermore, power consumption forecasts and charging plans may be displayed on a display device provided by the human-machine interface. Users can check charging information while remaining in the driver's seat before disembarking from the electric vehicle 1.

[0050] In step S207, the integrated controller 110 checks the connection status of the charging cable 27 based on information from the control box on the charging cable 27 and determines whether the battery 11 can be charged. If the charging cable 27 is not connected, the process returns to step S204. If charging is possible, the process proceeds to step S208 to perform a self-check of the charging system related to charging. For example, the temperature and voltage of the battery 11 are obtained to check whether the battery 11 is in a state where it can be charged. In step S209, it is determined whether the self-check was passed (whether charging is possible or not). If it is determined to have passed in step S209, the process proceeds to step S210 to perform charging of the battery 11 according to the charging plan generated in step S206. On the other hand, if it is determined to have failed in step S209, the process proceeds to step S211 to perform error handling such as error notification.

[0051] Furthermore, if the acceleration sensor, one of the external environment recognition units 120, detects an acceleration value exceeding a predetermined value while the battery 11 is being charged by the onboard charger 12, charging will be stopped. If the acceleration sensor detects an acceleration with a periodicity exceeding a predetermined value, it is possible that an earthquake has occurred. Also, if the acceleration exceeds a predetermined value regardless of the period, it is possible that something has collided with the electric vehicle 1. By automatically stopping charging when such acceleration is detected during battery charging, it is possible to prevent secondary disasters such as fires.

[0052] The seismic intensity threshold may be made user-changeable. For example, it could be set to pause when the seismic intensity reaches the equivalent of magnitude 5. After charging automatically stops, if acceleration is no longer detected and power supply is detected to be continuing via the charging cable 27, charging will resume.

[0053] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing of the information acquisition process in step S202 shown in Figure 7. Note that in the context of home appliance information, "home appliances" refer to any appliance that consumes electricity in the house 2 and is measured by the electricity meter 22, and are not limited to so-called general home appliances.

[0054] In step S301, the information acquisition unit 130 acquires the contracted capacity with the power company, which is the upper limit of the power capacity of house 2. In step S302, it acquires information such as the floor plan and structure of house 2, whether it is a detached house or an apartment building, and information on hot water and heating appliances. In step S303, it acquires information on the home appliances of house 2. In step S304, the integrated controller 110 checks the content of the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 130. If there is any information that needs correction (if no), it proceeds to step S305 to acquire the correct information again.

[0055] As described above, in the first embodiment, the power consumption of the house 2 is estimated based on the information acquired by the external environment recognition unit 120 and the information acquisition unit 130 mounted on the electric vehicle 1, and the charging plan for the battery 11 is determined based on the estimated power consumption (power consumption forecast). Therefore, there is no need for a device on the house 2 side to estimate power consumption or generate a charging plan, and the electric vehicle 1 alone can estimate power consumption and generate a charging plan for the house 2. As a result, optimal charging can be performed while avoiding the risk of the circuit breaker in the house 2 tripping.

[0056] (Second embodiment) Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention, showing the device configuration of the electric vehicle 1 and the house 2, similar to that in Figure 1. The in-vehicle charging system 10 shown in Figure 9 further includes an information presentation unit 140 and a plan modification unit 150 compared to the configuration shown in Figure 1.

[0057] <Information presentation section 140> The information display unit 140 presents the user with information such as the projected power consumption of the house 2 shown in Figure 4 and the charging plan for the battery 11 shown in Figure 5. It also displays the risk of power outages when charging is performed according to the charging plan to alert the user. For example, it notifies the user of the time t2 in Figure 5 as the scheduled time when the battery 11 will be fully charged. It also displays that there is a high risk of the ampere breaker 23 of the house 2 tripping during the time periods of 12:00 and 18:00, as shown in Figure 5.

[0058] The user can use the plan modification unit 150 to modify the value of the reserve power Wres to a smaller value, or to modify the projected power consumption of home appliances by refraining from using cooking appliances such as IH heaters during the aforementioned time periods. By making such modifications, the maximum power charge limit when charging the battery 11 can be increased. As a result, a plan that further shortens the charging time of the battery 11 can be generated, and the battery 11 can be charged while preventing a power outage in the house 2. In this way, by presenting the power consumption forecast and charging plan to the user using the information presentation unit 140, the user can be guided to shorten the charging time while avoiding power outages.

[0059] The plan modification unit 150 may be configured with a human-machine interface that includes its functions, similar to the information presentation unit 140, or it may be configured on a server, similar to the information acquisition unit 130 mentioned above.

[0060] Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the in-vehicle charging system 10 in the second embodiment. The flowchart shown in Figure 10 is the same as the flowchart shown in Figure 7, but with the addition of step S220, and is modified so that the process proceeds to step S220 if it is determined in step S207 that the cable is not connected. The other steps are the same as the process described in Figure 7, and the charging plan modification process of the added step S220 will be described below.

[0061] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the details of the charging plan modification process shown in step S220. The series of charging plan modification processes are performed by the plan modification unit 150. In step S401, the power consumption forecast and charging plan are displayed on the information display unit 140.

[0062] Figures 12 and 13 show examples of the display of the power consumption forecast (A) and charging power (B) based on the charging plan for House 2 in the information display unit 140. The vertical widths of areas A and B represent the charging power Wchg and the power consumption Whome of House 2, respectively. Power outage risk information is displayed above the charging power (B). Furthermore, advice related to the charging plan is displayed as suggested revision information above the power outage risk information.

[0063] Figure 12 shows the case where automatic adjustment of charging power is stopped, and the charging power Wchg is set to a constant value from the start time t1 to the end time t2. As a result, a region C is created in the time periods of 10:00-11:00 and 11:30-12:30, where regions A and B overlap. Power outage risk is represented by color, with green indicating a safe level, yellow indicating a caution level, and red indicating a high level of power outage risk. In Figure 12, the power outage risk in the time period of 10:00-13:00 is shown in red.

[0064] Figure 13 shows the case where charging of battery 11 is stopped during a period of high power outage risk. In Figure 12, the charging start time t1 was 10:00, but in Figure 13, the start time t1 is set to 13:00. As a result, the overlap between region A and region B is eliminated, but the amount of charge (remaining charge) of battery 11 at the end time t2 is lower than in the case of Figure 12.

[0065] The user refers to the power consumption forecast, charging plan, power outage risk information, and suggested revision information displayed on the information display unit 140 to consider whether or not to revise the charging plan. The user then inputs instructions for revision or non-revision by operating the input unit of the information acquisition unit 130. For example, the user may request a revision of the charging plan according to their wishes, such as wanting to shorten the charging completion time or reduce power consumption.

[0066] Returning to Figure 11, in step S402, it is determined whether or not the user has made a correction request. If there is a correction request, the process proceeds to step S403; if there is no correction request, the process proceeds to step S407. If there is no correction request and the process proceeds to step S407, the charging plan is finalized.

[0067] On the other hand, if a correction request is made and the system proceeds to step S403, the correction details are obtained from the user. Specifically, a correction screen is displayed on the information display unit 140, and the user is prompted to input the correction details. The user corrects the charging completion time, reserve power Wres, power consumption of home appliances, and the maximum power charge when charging the battery 11. If it is considered difficult for the user to accurately grasp the power consumption of home appliances in real time, the power consumption forecast for the house 2 may be corrected by selecting whether or not to use the home appliances included in the power consumption forecast.

[0068] In step S404, the plan modification unit 150 generates a revised charging plan based on the modifications made in step S403. The revised charging plan may be generated by the plan modification unit 150, or the modifications made in step S403 may be sent to the integrated controller 110 so that the charging power determination unit 112 can generate the revised charging plan.

[0069] In step S405, the plan modification unit 150 checks whether the contents of the modified charging plan generated in step S404 are not flawed. Specifically, it determines whether the plan includes any times in which the maximum power consumption Wlim(t), the power consumption of house 2 Whome(t), the power used by the onboard charger 12 Wchg(t), and the surplus power Wres(t) satisfy the following relationship (3). Wlim(t) <Whome(t)+Wchg(t)+Wres(t) ···(3)

[0070] If a failure is determined in step S405, the process returns to step S403, and a correction screen prompting correction is displayed on the information display unit 140. The process from step S403 to step S405 is repeated until a plan without failures is created. Each time a correction is entered in step S403, the corrected charging plan and power consumption forecast are displayed on the information display unit 140. This allows the user to interactively correct the charging plan and makes it easier for the user to understand the power consumption forecast and charging plan.

[0071] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S405 that the charging plan is not broken, the system proceeds to step S406, where the revised charging plan is displayed on the information display unit 140, and advice regarding the revised charging plan is provided to the user. For example, the advice may include information to further reduce the possibility of a power outage. Specifically, this may include displaying household appliances that should be avoided during times when the power consumption of the house 2 is high, notifying the user that the completion time of charging will be postponed if the revised charging plan reduces the upper limit of the charging power, and notifying the user of the expected charge status of the battery 11 at the start time of use of the electric vehicle 1 the following day.

[0072] Once step S406 is complete, proceed to step S407 to finalize the charging plan.

[0073] In the second embodiment described above, the power consumption forecast for the house 2, the charging plan, power outage risk information, etc., are displayed on the information display unit 140, so that the user can understand the contents of the charging plan, etc. As a result, the user can understand the risk of power outages and the factors that prevent the charging output from reaching the rated capacity, and can consider revising the charging plan, etc. Furthermore, since a plan revision unit 150 is provided for revising the charging plan, the user can adjust the charging power to shorten the charging time while avoiding power outages. At that time, by displaying the charging information, including the revised charging plan, on the information display unit 140, the adjustment of the charging power can be performed efficiently and effectively.

[0074] (Third embodiment) Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a third embodiment of the present invention. In the configuration shown in Figure 14, in addition to the configuration of Figure 1 of the first embodiment, the house 2 is equipped with an energy management system 32 and the vehicle charging system 10 is equipped with a telematics unit 160. The energy management system 32 includes a solar panel 33, a power conditioner 34, a smart meter 35, an IoT (Internet of Things) appliance 36, and a HEMS controller 37.

[0075] The power conditioner 34 enables functions such as using the electricity generated by the solar panels 33 for use in the house 2 or selling it back to the power grid 21. The smart meter 35 measures the electricity entering and leaving the power grid 21. IoT appliances 36 can be controlled by the smart meter 35 and the energy management system 32, including adjusting power consumption and power-on. The HEMS controller 37 aggregates electricity trading data from the smart meter 35 and operating data from the IoT appliances 36, and controls the power conditioner 34 and the IoT appliances 36.

[0076] Furthermore, the HEMS controller 37 is configured to communicate with the aggregation server 39 via the internet network 38. The aggregation server 39 stores and statistically processes the actual power consumption and power trading information of the house 2 acquired through the HEMS controller 37. Users can check this information on the aggregation server 39 from any terminal (not shown). The in-vehicle charging system 10 refers to the actual power consumption of the house 2 via the telematics unit 160 and the internet network 38, and also transmits the detection results of the external environment recognition unit 120 to the aggregation server 39. The aggregation server 39 associates the detection results of the external environment recognition unit 120 (temperature, illuminance, humidity, etc.) with the actual power consumption of the house 2 and stores this as power consumption information. The in-vehicle charging system 10 can acquire power consumption information from the aggregation server 39 by using the telematics unit 160 provided in the in-vehicle charging system 10.

[0077] When estimating the power consumption of House 2, the system reads power consumption data from the aggregation server 39 under conditions similar to the temperature, illuminance, and humidity detected by the external environment recognition unit 120. Then, it uses the operating patterns of home appliances included in the read power consumption data to generate a power consumption forecast for House 2. In this way, by reflecting past power consumption data for House 2 in the power consumption estimation, the accuracy of the power consumption estimation can be improved. As a result, the planning accuracy of the charging plan is also improved, and the occurrence of power outages in House 2 during battery charging can be suppressed. In addition, because the accuracy of the power consumption estimation is higher, the surplus power (Wres) in the charging plan can be reduced, and excessively long charging times can be suppressed.

[0078] Furthermore, if the power consumption on the house 2 side becomes greater than the power consumption estimation unit 111 estimates while charging is being carried out according to the charging plan, the charger controller 13 may be instructed to reduce the output of the on-board charger 12 in order to suppress power outages. If the weather changes after charging has started and the heating is turned off unexpectedly, the actual power consumption will be less than the power consumption estimate, so the output of the on-board charger 12 may be increased to shorten the charging time.

[0079] (Variation 1) Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating Modification 1. In Modification 1, the external environment recognition unit 120 includes a GPS device and acquires location information of the electric vehicle 1. Based on the detected location information, the integrated controller 110 executes the process shown in Figure 15 before starting the process shown in Figure 7. For example, the process shown in Figure 15 is started when the user sets the shift lever of the electric vehicle 1 to parking, turns off the ignition, or when the user gives a start command after the vehicle has stopped.

[0080] In step S501, the integrated controller 110 and the external environment recognition unit 120 acquire location information of the electric vehicle 1 from GPS. In step S502, based on the acquired location information, it is determined whether or not the battery 11 will be charged at the house 2. For example, if the acquired location information is within a predetermined range including the house 2, it is determined that charging will be carried out at the house 2, and if it is outside the predetermined range, it is determined that charging will not be carried out at the house 2.

[0081] If it is determined in step S502 that charging will be performed at house 2, the process proceeds to step S503, where the process shown in Figure 7 above, namely, charging of battery 11 accompanied by the generation of a charging plan, is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S502 that charging will not be performed at house 2 and the process proceeds to step S504, charging is performed using the power specified by the control box on the charging cable 27, or the power specified by the temperature of battery 11, whichever is smaller. Note that if the process proceeds to step S504, the power consumption estimation unit 111 will not estimate the power consumption of house 2, and the charging power determination unit 112 will not generate a charging plan.

[0082] By the way, the charging plan determined by the charging power determination unit 112 is planned based on the projected power consumption at the place where the user usually charges (home 2), so it will be an inappropriate charging plan at a charging location other than home 2. However, as described above, by using the location information acquired by the external environment recognition unit 120, it is possible to determine whether or not to start charging at the place where the user usually charges (home, etc.). Then, processing is performed according to the location of the electric vehicle 1 as in step S503 or step S504, so it becomes possible to perform an appropriate charging operation according to the location of the electric vehicle 1.

[0083] Furthermore, if the location information is not the location of House 2, the process proceeds from step S502 to step S504, and a charging plan based on the estimated power consumption of House 2 is not created. Therefore, when charging is performed using a location (charger or power source) different from House 2, it is possible to prevent charging using an inappropriate charging plan (a charging plan for charging at House 2).

[0084] In the above explanation, the process shown in Figure 15 was started when the user set the shift lever of electric vehicle 1 to parking, turned off the ignition, or when the user gave a start command after the vehicle had stopped. However, the process may also be as follows. First, when electric vehicle 1 approaches home 2 and the location information acquired by the GPS device is within a predetermined range, the process shown in Figure 7 is started. Then, when the user sets the shift lever of electric vehicle 1 to parking, turns off the ignition, or when the user gave a start command after the vehicle had stopped, the process shown in Figure 15 is started. In this case, step S503 in Figure 15 will execute a charging process that includes the presentation of a charging plan. As a result, when electric vehicle 1 arrives at home 2, the charging plan will be presented immediately, and the charging settings will be completed. Of course, the charging plan may be presented before arrival at home, so the user can know the charging plan for after arrival in advance.

[0085] Although the above description describes the case where Modification 1 is applied to the first embodiment, the same can be applied to the second and third embodiments.

[0086] (Modification 2) Figure 16 illustrates a modified example 2 and is a functional block diagram of the integrated controller 110. The integrated controller 110 shown in Figure 16 includes a power consumption estimation unit 111 and a charging power determination unit 112 as shown in Figure 2, as well as a charging possibility determination unit 113 and a charging method determination unit 114. The operation of the power consumption estimation unit 111 and the charging power determination unit 112 is the same as in Figure 2.

[0087] The charging possibility determination unit 113 acquires the charging state of the battery 11 when charging is performed from the battery sensor 14 and stores the charging state of the battery 11 at the start of the previous charging, or the charging state of the battery 11 at the start of charging in multiple previous charging cycles.

[0088] The charging possibility determination unit 113 makes the following determination regarding the charge state of the battery 11. If the current charge state of the battery 11 is lower than the battery charge state from past charging periods stored in the charging possibility determination unit 113, or lower than the charge state from past charging periods plus 5-10% of the energy amount when fully charged, it is determined that there is a high possibility of charging. If the above determination is made while the electric vehicle 1 is in motion, the "expected value of the battery 11's charge state when the electric vehicle 1 arrives at the house 2" is used instead of the "current charge state of the battery 11".

[0089] The charging method determination unit 114, when the charging possibility determination unit 113 determines that there is a high possibility of charging and when it is expected that the power consumption of the house 2 estimated by the power consumption estimation unit 111 will remain high for an extended period, presents information to the user, for example, via the information presentation unit 140, to encourage charging at a location other than the house 2. Here, a state in which the power consumption of the house 2 remains high for an extended period refers to a situation in which, when charging the battery 11 according to the charging plan (output) of the on-board charger 12 determined by the charging power determination unit 112, it takes more than twice as long to charge compared to charging at the rated value of the on-board charger 12.

[0090] The value of "more than twice" mentioned above may be changed according to user preferences. For users who do not want longer charging times, it may be set to 1.5 times or more, and for users who want to charge at home 2, it may be set to 4 times or more. Thus, the value of "more than twice" is adjustable, and it is preferable that it be adjustable between 1 and 5 times.

[0091] As described above, in Modification 2, if the power consumption at home 2 is high, information is presented to the user encouraging them to charge at a charging location other than home, thereby avoiding charging at home 2. This prevents power outages at home 2 and prevents the battery 11 from taking an excessively long time to charge.

[0092] (Variation 3) In the third modified example, when the power consumption estimation unit 111 generates a power consumption forecast for the house 2, the setting conditions of the vehicle air conditioning system installed in the electric vehicle 1 are also used. The temperature setting of the vehicle air conditioning system when the user is riding in the electric vehicle 1 depends on the ambient temperature at that time, but is also influenced by the user's own perception of temperature.

[0093] For example, if a user is sensitive to cold, they tend to set the temperature higher than someone who is not. Therefore, when the user returns to home 2, the temperature setting of the air conditioner in home 2 is likely to be set higher as well. Accordingly, the power consumption estimation unit 111 estimates the temperature setting of the air conditioner in home 2 from the temperature setting of the vehicle's air conditioning system and generates a power consumption forecast for home 2.

[0094] As an application method, for example, a standard is set for the temperature setting of the vehicle air conditioning system of electric vehicle 1. If the temperature setting of the vehicle air conditioning system exceeds the range of 23 to 28°C, the power consumption of the air conditioner is corrected when estimating the power consumption of house 2. If the temperature setting is below 23°C, the power consumption of the air conditioner during cooling operation is increased by 10%, and if the temperature is set to exceed 28°C, the power consumption of the air conditioner during heating operation is increased by 10% to calculate the projected power consumption of house 2. The amount of correction may be increased by a predetermined amount when the predetermined range is exceeded as described above, or the amount of power may be increased or decreased to correspond to the error from the standard temperature.

[0095] Thus, in Modification 3, the preferences and characteristics of the user operating the electric vehicle 1 are reflected in the estimation of the power consumption of the house 2, thereby improving the accuracy of the power consumption estimate. Furthermore, the improved accuracy of the power consumption estimate makes it possible to set the surplus power Wres in the charging plan more strictly, thereby preventing excessively long charging times.

[0096] The embodiments and modifications of the present invention described above provide the following effects.

[0097] (C1) As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the vehicle charging system 10 charges a battery 11 mounted on an electric vehicle 1 using electricity supplied from a house 2, and comprises an external environment recognition unit 120 which is a vehicle sensor mounted on the electric vehicle 1 that detects external information of the electric vehicle 1, an information acquisition unit 130 which acquires equipment information (information related to the electrical load 25) of electrical equipment installed in the house 2, a power consumption estimation unit 111 which calculates an estimated power consumption (power consumption forecast) when the battery of the electrical equipment installed in the house 2 is being charged based on the external environment information and equipment information, and a charging power determination unit 112 which determines a charging plan for the battery 11 based on the power consumption estimate. The charging power determination unit 112 then determines a charging plan such that the sum of the charging power of the battery 11 and the estimated power consumption is below the upper limit of the power that can be consumed in the house 2 (the power value at which the ampere breaker 23 operates).

[0098] In this way, the power consumption of the house 2 and the charging plan for the battery 11 are estimated and generated based on the information acquired by the external environment recognition unit 120 and the information acquisition unit 130 provided in the in-vehicle charging system 10. Therefore, when charging at the house 2, the electric vehicle 1 can create a charging plan on its own.

[0099] (C2) In (C1) above, as shown in Figure 1, the in-vehicle charging system 10 further includes an information display unit 140 that displays charging information including a charging plan and estimated power consumption. The information display unit 140 displays the estimated power consumption and charging plan to the user, so the user can understand the estimated power consumption and charging plan. In addition, by displaying the charging information, the user can confirm that charging is being carried out while avoiding the risk of the ampere breaker 23 of the house 2 tripping, thus reducing the psychological burden on the user regarding the risk of power outages.

[0100] (C3) In (C2) above, as shown in Figures 9, 12, and 13, the charging power determination unit 112, in addition to determining the charging plan, generates power shortage risk information (power outage risk information) for the house 2 based on the charging plan. The charging information also includes this power shortage risk information. As shown in Figures 12 and 13, the information presentation unit 140 presents the user with the charging plan (charging power) and power consumption estimates (power consumption forecast) in addition to the power outage risk information, allowing the user to understand the power outage risk and the factors that prevent the charging output from reaching the rated capacity. As a result, it becomes easier to adjust the charging power while avoiding power outages.

[0101] (C4) In (C2) above, as shown in Figure 9, the in-vehicle charging system 10 further includes a plan modification unit 150 for modifying the charging plan determined by the charging power determination unit 112, and when the plan modification unit 150 makes a modification, the information presentation unit 140 presents charging information including the modified charging plan modified by the plan modification unit 150, instead of the charging plan and power consumption estimate.

[0102] The system includes a plan modification unit 150 for modifying the charging plan, allowing users to adjust the charging power to shorten charging time while avoiding power outages. Furthermore, by displaying the charging information, including the modified charging plan, on the information display unit 140, the adjustment of charging power can be performed efficiently and effectively.

[0103] (C5) In (C4) above, as shown in Figures 12, 13, etc., the charging information presented by the information presentation unit 140 further includes suggested correction information for the charging plan or the revised charging plan. By presenting this suggested correction information, the user can easily adjust the charging power, etc., by referring to the suggested correction information.

[0104] (C6) In (C1) above, as shown in Figure 14, the in-vehicle charging system 10 further includes a performance information acquisition unit (telematics unit 160) that acquires information on the usage history of electrical equipment in the house 2, and the power consumption estimation unit 111 calculates an estimated power consumption value based on external information, equipment information and information acquired by the performance information acquisition unit (telematics unit 160).

[0105] In this way, by acquiring information on the usage history of electrical appliances in house 2 using the telematics unit 160, the estimated power consumption can be corrected by referring to the usage history. As a result, the accuracy of the power consumption estimate can be improved, the accuracy of the charging plan can be improved, and the occurrence of power outages in house 2 during battery charging can be suppressed. In addition, because the accuracy of the power consumption estimate is higher, the surplus power Wres in the charging plan can be reduced and the upper limit of the charging power can be raised, thereby suppressing excessively long charging times.

[0106] (C7) In (C1) above, as shown in Figure 1, the power consumption estimation unit 111 may calculate the estimated power consumption based on external information, equipment information regarding the power of electrical appliances (household appliances) installed in the house 2, and setting information (e.g., temperature setting) of the vehicle air conditioning system installed in the electric vehicle 1. In other words, by assuming that the air conditioner in the house 2 will be used in the same way as the vehicle air conditioning system, the estimation accuracy of the estimated power consumption can be improved. Furthermore, by improving the estimation accuracy of the estimated power consumption, it becomes possible to set the surplus power Wres in the charging plan more strictly, and it is possible to suppress the charging time from being excessively extended.

[0107] (C8) In (C1) above, as shown in Figure 1, the external environment recognition unit 120 includes an acceleration sensor, and if the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the charging of the battery 11 is stopped. As mentioned above, if the acceleration sensor detects an acceleration greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is possible that an earthquake has occurred or that something has collided with the electric vehicle 1. By automatically stopping charging when the acceleration detected during battery charging is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is possible to prevent secondary disasters such as fires.

[0108] (C9) In (C1) above, as shown in Figure 15, etc., the external environment recognition unit 120 includes a location information sensor (for example, a GPS device) that acquires location information of the electric vehicle 1. When the external environment recognition unit 120 detects that the stopping position of the electric vehicle 1 is within a predetermined range including the house 2, the power consumption estimation unit 111 calculates an estimated power consumption value, and the charging power determination unit 112 determines a charging plan.

[0109] The charging plan determined by the charging power determination unit 112 is planned based on the projected power consumption at the location where the user usually charges (house 2), so it will be an inappropriate charging plan at a charging location other than house 2. However, as described above, the calculation of the estimated power consumption and the determination of the charging plan are performed when the parking position of the electric vehicle 1 is within a predetermined range including house 2, so it is possible to prevent charging with an inappropriate charging plan (the charging plan for charging at house 2) when charging is performed using a location (charger or power source) other than house 2.

[0110] (C10) In (C2) above, as shown in Figure 15, etc., the external environment recognition unit 120 includes a location information sensor that acquires location information of the electric vehicle 1. When the external environment recognition unit 120 detects that the location of the electric vehicle 1 is within a predetermined range including the house 2, the power consumption estimation unit 111 calculates an estimated power consumption value, and the charging power determination unit 112 determines a charging plan. The information presentation unit 140 then presents charging information, including the charging plan and the estimated power consumption value, when the electric vehicle 1 arrives at the house 2 or before it arrives.

[0111] In this way, the charging plan and estimated power consumption are presented when or before the electric vehicle 1 arrives at the house 2, meaning that the charging setup can be completed upon arrival at the house 2. If presented before arrival, the user can know the charging plan after arrival in advance.

[0112] (C11) In (C2) above, as shown in Figure 16, the in-vehicle charging system 10 further includes a charging possibility determination unit 113 that determines the possibility of charging at the house 2 based on the remaining charge of the battery 11. If the charging possibility determination unit 113 determines that there is a high possibility of charging at the house 2, and the estimated power consumption calculated by the power consumption estimation unit 111 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the information presentation unit 140 presents information suggesting charging at a location other than the house 2.

[0113] As described above, if the estimated power consumption of house 2 exceeds a predetermined value, the system avoids charging at house 2 by presenting the user with suggestion information encouraging charging at a charging location other than house 2. This prevents power outages at house 2 and excessively long charging times for the battery 11. In addition, suggestion information may be presented to the information display unit 140 before the electric vehicle 1 arrives at house 2, for example, when the location of the electric vehicle 1 is within a predetermined range including house 2 based on the location information of the GPS device. By presenting suggestion information in advance in this way, the user can more easily deal with alternative charging methods.

[0114] The embodiments and various modifications described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these, as long as the features of the invention are not impaired. Furthermore, although various embodiments and modifications have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these. Combinations of the above embodiments and modifications are also permitted. Other embodiments conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of ​​the present invention are also included within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0115] 1…Electric vehicle, 2…House, 10…In-vehicle charging system, 11…Battery, 12…In-vehicle charger, 14…Battery sensor, 21…Power system, 23…Ampere breaker, 25…Electrical load, 27…Charging cable, 32…Energy management system, 110…Integrated controller, 111…Power consumption estimation unit, 112…Charging power determination unit, 113…Charging possibility determination unit, 114…Charging method determination unit, 120…External environment recognition unit, 130…Information acquisition unit, 140…Information presentation unit, 150…Plan revision unit, 160…Telematics unit

Claims

1. An on-board charging system that charges the battery installed in an electric vehicle using electricity supplied from a house, An external environment recognition unit mounted on the electric vehicle detects external information of the electric vehicle, An information acquisition unit that acquires equipment information of electrical equipment installed in the aforementioned house, A power consumption estimation unit calculates an estimated power consumption value when the battery of an electrical appliance installed in the house is being charged, based on the external information and the equipment information. The system includes a charging power determination unit that determines a charging plan for the battery based on the estimated power consumption, An in-vehicle charging system in which the charging power determination unit determines the charging plan such that the sum of the charging power of the battery and the estimated power consumption is less than the upper limit of the power that can be consumed in the house.

2. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 1, An in-vehicle charging system further comprising an information display unit that displays charging information including the charging plan and the estimated power consumption.

3. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 2, In addition to determining the charging plan, the charging power determination unit generates information on the risk of power shortage in the house based on the charging plan. The charging information includes the power shortage risk information, and is an in-vehicle charging system.

4. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 2, The charging power determination unit further comprises a plan modification unit for modifying the charging plan determined by the charging power determination unit, An in-vehicle charging system wherein, when the information presentation unit makes a correction by the plan correction unit, it presents charging information including the corrected charging plan corrected by the plan correction unit, instead of the charging plan and the estimated power consumption.

5. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 4, An in-vehicle charging system wherein the charging information presented by the information presentation unit further includes suggested modifications to the charging plan or the modified charging plan.

6. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 1, The unit further includes a performance information acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the usage history of electrical appliances within the aforementioned residence. The power consumption estimation unit calculates the estimated power consumption based on the external information, the equipment information, and the information acquired by the performance information acquisition unit in an in-vehicle charging system.

7. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 1, An on-board charging system in which the power consumption estimation unit calculates the estimated power consumption based on the external information, the equipment information, and the setting information of the air conditioning system installed in the electric vehicle.

8. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 1, The external environment recognition unit includes an acceleration sensor, An in-vehicle charging system that stops charging the battery if the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor exceeds a predetermined value.

9. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 1, The external environment recognition unit includes a location information sensor that acquires location information of the electric vehicle. An in-vehicle charging system that, when the external environment recognition unit detects that the stopping position of the electric vehicle is within a predetermined range including the house, performs calculation of the estimated power consumption by the power consumption estimation unit and determination of the charging plan by the charging power determination unit.

10. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 2, The external environment recognition unit includes a location information sensor that acquires location information of the electric vehicle. When the external environment recognition unit detects that the electric vehicle is located within a predetermined range including the house, the power consumption estimation unit calculates the estimated power consumption value, and the charging power determination unit determines the charging plan. The information display unit is an on-board charging system that displays the charging information when the electric vehicle arrives at or before arriving at the residence.

11. In the in-vehicle charging system according to claim 2, The system further includes a charging feasibility determination unit that determines the possibility of charging at the residence based on the remaining charge of the battery, An in-vehicle charging system in which, if the charging possibility determination unit determines that there is a high probability of charging being carried out at the residence, and the power consumption estimation value calculated by the power consumption estimation unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the information presentation unit presents information suggesting charging at a location other than the residence.

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