Vehicle management system

Abstract

To suppress shortening of a period of time in which power is suppliable from an electric vehicle to a predetermined facility.SOLUTION: A vehicle management device is used for an electric vehicle comprising a power storage device and when power is exchangeable with a predetermined facility, on the basis of a next scheduled travel start time or a preset time, a charge start time of external charge for charging the power storage device using power from the predetermined facility is set. In the vehicle management device, when the electric vehicle is capable of exchanging power with the predetermined facility, the charge start time is set on the basis of scheduled charge power, in the external charge, which is determined within a range of allowable power of the predetermined facility.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a vehicle management device.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as this type of technology, the change in the power supply-demand gap, which is the difference between the power generation amount by the power generation facility and the power consumption amount by the power consumption facility, is predicted for each microgrid, and vehicle information including the remaining charge of the power storage device is acquired for electric vehicles located within the area corresponding to each microgrid, and a power management system that distributes information regarding the charge and discharge of the power storage device to the electric vehicles based on these has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In an electric vehicle equipped with a power storage device, when power can be exchanged with a predetermined facility such as a home or a company, based on the next scheduled start time of travel or the like, a process of setting the start time of external charging for charging the power storage device using power from the predetermined facility is performed. If this external charging is performed with a relatively small constant power and the start time of charging is set to a relatively early time, the period during which power can be supplied from the electric vehicle to the predetermined facility becomes relatively short.

[0005] The main object of the vehicle management device of this disclosure is to suppress the shortening of the period during which power can be supplied from the electric vehicle to the predetermined facility.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The vehicle management system of this disclosure employs the following means to achieve the main objective described above.

[0007] The vehicle management system of this disclosure is A vehicle management device used in an electric vehicle equipped with a power storage device, wherein when the electric vehicle is capable of exchanging power with predetermined equipment, the device sets the start time for external charging, which charges the power storage device using power from the predetermined equipment, based on the next scheduled start time or set time, When the electric vehicle is capable of exchanging power with the predetermined equipment, the charging start time is set based on the planned charging power for external charging, which is determined within the allowable power range of the predetermined equipment. This is the gist of it.

[0008] In the vehicle management device of this disclosure, when an electric vehicle is capable of exchanging power with a predetermined facility, the charging start time is set based on the planned charging power for external charging, which is determined within the allowable power range of the predetermined facility. Therefore, by appropriately setting the charging start time based on the planned charging power, it is possible to suppress a shortening of the period during which power can be supplied from the electric vehicle to the predetermined facility. Here, the predetermined facility can be, for example, a home or an office.

[0009] In the vehicle management device of this disclosure, the charging start time may be set to be delayed as the planned charging power increases. This allows for a more appropriate setting of the charging start time. Furthermore, it is possible to further suppress the reduction in the period during which power can be supplied from the electric vehicle to the predetermined equipment when the planned charging power is relatively large.

[0010] In the vehicle management device of this disclosure, the planned charging power may be set based on the surplus power obtained as the difference between the allowable power and the predicted power consumption of the predetermined equipment. In this case, the predicted power consumption may be estimated based on the history over a predetermined period. Alternatively, the planned charging power may be set so that it increases as the surplus power increases. By doing so, the planned charging power can be set more appropriately.

[0011] In the vehicle management device of this disclosure, the planned charging power may be set within the range of the allowable power based on the predicted power consumption of the predetermined equipment. In this case, the planned charging power may be set so that it becomes smaller as the predicted power consumption increases. By doing so, the planned charging power can be set more appropriately. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a power system 10 that includes an electric vehicle 20 equipped with the vehicle management device of this embodiment. [Figure 2] This flowchart shows an example of a charging start time setting routine executed by the electronic control unit 40 of the electric vehicle 20. [Figure 3] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 26 of an electric vehicle 20. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a power system 10 comprising an electric vehicle 20 equipped with the vehicle management device of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the power system 10 comprises an electric vehicle 20, a predetermined facility 70 such as a home or company, and a power grid 80. The electric vehicle 20 is configured as an electric vehicle and comprises a motor 22, an inverter 24, a battery 26 as an energy storage device, a connector 30, a bidirectional charging device 32, and an electronic control unit 40. The vehicle management device of this embodiment is the electronic control unit 40.

[0014] Motor 22 is configured, for example, as a synchronous generator-motor, and the rotor of motor 22 is connected to a drive shaft that is connected to a drive wheel. Inverter 24 is used to drive motor 23 and is connected to battery 26 via a power line. Battery 26 is configured, for example, as a lithium-ion secondary battery or a nickel-metal hydride secondary battery.

[0015] The connector 30 can be connected to a predetermined piece of equipment 70 via a relay cable 72. Here, the predetermined piece of equipment 70 is connected to a power grid 80 and is capable of receiving power from or supplying power to the power grid 80.

[0016] The bidirectional charging device 32 is capable of supplying power from the predetermined equipment 70 to the battery 26, or supplying power from the battery 26 to the predetermined equipment 70, when the connector 30 and the predetermined equipment 70 are connected via the relay cable 72.

[0017] The electronic control unit 40 has a microcomputer, which includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, flash memory, input / output ports, and communication ports. The electronic control unit 40 receives signals from various sensors via its input ports. Examples of signals received by the electronic control unit 40 include the rotational position θm of the motor 22's rotor, the phase currents Iu, Iv, and Iw of each phase of the motor 22, the voltage Vb of the battery 26, and the current Ib of the battery 26. The electronic control unit 40 outputs various control signals via its output ports. Examples of signals output by the electronic control unit 40 include control signals to the inverter 24 and control signals to the bidirectional charging device 32. The electronic control unit 40 calculates the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 26 based on the integrated value of the current Ib of the battery 26. The electronic control unit 40 communicates with predetermined equipment 70 and an aggregator that manages the power system 80.

[0018] In the electric vehicle 20 of this embodiment, the electric vehicle 20 is connected to the predetermined equipment 70 via a relay cable 72, and when the next scheduled start time Tdrst is set, the charging start time Tchst for external charging, which charges the battery 26 using power from the predetermined equipment 70, is set based on the next scheduled start time Tdrst. The next scheduled start time Tdrst may be a time set by the user, or a time set based on the history of past start times. When the charging start time Tchst is reached, charging control is started to control the bidirectional charging device 32 so that external charging is performed. After that, when the charge level SOC of the battery 26 reaches the target level SOCtg, the charging control is terminated. In this way, the battery 26 is fully charged by the scheduled start time Tdrst.

[0019] Next, the operation of the power system 10 of the present embodiment will be described, particularly the operation when setting the external charging start time Tchst under the condition that a predetermined condition is satisfied. The predetermined condition is that the electric vehicle 20 and the predetermined facility 70 are connected via the relay cable 72, and external power supply for supplying power from the electric vehicle 20 to the outside of the vehicle (the predetermined facility 70 or the power grid 80 via the predetermined facility 70) is permitted, and the next scheduled driving start time Tdrst is set. When external power supply is permitted, it includes the case where the electric vehicle 20 participates in a virtual power plant (VPP). FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a charging start time setting routine executed by the electronic control unit 40 of the electric vehicle 20. This routine is executed when the predetermined condition is satisfied. Note that when the predetermined condition is satisfied, it may be executed only once, or may be executed periodically before starting external charging.

[0020] When the charging start time setting routine in FIG. 2 is executed, the electronic control unit 40 first inputs the next scheduled driving start time Tdrst, the allowable power Plim of the predetermined facility 70, and the predicted power consumption Pcs of the predetermined facility 70 (step S100). Here, as described above, the next scheduled driving start time Tdrst may be the time set by the user, or the time set based on the history of the past driving start times may be used. The allowable power Plim of the predetermined facility 70 is, for example, the contract power (breaker power). The predicted power consumption Pcs of the predetermined facility 70 is any one of, for example, the average power consumption in a predetermined time period in the past (for example, about one week to one month), the average power consumption in the predetermined time period on weekdays or holidays in the past during the time period to which the next scheduled driving start time Tdrst belongs, or the average power consumption in the predetermined time period on the same day of the week as the next scheduled driving start time Tdrst in the past (for example, about one month to several months). The predetermined time period may be the entire time period (24 hours), or may be the time period from a predetermined time T3 (for example, several hours) before the scheduled driving start time Tdrst to the scheduled driving start time Tdrst.

[0021] When data is input in this way, the margin power Pm is calculated by subtracting the predicted power consumption Pcs from the allowable power Plim of the predetermined facility 70 (step S110), and the planned charging power Pch in external charging is set based on the calculated margin power Pm (step S120). In the process of step S120, for example, the margin power Pm, or the power (Pm - α) obtained by subtracting the margin α from the margin power Pm, is set as the planned charging power Pch.

[0022] Then, based on the next planned driving start time Tdrst and the planned charging power Pch in external charging, the charging start time Tchst of external charging is set (step S130), and this routine is terminated. In the process of step S130, for example, the charging start time Tchst is set to a time that is further ΔTch before the planned charging time, which is ΔT (for example, several tens of minutes to about 1 hour) before the next planned driving start time Tdrst. The planned charging time ΔTch can be calculated, for example, by dividing the target charging power amount Qch obtained by converting the difference between the target ratio SOCtg of the battery 26 and the current power storage ratio SOC into a power amount by the planned charging power Pch in external charging.

[0023] By setting the charging start time Tchst in this way, charging control is initiated to control the bidirectional charging device 32 so that external charging is performed when the charging start time Tchst arrives. Subsequently, the charging control is terminated when the battery 26's charge level SOC reaches the target level SOCtg. This allows the battery 26 to be fully charged by the next scheduled start time Tdrst, specifically, around a time ΔT earlier than the next scheduled start time Tdrst. In this embodiment, by setting the charging start time Tchst based on the scheduled charging time ΔTch, which is based on the scheduled charging power Pch in external charging, the larger the scheduled charging power Pch, the shorter the scheduled charging time ΔTch becomes, and the later the charging start time Tchst becomes. This prevents a shortening of the period during which external power supply is possible, for example, the period during which the electric vehicle 20 can participate in the VPP. In particular, when the scheduled charging power Pch is relatively large, the charging start time Tchst becomes relatively late, resulting in a more significant effect. Furthermore, if external power can be supplied from the electric vehicle 20, the State of Charge (SOC) of the battery 26 changes, and the target charge amount Qch changes. Therefore, it is preferable to periodically execute this routine before starting external charging.

[0024] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 26 of the electric vehicle 20. In the figure, the solid line shows the state of charge of this embodiment, and the dashed line shows the state of charge of the comparative embodiment. In the comparative embodiment, the charging start time Tchst is set to a relatively small power Pch1 for the planned charging power Pch in external charging. In this embodiment, the case where the planned charging power Pch based on the surplus power Pm is sufficiently larger than power Pch1 is illustrated. In the comparative embodiment, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 3, after the predetermined conditions are met at time t1, external charging starts at time t2, when the charging start time Tchst is reached, and when the state of charge (SOC) of the battery 26 reaches the target SOCtg at time t14 (around the time when the surplus time ΔT is earlier than the planned start time Tdrst), external charging ends. In contrast, in this embodiment, as shown by the solid line in Figure 3, after a predetermined condition is met at time t1, external charging is started when the charging start time Tchst is reached at time t13, which is later than time t12, and when the charge level SOC of the battery 26 reaches the target level SOCtg at time t14, external charging is terminated. This makes it possible to suppress a shortening of the period during which external power supply is possible, for example, the period during which the electric vehicle 20 can participate in the VPP.

[0025] In the electronic control unit 40, which serves as a vehicle management device in this embodiment as described above, when the electric vehicle 20 is able to exchange power with a predetermined device 70, the planned charging power Pch for external charging is set within the range of the allowable power Plim of the predetermined device 70, and the charging start time Tchst for external charging is set so that it becomes later the larger the set planned charging power Pch is. This makes it possible to suppress the shortening of the period during which external power supply is possible. This effect is particularly noticeable when the planned charging power Pch is relatively large.

[0026] In the embodiment described above, the reserve power Pm is calculated by subtracting the predicted power consumption Pcs from the allowable power Plim of the predetermined equipment 70, and the planned charging power Pch for external charging is set based on the calculated reserve power Pm. However, it is not limited to this, and it is acceptable as long as the planned charging power Pch is set within the range of the allowable power Plim of the predetermined equipment 70. For example, within the range of the allowable power Plim of the predetermined equipment 70, the planned charging power Pch may be set such that it becomes smaller as the predicted power consumption Pcs increases.

[0027] In the embodiment described above, the charging start time Tchst is set based on the next scheduled start time Tdrst. However, instead, the charging start time Tchst may be set based on a user-defined time (desired time for battery 26 charging to be completed).

[0028] In the embodiment described above, a battery 26 is used as the energy storage device. However, a capacitor or the like may be used instead.

[0029] In the embodiment described above, the electric vehicle 20 is configured as an electric vehicle equipped with a motor 22, an inverter 24, and a battery 26. However, the electric vehicle 20 may be configured as a hybrid vehicle equipped with an engine in addition to the motor 22, inverter 24, and battery 26, or as a fuel cell vehicle equipped with a fuel cell in addition to the motor 22, inverter 24, and battery 26.

[0030] The correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem will be explained. In the embodiment, the battery 26 corresponds to the "energy storage device", the electric vehicle 20 corresponds to the "electric vehicle", and the electronic control unit 40 corresponds to the "vehicle management device".

[0031] Furthermore, the correspondence between the main elements of the embodiment and the main elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem is merely an example to specifically explain the form in which the embodiment implements the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem, and does not limit the elements of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem. In other words, the interpretation of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem should be based on the description in that section, and the embodiment is merely one specific example of the invention described in the section on means for solving the problem.

[0032] While embodiments for implementing this disclosure have been described above, this disclosure is not limited in any way to these embodiments, and can of course be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of this disclosure. [Industrial applicability]

[0033] This disclosure can be used in industries such as the manufacturing of vehicle management systems. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0034] 10 Power system, 20 Electric vehicle, 22 Motor, 24 Inverter, 26 Battery, 30 Connector, 32 Bidirectional charging device, 40 Electronic control unit, 70 Designated equipment, 72 Relay cable, 80 Power grid.

Claims

1. A vehicle management device used in an electric vehicle equipped with a power storage device, wherein when the electric vehicle is capable of exchanging power with predetermined equipment, the device sets the start time for external charging, which charges the power storage device using power from the predetermined equipment, based on the next scheduled start time or set time, With the electric vehicle permitted to supply power to the predetermined equipment, the planned power for external charging is set to increase as the margin power obtained as the difference between the allowable power of the predetermined equipment and the predicted power consumption of the predetermined equipment increases, and the charging start time is set to increase as the planned power for charging increases. Vehicle management system.

2. A vehicle management device according to claim 1, The predicted power consumption is estimated based on the history over a predetermined period. Vehicle management system.

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