EV Residual Range Display With Journey Energy Reserve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle range prediction systems, particularly in electric vehicles, fail to provide accurate remaining range estimates due to their inability to account for changes in driving behavior during a journey, leading to potential insufficient energy for completing intended trips.
Innovation Solution
A controller system that switches between modes to display the total energy remaining and the energy available for a predetermined journey, allowing users to input leisure mode, which adjusts energy usage estimates based on user-defined journeys and conditions, ensuring sufficient energy reserves for return trips.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the controller displays total energy remaining in the battery, then the user can see the complete energy available, but the user may mistakenly believe they have insufficient energy to complete a predetermined journey when energy is used in leisure mode
Solution Approach 1:
The energy display is segmented into two distinct modes: total energy remaining mode and energy available for predetermined journey mode. This segmentation allows the system to present different energy information based on user needs, preventing confusion by showing only relevant energy metrics for the current context.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller dynamically switches between display modes based on user input and detected driving conditions. The system adapts the energy information presentation in real-time, transitioning from showing total energy to showing energy available for predetermined journeys when leisure mode is activated, ensuring the displayed information always matches the current operational context.
2Ease of operation
If the controller uses average energy consumption from preceding periods for range prediction, then the system is simple to operate, but the range prediction becomes inaccurate when driver behavior changes during a journey
Solution Approach 1:
The controller pre-calculates and stores energy consumption data from preceding periods, preparing this information in advance for quick retrieval. When range prediction is needed, the system can rapidly access this pre-processed data and adjust predictions based on current driving conditions without requiring complex real-time calculations, maintaining simplicity while improving accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors actual energy consumption and compares it with predicted consumption, using this feedback to adjust range predictions in real-time. When driver behavior changes are detected through deviations from average consumption patterns, the controller adapts its predictions accordingly, maintaining accuracy without increasing operational complexity.
3Measurement precision
If the controller switches between first mode and second mode based on user input, then accurate energy availability information is provided for different driving scenarios, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a simple total energy display device and as a sophisticated energy management system for predetermined journeys. By integrating multiple functions into a single controller, the system avoids the need for separate devices for each mode, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining the ability to switch between display modes based on user input.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention provide a controller for indicating a residual driving range available in a battery of an electric vehicle. The controller is operable in a first mode wherein it instructs the output means to display an output indicative of the total amount of energy remaining in the battery and a second mode wherein it instructs the output means to display an output indicative of an amount of energy that may be used without causing the total amount of energy stored in the battery to reduce below an amount required to undertake a predetermined journey. The controller is operable to switch from the first mode to the second mode upon receipt of a user input via said second input means. Advantageously, the second mode may display an amount of energy that can be used in a leisure driving session.