Vehicle

• US 10,124,692 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2017
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kinomura, Shigeki
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Laura
• Application Number:
  US15/723,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20180111495A1
• Time in Patent Office: 406 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/545 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/80 Time limits
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0046 relating to electric energy storage systems, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/18 Cables specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/31 Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/64 Optimising energy costs, e.g. responding to electricity rates
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/665 Methods related to measuring, billing or payment
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/26 by cooling
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

A vehicle includes an electrical storage device, a notifier, a communication device, and an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit predicts the amount of charging power of the electrical storage device and the use time in a case where external charging is performed, in accordance with the state of the electrical storage device. The electronic control unit predicts cost performance of the external charging in accordance with the amount of charging power and the use time that are predicted, and information relating to a fee-charging system. The electronic control unit controls the notifier so as not to execute a notification in a case where the cost performance is equal to or greater than a first predetermined value, and controls the notifier so as to execute the notification in a case where the cost performance is less than the first predetermined value.

Claims

1. A vehicle configured to receive a supply of power from a charging stand provided outside of the vehicle, the charging stand being configured to perform fee-charging on the supply of power to the vehicle in accordance with a fee-charging system based on a use time of the charging stand, the vehicle comprising:

an electrical storage device configured to perform external charging using the power supplied from the charging stand;

a notifier configured to execute a notification to a user;

a communication device configured to acquire information relating to the fee-charging system of the charging stand; and

an electronic control unit configured to;

predict an amount of charging power of the electrical storage device and the use time in a case where the external charging is performed, in accordance with a state of the electrical storage device,

predict cost performance of the external charging in accordance with the amount of charging power and the use time that are predicted, and the information relating to the fee-charging system, and

control the notifier so as not to execute the notification in a case where the cost performance is equal to or greater than a first predetermined value, and control the notifier so as to execute the notification in a case where the cost performance is less than the first predetermined value.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an input device configured to receive input from the user,

wherein the notifier is configured to urge the user to select whether or not to execute the external charging through the input device.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a charger configured to charge the electrical storage device,

wherein the electronic control unit is configured to control the charger so as to charge the electrical storage device in a case where the cost performance is equal to or greater than a second predetermined value smaller than the first predetermined value, and to control the charger so as not to charge the electrical storage device in a case where the cost performance is less than the second predetermined value.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit is configured to predict the amount of charging power of the electrical storage device, based on a state of charge of the electrical storage device.

5. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:

the communication device is configured to acquire information relating to power fed per unit time from the charging stand; and

the electronic control unit is configured to predict the use time based on the amount of charging power and the information relating to power fed per unit time.

6. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit is configured to predict the use time based on a temperature of the electrical storage device.

7. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit is configured such that the user sets the first predetermined value.