Electric vehicle

• US 10,252,629 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2018
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Voltu Motor, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Voltu Motor, Inc.
• Inventors: Gebhart, Jorge Guillermo
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleming, Fritz M
• Application Number:
  US16/015,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20180297480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 291 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 15/20 for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/54 Windings for different functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/545 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/547 Voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/51 characterised by AC-motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/60 using power supplied by batteries in combination with fuel cells B60L50/75
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/64 Constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/24 Using the vehicle's propulsion converter for charging
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/26 by cooling
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4257 Smart batteries, e.g. electronic circuits inside the housing of the cells or batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/46 Accumulators structurally combined with charging apparatus circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/48 Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2010/4271 Battery management systems including electronic circuits, e.g. control of current or voltage to keep battery in healthy state, cell balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/20 Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/213 adapted for cells having curved cross-section, e.g. round or elliptic H01M50/209, H01M50/216 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/249 specially adapted for aircraft or vehicles, e.g. cars or trains constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles B60L50/64
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/293 characterised by the material
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 1/27 Rotor cores with permanent magnets
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 1/274 the rotor consisting of two or more circumferentially positioned magnets
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 1/278 : Surface mounted magnets; Inset magnets
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 3/46 : Fastening of windings on the stator or rotor structure
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 5/203 : specially adapted for liquids, e.g. cooling jackets
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 9/12 : wherein the cooling medium circulates freely within the casing
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 9/16 : wherein the cooling medium circulates through ducts or tubes within the casing
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 27/08 : with pulse width modulation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 : Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 : Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• 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 10/72 : Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 : Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 : Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

An electric control system for an electric vehicle operable in a plurality of modes. The control system includes an electric motor having a plurality of motor coils, an energy storage device providing energy to the electric control system, transistor modules selectively coupling the electric motor to the energy storage device, a connector selectively coupling to an AC power source, a controllable switching device configured to selectively couple the connector to the electric motor; and a microcontroller controlling the switching device to couple the connector to at least one of the motor coils during a detected charging mode, and control one or more of the plurality of transistor modules to couple the motor coil to the energy storage device during the detected charging mode.

Claims

1. An electric control system for an electric vehicle configured to operate in a plurality of modes, the control system comprising:

a multi-phase electric motor having a plurality of motor coils;

an energy storage device configured to provide energy to the electric control system;

a plurality of transistor modules selectively coupling the electric motor to the energy storage device;

a connector configured to selectively couple to an AC power source;

a controllable switching device configured to selectively couple the connector to the multi-phase electric motor;

a microcontroller configured to control the switching device to selectively couple the connector to at least one of the motor coils during a detected charging mode, and control one or more of the plurality of transistor modules to selectively couple the at least one motor coil to the energy storage device during the detected charging mode; and

a pair of relays selectively coupling the connector to the energy storage device, wherein the microcontroller controls at least one of the relays to connect the connector to a midpoint halfway between a positive terminal and a negative terminal of the energy storage device.

2. The electric control system of claim 1, further comprising a first sensor configured to measure a voltage of the energy storage device during the detected charging mode and a second sensor configured to measure a voltage of electricity received via the connector, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control the switching device and at least one of the plurality of transistor modules in a first configuration when a measured voltage of the energy storage device is higher than a measured voltage received via the connector;

and

in a second configuration when a measured voltage of the energy storage device is less than a measured voltage received via the connector.

3. The electric control system of claim 2, wherein the controllable switching device is a buck switch configured to operate in a power factor correction mode in the first configuration, and

wherein at least one of the transistor modules operates as a free-run diode during in the first configuration.

4. The electric control system of claim 3, wherein the microcontroller applies pulse width modulation to the buck switch in the second configuration, and

wherein each of the plurality of transistor modules operates in an off-mode in the second configuration.

5. The electric control system of claim 2, wherein the controllable switching device is a buck switch configured to be driven by pulse width modulation applied by the microcontroller in the second configuration, and

wherein each of the plurality of transistor modules operates in an off-mode in the second configuration.

6. The electric control system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control the relays to provide energy from the energy storage device to the connector and transmit power to a power grid during a power supply mode.

7. The electric control system of claim 1, wherein a charging operation is performed without a DC-LINK capacitor.

8. An electric vehicle comprising:

a drive train comprising at least one wheel;

a multi-phase electric motor having a plurality of motor coils coupled to the drive train to provide a torque to the at least one wheel; and

an electrical control system configured to operate in a plurality of modes, the control system comprising;

an energy storage device configured to provide energy to the electric control system;

a plurality of transistor modules selectively coupling the electric motor to the energy storage device;

a connector configured to selectively couple to an AC power source;

a controllable switching device configured to selectively couple the connector to the multi-phase electric motor;

a microcontroller configured to control the switching device to selectively couple the connector to at least one of the motor coils during a detected charging mode, and control one or more of the plurality of transistor modules to selectively couple the at least one motor coil to the energy storage device during the detected charging mode; and

a pair of relays selectively coupling the connector to the energy storage device, wherein the microcontroller controls at least one of the relays to connect the connector to a midpoint halfway between a positive terminal and a negative terminal of the energy storage device.

9. The electric vehicle of claim 8, further comprising a first sensor configured to measure a voltage of the energy storage device during the detected charging mode and a second sensor configured to measure a voltage of electricity received via the connector, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control the switching device and at least one of the plurality of transistor modules in a first configuration when a measured voltage of the energy storage device is higher than a measured voltage received via the connector;

and

in a second configuration when a measured voltage of the energy storage device is less than a measured voltage received via the connector.

10. The electric vehicle of claim 9, wherein the controllable switching device is a buck switch configured to operate in a power factor correction mode in the first configuration, and

wherein at least one of the transistor modules operates as a free-run diode during in the first configuration.

11. The electric vehicle of claim 10, wherein the microcontroller applies pulse width modulation to the buck switch in the second configuration, and

wherein each of the plurality of transistor modules operates in an off-mode in the second configuration.

12. The electric vehicle of claim 9, wherein the controllable switching device is a buck switch configured to be driven by pulse width modulation applied by the microcontroller in the second configuration, and

wherein each of the plurality of transistor modules operates in an off-mode in the second configuration.

13. The electric vehicle of claim 8, wherein the microcontroller is configured to control the relays to provide energy from the energy storage device to the connector and transmit power to a power grid during a power supply mode.