ADAPTING AN ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM THERMAL CONDITIONING SETPOINT BASED ON HISTORICAL USAGE

• US 20140129063A1
• Filed: 11/07/2012
• Published: 05/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Clark, David Robert, Bezzina, Charles A.
• Application Number:
  US13/670,903
• Publication Number:
  US 20140129063A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00771 the input being a vehicle position or surrounding, e.g. GPS-based position or tunnel
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00807 the input being a specific way of measuring or calculating an air or coolant temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/625 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/633 characterised by algorithms, flow charts, software details or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/635 based on ambient temperature
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A method of controlling a temperature of an energy storage system of an electric vehicle includes monitoring vehicle operating conditions over time, identifying historical vehicle operating trends from the monitored vehicle operating conditions, and adjusting a default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint for the energy storage system to define an adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint. The default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint is adjusted based on the identified historical vehicle operating trends to optimize performance of the energy storage system for the historical vehicle operating trends. The energy storage system is heated and/or cooled to align an actual temperature of the energy storage system with the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an electrically powered vehicle having an energy storage system, the method comprising:

monitoring vehicle operating conditions over time;

identifying historical vehicle operating trends from the monitored vehicle operating conditions; and

adjusting a default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint for the energy storage system to define an adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint based on the identified historical vehicle operating trends to optimize performance of the energy storage system based upon the historical vehicle operating trends.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising defining a default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint for the energy storage system based on an estimated average vehicle usage.

3. A method as set forth in claim 2 wherein identifying historical vehicle operating trends includes identifying an average ambient weather condition in which the vehicle operates.

4. A method as set forth in claim 3 wherein identifying the average ambient weather condition in which the vehicle operates includes classifying the average ambient weather condition in which the vehicle operates as one of a hot weather condition, a moderate weather condition, or a cold weather condition.

5. A method as set forth in claim 2 wherein identifying historical vehicle operating trends includes identifying an average non-driving temperature of the energy storage system.

6. A method as set forth in claim 5 wherein identifying historical vehicle operating trends includes identifying an average daily drive distance of the vehicle.

7. A method as set forth in claim 6 further comprising calculating an estimated vehicle drive range based on available energy from the energy storage system operating at a temperature within a temperature range bounded by a heating setpoint and a cooling setpoint.

8. A method as set forth in claim 7 wherein adjusting the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint is further defined as increasing the value of the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint so that the energy storage system operates at an increased temperature when the average non-driving temperature of the energy storage system is less than a cold weather threshold, and the estimated vehicle drive range is less than the average daily drive distance of the vehicle.

9. A method as set forth in claim 5 wherein adjusting the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint is further defined as decreasing the value of the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint so that the energy storage system operates at a decreased temperature when the average non-driving temperature of the energy storage system is greater than a hot weather threshold.

10. A method as set forth in claim 2 wherein identifying historical vehicle operating trends includes identifying an average driving temperature of the energy storage system.

11. A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein adjusting the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint is further defined as decreasing the value of the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint so that the energy storage system operates at a decreased temperature when the average driving temperature of the energy storage system is greater than an operating temperature threshold.

12. A method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising thermally conditioning the energy storage system to align an actual temperature of the energy storage system with the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint.

13. A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the energy storage system includes a rechargeable energy storage system.

14. A method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising selecting a pre-defined alternative thermal conditioning temperature setpoint.

15. A method as set forth in claim 14 wherein selecting a pre-defined alternative thermal conditioning temperature setpoint is further defined as selecting a first alternative thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to maximize an available vehicle drive range from power supplied by the energy storage system.

16. A method as set forth in claim 14 wherein selecting a pre-defined alternative thermal conditioning temperature setpoint is further defined as selecting a second alternative thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to minimize vehicle driving costs.

17. A vehicle comprising:

an energy storage system operable to store electrical energy;

a thermal conditioning system coupled to the energy storage system and operable to heat and cool the energy storage system;

a control module coupled to the thermal conditioning system and operable to control the thermal conditioning system, wherein the control module is configured for;

monitoring vehicle operating conditions over time;

identifying historical vehicle operating trends from the monitored vehicle operating conditions;

adjusting a default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint for the energy storage system to define an adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint based on the identified historical vehicle operating trends to optimize performance of the energy storage system based upon the historical vehicle operating trends; and

thermally conditioning the energy storage system with the thermal conditioning system to align an actual temperature of the energy storage system with the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint.

18. A vehicle as set forth in claim 17 wherein the control module increases the value of the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint so that the energy storage system operates at an increased temperature when an average non-driving temperature of the energy storage system is less than a cold weather threshold, and an estimated vehicle drive range based on available power from the energy storage system operating at the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint is less than an average daily drive distance of the vehicle.

19. A vehicle as set forth in claim 17 wherein the control module decreases the value of the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint so that the energy storage system operates at a decreased temperature when an average non-driving temperature of the energy storage system is greater than a hot weather threshold.

20. A vehicle as set forth in claim 17 wherein the control module decreases the value of the default thermal conditioning temperature setpoint to define the adjusted thermal conditioning temperature setpoint so that the energy storage system operates at a decreased temperature when an average driving temperature of the energy storage system is greater than an operating temperature threshold.