ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGER AND CHARGING METHOD

• US 20150115886A1
• Filed: 10/24/2013
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Loftus, Michael Edward, Proietty, John, Gusikhin, Oleg Yurievitch, MacNeille, Perry Robinson
• Granted Patent: US 10,406,937 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/109
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/62 Vehicle position
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/642 Slope of road
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/72 Charging station selection relying on external data
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/52 drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/54 Energy consumption estimation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/00 Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

An example electric vehicle charging method includes charging a battery of a vehicle using an external power source, and adjusting the charging based on a predicted amount of charging generated when driving the vehicle from the external power source to a destination. The external power source is at a higher elevation than some point along the route to the at least one destination.

Claims

1. An electric vehicle charging method, comprising:

charging a battery of a vehicle using an external power source; and

adjusting the charging based in part on a predicted amount of charging generated when driving the vehicle from the external power source to at least one destination, the external power source at a higher elevation than some point along the route to the at least one destination.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises stopping the charging.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the charging of the battery of the vehicle at the external power source comprises communicating power to the battery from a power source outside the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the charge that will be generated due to driving the vehicle from the external power source downhill to the destination comprises a regenerative charging.

5. The method of claim 1, adjusting the charging such that the battery is charged, at the external power source, to a level that will result in the battery being nominally fully charged when the vehicle reaches a point of maximum cumulative regenerative charge, and such that the vehicle will store or utilize nominally all the charge generated when driving the vehicle from the external power source to the destination.

6. The method of claim 1, including, during the adjusting, accounting for charge used by the vehicle when driving the vehicle from the external power source to the destination.

7. The method of claim 1, the adjusting comprising charging the battery of the vehicle at the external power source until the battery reaches a target level of charge that is less than a charge capacity of the battery.

8. The method of claim 1, the charging of the battery at the external power source comprising communicating charging power from outside the vehicle to the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1, the adjusting comprising limiting the charging of the battery at the external power source to leave an amount of available charge storage in the battery, the amount of available charge storage corresponding generally to an amount of charge generated when driving the vehicle from the external power source to the destination.

10. The method of claim 9, including overriding the limiting to nominally fully charge the battery of the vehicle at the external power source.

11. The method of claim 1, including receiving the destination as an input.

12. The method of claim 1, the at least one destination comprising a first destination and a second destination, the adjusting further based on a likelihood of the vehicle stopping at the first destination compared to a likelihood of the vehicle stopping at the second destination.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the likelihood of the vehicle stopping at the first destination and the likelihood of the vehicle stopping at the second destination are based on past driving history.

14. An electric vehicle charger, comprising:

a sensor to detect a level of charge held in a battery of a vehicle; and

a controller operably coupled to the sensor, the controller configured to limit a charging of the battery from an external power source based on a predicted amount of charge generated when driving the vehicle from a location of the external power source to a destination, the external power source at a higher elevation than a point along the route to the destination.

15. The charger of claim 14, wherein the predicted amount of charge generated when driving the vehicle from the location of the external power source to the destination is based on a difference between an elevation of the location of the external power source and an elevation of a point along a route to a destination.

16. The charger of claim 14, wherein the location of the external power source is at a first elevation and a point along a route to the destination is at a second elevation that is less than the first elevation.

17. The charger of claim 14, wherein the vehicle provides an override option to permit fully charging the battery from the external power source.

18. The charger of claim 14, wherein the external power source is separate and distinct from the vehicle.

19. The charger of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to adjust the charging of the battery at the external power source such that the level of charge in the battery when the vehicle departs from the location of the external power source will result in the battery being fully charged when reaching a point of maximum cumulative regenerative charge, and the vehicle will utilize nominally all regenerative charge generated when driving from the external power source to the destination.

20. The charger of claim 14, including a navigation system to provide elevation information about the location and the destination.