INFORMATION OUTPUT METHOD, INFORMATION PRESENTATION DEVICE, AND INFORMATION OUTPUT SYSTEM

• US 20150149015A1
• Filed: 11/21/2014
• Published: 05/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: NAKANO, TOSHIHISA, HIROSE, TAKAKO, OHMORI, MOTOJI, KOZUKA, MASAYUKI, AMANO, HIROSHI, YOSHIDA, MAMORU
• Granted Patent: US 10,406,931 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• 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

Provided is an information output method that outputs information when swapping a secondary battery for powering a vehicle. The information output method includes comparing a rank related to the performance of a first battery unit (battery unit A) on board a vehicle to a rank related to the performance of a second battery unit (battery unit B) that is installable in the vehicle in place of the first battery unit, and outputting output information according to a result of the comparison in the comparing step.

Claims

1. An information output method that outputs output information when swapping a secondary battery for powering a vehicle, comprising:

comparing a rank related to performance of a first battery unit on board a vehicle to a rank related to performance of a second battery unit that is installable in the vehicle in place of the first battery unit; and

outputting the output information according to a result of the comparison in the comparing step.

2. The information output method according to claim 1, further comprising:

conducting a first assessment that acquires first history information recording phenomena that affect the performance of the first battery unit, and assessing the rank of the first battery unit on the basis of the first history information; and

conducting a second assessment that acquires second history information recording phenomena that affect the performance of the second battery unit, and assessing the rank of the second battery unit on the basis of the second history information,

wherein the comparison in the comparing step is executed by a processor as a comparison between the ranks assessed in the first assessing step and the second assessing step, and

the output of output information in the outputting step is executed by the processor.

3. The information output method according to claim 2, further comprising:

conducting a first recording when charging the first battery unit that records the first history information that includes information indicating a charge count of the first battery unit; and

conducting a second recording when charging the second battery unit that records the second history information that includes information indicating a charge count of the second battery unit;

wherein the assessment of rank in the first assessing step assesses a rank as lower for a larger charge count of the first battery unit, and

the assessment of rank in the second assessing step assesses a rank as lower for a larger charge count of the second battery unit.

4. The information output method according to claim 2, further comprising:

conducting a first recording when fast-charging the first battery unit that records the first history information that includes information indicating a fast charge count of the first battery unit; and

conducting a second recording when fast-charging the second battery unit that records the second history information that includes information indicating a fast charge count of the second battery unit;

wherein the assessment of rank in the first assessing step assesses a rank as lower for a larger fast charge count of the first battery unit, and

the assessment of rank in the second assessing step assesses a rank as lower for a larger fast charge count of the second battery unit.

5. The information output method according to claim 2, further comprising:

conducting a first recording when charging the first battery unit that records the first history information that includes information indicating a full charge ratio of the first battery unit; and

conducting a second recording when charging the second battery unit that records the second history information that includes information indicating a full charge ratio of the second battery unit;

wherein the assessment of rank in the first assessing step assesses a rank as higher for a higher full charge ratio of the first battery unit, and

the assessment of rank in the second assessing step assesses a rank as higher for a higher full charge ratio of the second battery unit.

6. The information output method according to claim 2, wherein

the first history information includes information indicating whether or not a charge ratio of the first battery unit has fallen below a prescribed threshold value,

the second history information includes information indicating whether or not a charge ratio of the second battery unit has fallen below a prescribed threshold value,

the assessment of rank in the first assessing step assesses a rank as lower if the charge ratio of the first battery unit has fallen below the prescribed threshold value than if the charge ratio of the first battery unit has not fallen below the prescribed threshold value, and

the assessment of rank in the second assessing step assesses a rank as lower if the charge ratio of the second battery unit has fallen below the prescribed threshold value than if the charge ratio of the second battery unit has not fallen below the prescribed threshold value.

7. The information output method according to claim 2, wherein

the first history information includes information indicating whether or not a temperature of the first battery unit has become equal to or greater than a prescribed temperature,

the second history information includes information indicating whether or not a temperature of the second battery unit has become equal to or greater than a prescribed temperature,

the assessment of rank in the first assessing step assesses a rank as lower if the temperature of the first battery unit has become equal to or greater than the prescribed temperature than if the temperature of the first battery unit has not become equal to or greater than the prescribed temperature, and

the assessment of rank in the second assessing step assesses a rank as lower if the temperature of the second battery unit has become equal to or greater than the prescribed temperature than if the temperature of the first battery unit has not become equal to or greater than the prescribed temperature.

8. The information output method according to claim 2, wherein

the first history information includes information indicating an elapsed time since manufacture of the first battery unit,

the second history information includes information indicating an elapsed time since manufacture of the second battery unit,

the assessment of rank in the first assessing step assesses a rank as lower for a longer elapsed time since manufacture of the first battery unit, and

the assessment of rank in the second assessing step assesses a rank as lower for a longer elapsed time since manufacture of the second battery unit.

9. The information output method according to claim 2, wherein

the rank of a battery unit is determined so that differences in the ranks of battery units express differences in discharge performance of battery units.

10. The information output method according to claim 2, further comprising:

conducting a first selection that selects one battery unit from among a plurality of battery units on board the vehicle as the first battery unit to be swapped; and

conducting a second selection that selects, as the second battery unit, one battery unit from among battery units not on board the vehicle that is of the same type in terms of shape as the first battery unit selected by the first selecting step,

wherein the comparison in the comparing step is executed between the rank of the first battery unit selected in the first selecting step and the rank of the second battery unit selected in the second selecting step.

11. The information output method according to claim 2, further comprising:

conducting a first selection that selects one battery unit from among a plurality of battery units on board the vehicle as the first battery unit to be swapped; and

conducting a second selection that selects a plurality of battery units not on board the vehicle as the second battery unit,

wherein the comparison in the comparing step is executed between the rank of the first battery unit selected in the first selecting step and the rank of each second battery unit selected in the second selecting step,

the output information is information related to second battery units from among the second battery units selected in the second selecting step having a rank that is equal or higher than the rank of the first battery unit, and

the output of output information in the outputting step is a presentation of the output information.

12. The information output method according to claim 11, wherein

the output information includes information indicating the ranks of battery units from among the second battery units selected in the second selecting step having a rank that is equal or higher than the rank of the first battery unit, and identification information of the relevant battery units, and

the presentation in the outputting step is a display of the output information.

13. The information output method according to claim 11, wherein

the output information is information expressed in a format that distinguishes whether or not a second battery unit from among the second battery units selected in the second selecting step having a rank that is equal or higher than the rank of the first battery unit is of equal rank to the first battery unit.

14. The information output method according to claim 11, wherein

the output information additionally includes information expressed in a format that distinguishes battery units from among the second battery units selected in the second selecting step having a rank that is lower than the rank of the first battery unit from battery units having a rank that is equal to or higher than the rank of the first battery unit.

15. The information output method according to claim 11, further comprising:

acquiring location information recording a location of each battery unit selected as the second battery unit in the second selecting step,

wherein the output information indicates the location of each second battery unit having a rank equal to or higher than the rank of the first battery unit.

16. The information output method according to claim 2, further comprising:

conducting a first selection that selects two or more battery units from among a plurality of battery units on board the vehicle as the first battery unit to be swapped; and

conducting a second selection that selects a plurality of battery units not on board the vehicle and distributed in a plurality of locations as the second battery unit,

wherein the comparison in the comparing step is executed for each first battery unit selected in the first selecting step, between a rank related to performance of the first battery unit and a rank related to performance of each second battery unit selected in the second selecting step, and

in the outputting step, for all first battery units selected in the first selecting step, if second battery units corresponding to ranks that are equal to or higher than the rank related to performance of the first battery units are located at the same location, information indicating the location is output as the output information.

17. The information output method according to claim 2, further comprising:

conducting a first specification that specifies, as the first battery unit, a battery unit that was on board the vehicle until a swap, but is no longer on board the vehicle because of the swap; and

conducting a second specification that specifies, as the second battery unit, a battery unit that was not on board the vehicle until the swap, but was installed on board the vehicle because of the swap.

18. The information output method according to claim 17, wherein

in the outputting step, if the rank of the second battery unit is lower than the rank of the first battery unit, alert information is output as the output information.

19. The information output method according to claim 2, wherein

in the outputting step, if the rank of the second battery unit is equal to or higher than the rank of the first battery unit, information for reserving the swapping-in of the relevant second battery unit is output as the output information.

20. The information output method according to claim 2,

wherein the first history information includes at least one of pieces of information including:

a piece of information indicating a charge count of the first battery unit;

a piece of information indicating a fast charge count of the first battery unit;

a piece of information indicating a full charge ratio of the first battery unit;

a piece of information indicating whether or not a charge ratio of the first battery unit has fallen below a prescribed threshold value;

a piece of information indicating whether or not a temperature of the first battery unit has become equal to or greater than a prescribed temperature; and

a piece of information indicating an elapsed time since manufacture of the first battery unit, and

wherein the second history information includes at least one of pieces of information including;

a piece of information indicating a charge count of the second battery unit;

a piece of information indicating a fast charge count of the second battery unit;

a piece of information indicating a full charge ratio of the second battery unit;

a piece of information indicating whether or not a charge ratio of the second battery unit has fallen below a prescribed threshold value;

a piece of information indicating whether or not a temperature of the second battery unit has become equal to or greater than a prescribed temperature; and

a piece of information indicating an elapsed time since manufacture of the second battery unit.

21. An information output system that outputs output information when swapping a secondary battery for powering a vehicle, comprising:

a first acquisition unit that acquires first history information recording phenomena that affect performance of a first battery unit on board the vehicle;

a second acquisition unit that acquires second history information recording phenomena that affect performance of a second battery unit that is installable on board the vehicle in place of the first battery unit;

a first assessment unit that assesses a rank related to the performance of the first battery unit on the basis of the first history information;

a second assessment unit that assesses a rank related to the performance of the second battery unit on the basis of the second history information;

a comparing unit that compares the rank of the first battery unit to the rank of the second battery unit; and

an output unit that outputs the output information according to a result of the comparison by the comparing unit.

22. An information presentation device, installed on board a vehicle, that presents presentation information when swapping a secondary battery for powering the vehicle, comprising:

a storage medium storing history information recording phenomena that affect performance of a first battery unit on board the vehicle;

a receiving unit that externally receives rank information indicating a rank related to performance of a second battery unit that is installable on board the vehicle in place of the first battery unit;

a processor that assesses a rank related to performance of the first battery unit on the basis of the history information read out from the storage medium, that compares the rank related to performance of the first battery unit to a rank indicated by the rank information received by the receiving unit, and that generates and outputs the presentation information according to a comparison result; and

a presentation unit that presents the presentation information output by the processor.

23. The information presentation device according to claim 22, wherein the processor

reads out, from the storage medium, the history information related to the first battery unit on board the vehicle, and

in the comparison, if the rank of the second battery unit is equal to or higher than the rank of the first battery unit, the processor generates the presentation information that includes the rank and identification information of the second battery unit in the presentation information, and that includes information indicating the assessed rank of the first battery unit in the presentation information.

24. The information presentation device according to claim 23, wherein

the receiving unit also externally receives information indicating a location of the second battery unit,

the processor, after selecting one battery unit from among a plurality of battery units on board the vehicle as the first battery unit to be swapped, reads out the history information related to the relevant first battery unit, and

the processor, if the rank of the second battery unit is equal to or higher than the rank of the first battery unit, generates and outputs the presentation information that includes in the presentation information a map indicating a route guiding the vehicle to the location of the second battery unit, and

the presentation unit displays the presentation information.