Method and system for vehicle refueling

• US 8,315,788 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2010
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Surnilla, Gopichandra, Leone, Thomas G., Prasad, Krishnaswamy Venkatesh, Agarwal, Apoorv, Hinds, Brett Stanley
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kim T
• Application Number:
  US12/783,446
• Publication Number:
  US 20110137470A1
• Time in Patent Office: 916 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29.5, 701/31.5, 701/32.3, 701/32.4, 701/32.5, 701/33.4, 701/123
• US Class Current: 701/123
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 37/0064 for engines being fed with multiple fuels or fuels having special properties, e.g. bio-fuels; varying the fuel composition controlling engines working with pluralities of fuels F02D19/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for facilitating refueling operations in vehicles operating with multiple fuels. A vehicle operator may be assisted in refueling the multiple fuel tanks of the vehicle by being provided one or more refueling profiles that take into account the vehicle'"'"'s future trip plans, the predicted environmental conditions along a planned route, and the operator'"'"'s preferences.

Claims

1. A method for a vehicle including a first fuel tank with a first fuel and a second fuel tank with a second, different, fuel, comprising,

displaying a fueling profile to a vehicle operator including suggested fuel amounts to be refilled for each of the first and second fuels, the fueling profile based on predicted future environmental conditions during a vehicle trip plan, and the suggested amounts based on operator preferences of performance and fuel economy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predicted future environmental conditions include one or more of ambient temperature, ambient altitude, ambient pressure, ambient humidity, and weather conditions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second fuel has a higher effective octane than the first fuel.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second fuel is primarily ethanol and the first fuel is primarily gasoline, and where the second fuel is directly injected to an engine cylinder.

5. A method of selectively fueling a vehicle including a first fuel tank with a first fuel and a second fuel tank with a second, different, fuel, comprising,

displaying a fueling profile to a vehicle operator, the fueling profile based on predicted future environmental conditions during a vehicle trip plan, the predicted future environmental conditions including one or more of ambient temperature, ambient altitude, ambient pressure, ambient humidity, and weather conditions, the displayed fueling profile including a fuel type, a fuel amount, a fuel ratio between the first fuel and the second fuel, one or more fueling stations, and directions to each of the one or more fueling stations.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein basing the fueling profile on predicted future environmental conditions includes increasing a fuel amount of the second fuel as the ambient temperature increases, the ambient humidity decreases, and/or the ambient altitude increases.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the displayed fueling profile is further based on operator preferences including increased vehicle performance, increased fuel economy, reduced vehicle fueling costs, and/or reduced vehicle emissions, and additional predicted conditions including driver aggressiveness, road grade, trailer or other load.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the predicted environmental conditions and additional predicted conditions are based on at least one of navigational inputs received from a vehicle positioning device in the vehicle, a recent history of driver behavior, and recent history of relative usage of the two fuels.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the vehicle is navigated to a fueling station selected based on the displayed fueling profile, the method further comprising communicating the displayed fueling profile to the selected fueling station, and during refueling at the selected fueling station, receiving a fuel type of received fuel wirelessly from the fueling station, and displaying the fuel type of the received fuel to the vehicle operator.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising, opening a first control valve coupled to the first fuel tank while closing a second control valve coupled to the second fuel tank when the received fuel is a first fuel type;

and opening the second control valve while closing the first control valve when the received fuel is a second fuel type.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the selective fueling is performed in response to a fuel level in the first fuel tank falling below a first threshold, a fuel level in the second fuel tank falling below a second threshold, and/or the vehicle operator requesting refueling.

12. A method of selectively fueling a vehicle including a first fuel tank with a first fuel and a second fuel tank with a second, different, fuel, comprising,

displaying a fueling profile to a vehicle operator via an interactive display device, the fueling profile based on predicted future environmental conditions during a vehicle trip plan, the predicted future environmental conditions including one or more of ambient temperature, ambient altitude, ambient pressure, ambient humidity, and weather conditions, the displayed fueling profile including a fuel type, a fuel amount, a fuel ratio between the first fuel and the second fuel, one or more fueling stations, and directions to each of the one or more fueling stations.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second fuel has a higher effective octane than the first fuel.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the second fuel is primarily ethanol and the first fuel is primarily gasoline, and where the second fuel is directly injected to an engine cylinder.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein basing the fueling profile on predicted future environmental conditions includes increasing a fuel amount of the second fuel as the ambient temperature increases, the ambient humidity decreases, and/or the ambient altitude increases.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the displayed fueling profile is further based on operator preferences including increased vehicle performance, increased fuel economy, reduced vehicle fueling costs, and/or reduced vehicle emissions, and additional predicted conditions including driver aggressiveness, road grade, trailer or other load, and wherein the predicted environmental conditions and additional predicted conditions are based on at least one of navigational inputs received from a vehicle positioning device in the vehicle, a recent history of driver behavior, and recent history of relative usage of the two fuels.

17. The method of claim 12, the method further comprising communicating the displayed fueling profile to the selected fueling station, and during refueling at the selected fueling station, receiving a fuel type of received fuel wirelessly from the fueling station, and displaying the fuel type of the received fuel to the vehicle operator.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising, opening a first control valve coupled to the first fuel tank while closing a second control valve coupled to the second fuel tank when the received fuel is a first fuel type;

and opening the second control valve while closing the first control valve when the received fuel is a second fuel type.