Electric vehicle

• US 8,563,151 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2009
• Issued: 10/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Junichi, Ishishita, Teruo
• Primary Examiner(s): DOUYETTE, KENNETH J
• Application Number:
  US12/991,831
• Publication Number:
  US 20110059341A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,603 Days
• Field of Search: 429/157, 429/158, 429/82, 429/61, 429/120, 180/65.1, 180/68.2, 180/68.5, 340/825.72, 340/632, 454/75
• US Class Current: 429/82
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00278 for the battery arrangement of batteries B60R16/04
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00392 for electric vehicles having only electric drive means
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00978 Control systems or circuits characterised by failure of detection or safety means; Diagnostic methods
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/248 Air-extractors, air-evacuation from the vehicle interior
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 2001/003 Component temperature regulation using an air flow
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 1/04 of the electric storage means for propulsion exchanging batteries for electric propulsion of vehicles B60L53/80; for auxiliary purposes only B60R16/04; supplying batteries to, or removing batteries from, vehicles B60S5/06
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2001/005 the electric storage means
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2001/0427 Arrangement between the seats
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0046 relating to electric energy storage systems, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0053 relating to fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/10 for monitoring or controlling batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/26 by cooling
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/052 Li-accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/486 for measuring temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/613 Cooling or keeping cold
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/625 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/63 Control systems charging or discharging in response to temperature H01M10/44 , H01M10/443; measurement of temperature H01M10/48 , H01M10/486
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6563 with forced flow, e.g. by blowers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 : Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 : Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

An electric vehicle is provided with a cell voltage sensor (32) and a cell temperature sensor (31) which are mounted to each of a plurality of cells (21); a gas temperature sensor (33), a carbon monoxide gas sensor (34), and a hydrogen gas sensor (35) which are mounted to a chamber (27); a gas temperature sensor (36), a carbon monoxide gas sensor (37), and a hydrogen gas sensor (38) which are mounted to a gas exhaust passage (28); and an air-conditioning fan (17), a channel-switching damper (19), and a driving motor (42) which lowers a window glass (41). When battery state values detected by the sensors (31) to (38) exceed predetermined thresholds, a battery pack (20) is judged to be abnormal. Then, the channel-switching damper (19) and the air-conditioning fan (17) are started and the window glass (41) is lowered to ventilate the vehicle interior. This speedily exhausts smoke generated from a lithium ion battery.

Claims

1. An electrically driven vehicle, comprising:

a battery mounted inside a vehicle interior;

an air intake duct which is provided with a cooling fan, and which is adapted to provide the battery with cooling air from the vehicle interior;

an air discharge duct arranged to discharge, into the vehicle interior, air which was warmed after cooling the battery;

a battery state detector that detects a state of the battery;

a ventilation mechanism which comprises an outside air introduction mechanism that introduces outside air into the vehicle interior, and which ventilates air inside the vehicle interior; and

a controller that starts and stops the ventilation mechanism,

characterized in that;

the battery is a lithium ion battery;

the electrically driven vehicle comprises a gas discharge passage through which gas emitted from the lithium ion battery under abnormal conditions of the lithium ion battery is discharged into the vehicle interior;

the ventilation mechanism comprises a window glass drive mechanism that moves a window glass in the vehicle interior;

the controller includes a ventilation mechanism starting means that starts the ventilation mechanism when the lithium ion battery is determined to be in an abnormal state when a value showing the state of the lithium ion battery detected by the battery state detector exceeds a predetermined threshold, said ventilation mechanism starting means comprising an outside air introduction starting means and a window opening starting means that starts opening of the window glass by the window glass drive mechanism; and

the battery state detector is any one of or a combination of any one of;

a voltage sensor installed in the lithium ion battery,

a temperature sensor installed in the lithium ion battery,

a gas sensor installed in the gas discharge passage, and

a gas temperature sensor installed in the gas discharge passage.

2. The electrically driven vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

the vehicle comprises a chamber that covers an upper portion of the lithium ion battery,

has the gas discharge passage connected thereto, and collects gas emitted from the lithium ion battery under abnormal conditions of the lithium ion battery, and

one or both of the gas sensor and the gas temperature sensor are provided on a top internal surface of the chamber.

3. The electrically driven vehicle according to claim 1,

wherein the gas sensor is one or both of a carbon monoxide gas sensor and a hydrogen gas sensor.

4. The electrically driven vehicle according to claim 2,

wherein the gas sensor is one or both of a carbon monoxide gas sensor and a hydrogen gas sensor.