Charging and discharging control apparatus and electric motor vehicle

• US 9,707,849 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2013
• Issued: 07/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Nakamura, Kenta, Satake, Toshihide, Matsunaga, Takanori
• Primary Examiner(s): Elchanti, Hussein A.
• Application Number:
  US14/781,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20160039296A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,502 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/622 by satellite navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/18 Cables specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/31 Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/66 Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• 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 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 10/92 Energy efficient charging or discharging systems for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors specially adapted for vehicles
• 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

The present invention aims to provide a charging and discharging control apparatus that can reduce a period until charging and discharging processing is started while reducing power consumption during non-use, and to provide an electric motor vehicle including the charging and discharging control apparatus. The charging and discharging control apparatus of the present invention predicts, with use of a charging and discharging start predictor, whether a charging and discharging operation including at least one of an operation to charge a storage apparatus and an operation to discharge the storage apparatus is started or not. In accordance with a result of prediction, a manager manages transition of a charging and discharging controller from an activated state to a standby state and from the standby state to the activated state.

Claims

1. A charging and discharging control apparatus that controls at least one of charging and discharging of a storage apparatus installed in an electric motor vehicle, the charging and discharging control apparatus comprising:

at least one hardware processor configured to implement;

a charging and discharging start predictor that predicts whether a charging and discharging operation will be started or not, the charging and discharging operation including at least one of an operation to charge said storage apparatus and an operation to discharge said storage apparatus;

a charging and discharging controller that performs charging and discharging processing including at least one of charging and discharging of said storage apparatus; and

a manager that manages an operating state of said charging and discharging controller, wherein

the operating state of said charging and discharging controller is capable of transitioning between an activated state in which said charging and discharging processing is possible and a standby state in which power consumption is lower than in said activated state, and

said manager manages the operating state of said charging and discharging controller in accordance with a result of prediction performed by said charging and discharging start predictor.

2. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to implement an opening operation detector that detects an opening operation to provide an instruction to open a cover of a feed port for supplying power to said storage apparatus, wherein

said charging and discharging start predictor predicts that said charging and discharging operation will be started when said opening operation detector detects said opening operation, and

said manager causes said charging and discharging controller to transition from said standby state to said activated state when said charging and discharging start predictor predicts that said charging and discharging operation will be started.

3. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said electric motor vehicle includes a current position detector that detects a current position of said electric motor vehicle,

the charging and discharging control apparatus further comprises a charging and discharging history storage that stores charging and discharging operation information at least including charging and discharging performing position information indicating a charging and discharging performing position, the charging and discharging performing position being the current position of said electric motor vehicle detected by said current position detector when said storage apparatus is charged or discharged by said charging and discharging controller,

said charging and discharging start predictor compares said charging and discharging performing position information and current position information indicating the current position of said electric motor vehicle detected by said current position detector, and, based on a result of comparison, predicts whether said charging and discharging operation will be started or not, and

said manager causes said charging and discharging controller to transition from said standby state to said activated state or maintains said charging and discharging controller in said activated state when said charging and discharging start predictor predicts that said charging and discharging operation will be started.

4. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said manager causes said charging and discharging controller to transition from said activated state to said standby state or maintains said charging and discharging controller in said standby state when said charging and discharging start predictor predicts that said charging and discharging operation is not started.

5. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to implement a storage amount acquirer that acquires a storage amount of said storage apparatus, wherein

said charging and discharging start predictor predicts whether said charging and discharging operation will be started or not at least in accordance with the storage amount of said storage apparatus acquired by said storage amount acquirer.

6. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to implement a traveling/parked state detector that detects whether said electric motor vehicle is traveling or is parked, wherein

said charging and discharging start predictor predicts whether said charging and discharging operation will be started or not at least in accordance with a result of detection performed by said traveling/parked state detector.

7. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said charging and discharging start predictor predicts whether said charging and discharging operation will be started or not in accordance with current time.

8. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said charging and discharging start predictor predicts whether said charging and discharging operation will be started or not in accordance with an elapsed time since transition of said charging and discharging controller from said standby state to said activated state caused by said manager.

9. The charging and discharging control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

said charging and discharging controller

when said charging and discharging operation information is newly provided, judges whether or not there is a free space for storing said charging and discharging operation information newly provided in said charging and discharging history storage, and

when judging that there is not said free space, converts degrees of importance of stored pieces of said charging and discharging operation information stored in said charging and discharging history storage into numerical values, deletes said charging and discharging operation information whose degree of importance is relatively low based on said degrees of importance having converted into the numerical values from said charging and discharging history storage, and stores said charging and discharging operation information newly provided in said charging and discharging history storage.

10. An electric motor vehicle comprising:

a storage apparatus that is chargeable and dischargeable; and

a charging and discharging control apparatus that controls at least one of charging and discharging of said storage apparatus installed in said electric motor vehicle, the charging and discharging control apparatus comprising;

at least one hardware processor configured to implement;

a charging and discharging start predictor that predicts whether a charging and discharging operation will be started or not, the charging and discharging operation including at least one of an operation to charge said storage apparatus and an operation to discharge said storage apparatus;

a charging and discharging controller that performs charging and discharging processing including at least one of charging and discharging of said storage apparatus; and

a manager that manages an operating state of said charging and discharging controller, wherein

the operating state of said charging and discharging controller is capable of transitioning between an activated state in which said charging and discharging processing is possible and a standby state in which power consumption is lower than in said activated state, and

said manager manages the operating state of said charging and discharging controller in accordance with a result of prediction performed by said charging and discharging start predictor.