Recycled secondary battery supply forecast system and recycled secondary battery supply forecast usage

• US 9,791,514 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2012
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Nishizawa, Toshihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Ziaeianmehdizadeh, Navid
• Application Number:
  US14/007,522
• Publication Number:
  US 20140019001A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,034 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/16 responding to battery ageing, e.g. to the number of charging cycles or the state of health [SoH]
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/385 Arrangements for measuring battery or accumulator variables for monitoring G01R31/382
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/48 Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/54 Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/20 Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• 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: Y02W 30/84 Recycling of batteries or fuel cells

Abstract

A recycled battery supply forecast unit 201 of a battery management server 20 receives, from a plurality of vehicles 40, performance information of a secondary battery 403 mounted on each of the vehicles 40 and state information of the vehicle for determining a life of the vehicle 40, makes a forecast of an end of life of the vehicle 40 by using history of the state information of that vehicle, and makes a forecast of performance of the secondary battery 403 at the end of life of that vehicle 40 by using history of the performance information of the secondary battery 403. In addition, a forecast is made of a supply quantity of recyclable secondary batteries at a certain point in time in the future based on a forecast result of the performance of the secondary battery 203 at the end of life of each vehicle 40.

Claims

1. A battery management server configured to communicate with a plurality of vehicles via a communication network, the battery management server comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive from the plurality of vehicles via the communication network performance information of a secondary battery mounted on each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles and state information of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles;

memory configured to store the performance information and the state information; and

a recycled secondary battery supply forecast system comprising;

a battery performance forecast unit configured to forecast an end of life of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles by using history of the state information of each vehicle as stored in the memory, and configured to forecast performance of the secondary battery at the end of life of the corresponding vehicle by using history of the performance information of the secondary battery as stored in the memory, wherein the end of life is configured to indicate when a vehicle reaches a predetermined travel distance; and

a battery supply quantity forecast unit configured to forecast supply quantities of recyclable secondary batteries mounted on the plurality of vehicles which will come to the end of life during a certain period of time in the future, wherein the forecast of supply quantities of recyclable secondary batteries specifies a quantity level of recyclable secondary batteries based on forecast results of the performances of the secondary batteries at the end of life of the plurality of vehicles, battery type and a supply period, the recyclable secondary batteries being reused in separate devices.

2. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the state information of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles indicates a travel distance of the corresponding vehicle, and the battery performance forecast unit makes a forecast of the end of life of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles by calculating a timing of reaching the predetermined travel distance from an increasing trend of the travel distance of the corresponding vehicle.

3. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the state information of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles indicates used hours of the corresponding vehicle, and the battery performance forecast unit makes a forecast of the end of life of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles by calculating a timing of reaching predetermined used hours from an increasing trend of the used hours of the corresponding vehicle.

4. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the performance information of the secondary battery indicates a total capacity of the secondary battery, and the battery performance forecast unit makes a forecast of the performance of the secondary battery at the end of life of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles by calculating the total capacity of the secondary battery at the end of the life of the corresponding vehicle from a decreasing trend of the total capacity of the secondary battery.

5. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the performance information of the secondary battery indicates a maximum output current of the secondary battery, and the battery performance forecast unit makes a forecast of the performance of the secondary battery at the end of life of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles by calculating the maximum output current of the secondary battery at the end of the life of the corresponding vehicle from a decreasing trend of the maximum output current of the secondary battery.

6. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the timing of receiving the state information of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles and the performance information of the secondary battery from each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is at least one of the following:

after lapse of a given period of time after previous reception;

upon completion of charging of the secondary battery; and

upon termination of use of the corresponding vehicle.

8. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the battery performance forecast unit makes a forecast of performance of the secondary battery at the end of life of the corresponding vehicle based on a travel distance of the vehicle.

9. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the battery performance forecast unit makes a forecast of performance of the secondary battery at the end of life of the corresponding vehicle based on the total number of hours that the vehicle was driven.

10. The battery management server according to claim 1, wherein the battery performance forecast unit makes a forecast of performance of the secondary battery at the end of life of the corresponding vehicle based on the period of use of the vehicle.

7. A method for a battery management server in communication with a plurality of vehicles via a communication network to forecast a recycled secondary battery supply, comprising the steps of:

receiving by a communication interface from the plurality of vehicles via the communication network performance information of a secondary battery mounted on each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles and state information of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles;

storing in a memory the performance information and the state information received by the communication interface;

making a forecast, with a battery performance forecast unit, of an end of life of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles by using history of the state information of each vehicle as stored in the memory, wherein the end of life is configured to indicate when a vehicle reaches a predetermined travel distance;

making a forecast, with the battery performance forecast unit, of performance of the secondary battery at the end of life of the corresponding vehicle by using history of the performance information of the secondary battery as stored in the memory; and

making a forecast, with a battery supply quantity forecast unit, of supply quantities of recyclable secondary batteries mounted on the plurality of vehicles which will come to the end of life during a certain period of time in the future, wherein the forecast of supply quantities of recyclable secondary batteries specifies a quantity level of recyclable secondary batteries based on forecast results of the performances of the secondary batteries at the end of life of the plurality of vehicles, a battery type and a supply period, the recyclable secondary batteries being reused in separate devices.