REFUELABLE BATTERY-POWERED ELECTRIC VEHICLE
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Abstract
The electrical vehicle energy storage system permits the electric refueling of the electric vehicle just like an automobile would be refueled with gasoline at a gas station. Circuitry on board the vehicle accessible by the electric refueling station enables the determination of the energy content of the battery module or modules returned to the electric refueling station and the owner of the vehicle is given credit for the energy remaining in the battery module or modules which have been exchanged. Selective refueling may take place for given battery modules by removing them from the battery system and charging them at home, office or factory. A process for operating an electric vehicle is also disclosed and claimed.
77 Citations
40 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A process for operating an electric vehicle comprising the steps of:
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measuring the state of charge of each of a plurality of battery modules; measuring the power demand of the electric drive system; selectively coupling the most highly charged battery modules to the electrical drive system more often than lesser charged battery modules when said drive system is under load requiring power from the battery modules; selectively coupling the least highly charged battery modules to the electrical drive system more often than greater charged battery modules when said drive system is sourcing power under conditions of regenerative braking; maintaining a duty-cycle of charging and discharging of battery modules within the specified limits of each particular battery module; and
,facilitating by said selective coupling of battery modules the convergence of all battery modules to an equal state of charge. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 34)
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29. A process for operating an electric vehicle comprising the steps of:
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measuring the state of charge of each of a plurality of battery modules while said battery modules are on-board said electric vehicle; measuring the power demand of an on-board electrical drive system of said electric vehicle; selectively coupling the most highly charged battery modules to said on-board electrical drive system more often than lesser charged battery modules when said on-board electrical drive system is under load requiring power from said plurality of battery modules; selectively coupling the least highly charged battery modules to said on-board electrical drive system more often than more highly charged battery modules when said on-board electrical drive system is sourcing power under conditions from an on-board regenerative power source; maintaining a duty-cycle of charging and discharging of battery modules within specified limits of each particular battery module, said specified limits of each battery module include a predefined low state of charge and a predefined high state of charge for each of said plurality of battery modules; and
,converging each of said battery modules toward an equal state of charge by said selective coupling. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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35. A process for operating an electric vehicle comprising the steps of:
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utilizing a controller to measure the state of charge of each of a plurality of battery modules using respective battery module interface circuits; utilizing said controller and a power interface circuit to measure the power demand of an electric drive system; utilizing said controller, said respective battery module interface circuits, and said state of charge measurements to selectively couple more highly charged battery modules to said electric drive system more often than less charged battery modules when said electric drive system is under load requiring power; and
,utilizing said controller, said respective battery module interface circuits, and said state of charge measurements to selectively couple less charged battery modules to said electric drive system more often than more highly charged battery modules when said electric drive system is sourcing power under conditions of regenerative braking or other electrical generation. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification