JP7121340B2 - electric vehicle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electric vehicle equipped with a fuel cell.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electric vehicle such as a plug-in hybrid vehicle is provided with an instrument panel and a display device for displaying the amount of charge. Such a display device displays the amount of charge to passengers inside the vehicle, but there is also a display device that displays the amount of charge to the outside of the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

With such a display device, when the charging plug is connected to the charging port of the vehicle body and the secondary battery is charged from the external power supply while the vehicle is stopped, the remaining battery level can be grasped from outside the vehicle.

However, when the generator is driven by the engine and the power generated by the generator is charged while the vehicle is stopped, instead of charging by the external power supply, the charging state is displayed outside the vehicle using the above-described display device. It is difficult. This is because driving the engine while the vehicle is stopped (idling operation) cannot be continued for a long period of time due to legal regulations. As described above, since it is not practical to drive the engine and charge the battery while the vehicle is stopped, it has not been considered to display the charging state at that time outside the vehicle.

Japanese Patent No. 5632220

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides an electric vehicle capable of recognizing from outside the vehicle the state of charge when the secondary battery is charged by consuming fuel to generate electricity while the vehicle is stopped. intended to

A first aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems is an electric vehicle provided with a fuel cell that generates power by being supplied with a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas, and a secondary battery that charges the power generated by the fuel cell. a display means for displaying the state of charge of the secondary battery outside the vehicle; a control device for causing the fuel cell to generate electricity while the electric vehicle is stopped and displaying the state of charge of the secondary battery on the display means; The display means includes a plurality of light sources that emit light toward the outside of the vehicle, and the control device turns on the number of light sources corresponding to the charging rate of the secondary battery, and the output of the fuel cell The electric vehicle is characterized in that the light source is flashed by changing the flashing interval accordingly .

In the first mode, while the vehicle is stopped, the fuel cell can be operated to charge the secondary battery, and the charging state of the secondary battery can be notified to the user outside the vehicle by the display means. This eliminates the need for the user to sit in the driver's seat, turn on the ignition switch of the electric vehicle, and check the instruments on the instrument panel to check the power generation status of the fuel cell and the charging status of the secondary battery. It can be seen at a glance from outside the vehicle.
In addition, in the first mode, by turning on the number of light sources according to the charging rate, it is possible to visually notify the user outside the vehicle how much the secondary battery has been charged by operating the fuel cell. can.
In addition, in the first mode, since the output state of the fuel cell can be grasped by blinking, for example, it is possible to grasp whether the fuel cell is operating at maximum efficiency or at maximum output. As a result, the user can know whether the secondary battery is being charged with good fuel economy or whether the secondary battery is being charged rapidly.

A second aspect of the present invention is the electric vehicle according to the first aspect, wherein the control device stops the fuel cell and turns on all the light sources when the secondary battery is fully charged. in an electric vehicle characterized by

In the second aspect, the user can easily recognize that the battery is fully charged.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electric vehicle according to the second aspect, the control device turns off all the light sources after a lapse of a predetermined time after all the light sources are turned on. in an electric vehicle.

In the third aspect, it is possible to prevent excessive consumption of electric power by keeping the light source on after full charge.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electric vehicle according to any one of the first to third aspects, the control device indicates the amount of charge of the secondary battery by means of a direction indicator provided with a plurality of light sources. is displayed, and the fact that the secondary battery is fully charged is displayed by turning on a side lamp.

In the fourth aspect, since the existing side lights and direction indicators are used, the cost for constructing the display means can be reduced.

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, an electric vehicle is provided in which the state of charge when the secondary battery is charged by consuming fuel and generating power while the vehicle is stopped can be grasped from the outside of the vehicle.

1 is a schematic diagram of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electric vehicle control device according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a turn signal indicating the state of charge of a secondary battery, viewed from the rear of the electric vehicle;

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated. Note that the description of the embodiment is an example, and the present invention is not limited to the following description.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electric vehicle according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control device for an electric vehicle according to this embodiment.

An electric vehicle 1 is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a fuel cell, and includes a motor 2 that drives wheels, a fuel cell 3 (abbreviated as FC in the figure), a secondary battery 4, and a communication device 10. and a control device 20 .

The motor 2 generates a driving force (torque) for driving the driving wheels of the electric vehicle 1 with electric power from the fuel cell 3 and the secondary battery 4 . Also, the motor 2 operates as a generator during deceleration and generates regenerative force (torque). The motor 2 is connected to the fuel cell 3 and the secondary battery 4 via an inverter (not shown). The inverter converts DC power generated by the fuel cell 3 and DC power charged in the secondary battery 4 into AC power and supplies the AC power to the motor 2 . Further, the regenerated electric power generated by the motor 2 is converted into DC power by the inverter, and the secondary battery 4 is charged with the DC power.

The fuel cell 3 is a polymer electrolyte fuel cell supplied with hydrogen as a fuel gas and air as an oxidizing gas, and generates power through an electrochemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen. Although the specific configuration of the fuel cell 3 is not particularly limited, it has a stack structure in which a plurality of cells (not shown) are stacked. Each cell comprises a membrane electrode assembly in which an anode and a cathode are arranged on both sides of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and a gas diffusion layer provided outside the membrane electrode assembly. The anode and cathode of each cell also contain platinum as a catalyst. A fuel cell 3 having a stack structure is formed by stacking a plurality of such cells via separators.

Although not shown, the electric vehicle 1 is provided with supply means for supplying the fuel cell 3 with a fuel gas (eg, hydrogen gas) and an oxidizing gas (eg, air taken in from the outside of the electric vehicle 1). .

The secondary battery 4 is, for example, a lithium ion battery, and charges the power generated by the fuel cell 3 or the regenerated power generated by the motor 2 . Moreover, the secondary battery 4 mainly supplies the electric power charged to the motor 2 . Further, the secondary battery 4 has an SOC detector (not shown). The SOC detector detects the state of charge (SOC) of the secondary battery 4 and transmits it to the control device 20 . Also, the secondary battery 4 can be charged from an external power supply device 5 installed outside the electric vehicle 1 .

The electric vehicle 1 is provided with side lights 6 at the front and winkers 7 (direction indicators) at the rear. These are devices equivalent to the side lights and winkers provided in general vehicles, but also function as display means capable of displaying the state of charge of the secondary battery 4 outside the vehicle, as will be described later.

The communication device 10 is a device capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from a mobile terminal 11 owned by the user of the electric vehicle 1 via a wireless LAN (IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, etc.), 4G communication standard, or the like. be. The communication device 10 receives information about the state of charge of the secondary battery 4 from the control device 20, and can transmit the information to the mobile terminal 11 in accordance with communication standards. Also, the mobile terminal 11 is a general smart phone, tablet, or the like. Although the details will be described later, the mobile terminal 11 also functions as display means for displaying the state of charge of the secondary battery 4 .

The control device 20 is a general term for the vehicle ECU 21, the FC-ECU 22, the motor ECU 23, and the battery ECU 24 in this embodiment. Each of these ECUs (Electronic Control Units) is composed of a microcomputer having a central processing unit and a main memory, and controls various devices.

The vehicle ECU 21 centrally manages the FC-ECU 22, the motor ECU 23, and the battery ECU 24. The FC-ECU 22 acquires the state of the fuel cell 3 and controls operations such as starting and stopping. The motor ECU 23 controls the motor 2 and inverter. The battery ECU 24 manages and controls the secondary battery 4 .

Such a control device 20 grasps the states of the motor 2, the fuel cell 3, the secondary battery 4, and other devices (accelerator pedal, brake, etc.), and drives/stops the motor 2 and the fuel cell 3 accordingly. and control the charging and discharging of the secondary battery 4 .

The control device 20 (vehicle ECU 21 ) executes control for displaying the state of charge of the secondary battery 4 outside the vehicle, in addition to the control related to the operation of the electric vehicle 1 .

Specifically, the control device 20 first causes the fuel cell 3 to generate power while the electric vehicle 1 is stopped, and charges the secondary battery 4 with the generated power. Whether or not the electric vehicle 1 is stopped is determined based on whether conditions such as the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speedometer being zero and the wheels being braked by the parking brake being applied are met.

The control device 20 causes the fuel cell 3 to generate power when the electric vehicle 1 is stopped. That is, electricity is generated by supplying hydrogen and air to the fuel cell 3 . For example, the fuel cell 3 may be caused to output at maximum efficiency, or may be operated at maximum output. The operation of the fuel cell 3 that produces the former output is called maximum efficiency operation, and the operation of the fuel cell 3 that produces the latter output is called maximum output operation.

The maximum efficiency operation is useful for suppressing hydrogen consumption without rushing charging of the secondary battery 4, and the maximum output operation is useful when charging the secondary battery 4 hastily. For example, it is preferable to operate at the maximum output when the SOC of the secondary battery 4 is less than a predetermined value, and to perform the maximum efficiency operation when the SOC is equal to or higher than the predetermined value. Of course, the fuel cell 3 may be operated at any output other than the maximum efficiency operation and maximum output operation. Alternatively, the output may be set by the user instead of being set by the control device 20 .

Next, the control device 20 obtains the state of charge of the secondary battery 4 and displays the state of charge on the side lights 6, the winkers 7 and the portable terminal 11, which are display means.

The state of charge of the secondary battery 4 in the present embodiment refers to the SOC of the secondary battery 4, whether normal charging or quick charging is being performed, the time required for full charge, the consumption of fuel required for charging (this consumption It is information about charging, such as the cost related to the amount).

The SOC of the secondary battery 4 is acquired by the SOC detection section described above. The control device 20 determines whether normal charging or quick charging is being performed according to the output of the fuel cell 3 . For example, if the fuel cell 3 is operating at maximum output, the control device 20 determines that rapid charging is being performed, and if not operating at maximum output, the control device 20 determines that normal charging is being performed.

Also, the control device 20 calculates the time required from the start of charging after stopping the vehicle to full charging (hereinafter referred to as the charging time) from the current SOC and the amount of charging of the secondary battery 4 per unit time. Further, the control device 20 acquires the amount of hydrogen consumed during the charging time from a sensor or the like provided in the device for supplying hydrogen to the fuel cell 3 . By multiplying the amount of hydrogen consumed by the unit price of hydrogen, the cost required for the consumed hydrogen can also be calculated.

The control device 20 displays the charging state of the secondary battery 4 thus obtained on the display means. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a turn signal indicating the state of charge of the secondary battery as seen from the rear of the electric vehicle.

The winker 7 includes a plurality of light sources 9 (for example, light emitting diodes) arranged in the width direction of the electric vehicle 1 . The multiple light sources 9 are turned on or off under the control of the control device 20 .

First, the operation of turning left and right using the winkers 7 will be described. The control device 20 turns on/blinks the winker 7 when a lever or the like (not shown) for functioning the winker 7 provided in the driver's seat is operated. For example, when the user operates a lever to turn left, the light sources 9 constituting the left winker 7 are sequentially flashed from the inside to the outside in the vehicle width direction, and the plurality of light sources 9 are illuminated in a flowing manner. When the user operates the lever for turning right, the right winker 7 is similarly lit.

The operation of such a winker 7 for displaying the state of charge of the secondary battery 4 will be described. The control device 20 turns on the number of light sources 9 corresponding to the SOC of the secondary battery 4 . In the example shown in FIG. 3, there are a total of ten light sources 9 that configure the left and right winkers 7 . Therefore, one light source 9 represents a charging rate of 10%. For example, if the charging rate is 0 or more and less than 10%, the leftmost light source 9 is turned on. If the charging rate is 10% or more and less than 20%, the leftmost two light sources 9 are turned on. Although omitted on the way, if the charging rate is 90% or more and 100% or less, all the light sources 9 are turned on.

By lighting the number of light sources 9 according to the charging rate in this manner, the user outside the vehicle can be visually informed of how much the secondary battery 4 has been charged by operating the fuel cell 3. - 特許庁

The configuration of the winkers 7 is not limited to such an aspect. The number of light sources 9 is not limited to ten as described above. Further, even if the winker 7 is composed of a single light source 9, the charging rate may be displayed by lighting the light source 9 according to the charging rate. For example, if the light sources 9 of the left and right winkers 7 are lit, it may indicate that the charging rate is 75% or more. If one is lit and the other is extinguished, it may indicate that the charging rate is 30% or more and less than 75%. If both are turned off, it may indicate that the charging rate is less than 30%. Of course, these figures are only examples.

When the secondary battery 4 is fully charged, the control device 20 stops the fuel cell 3 and turns on all the light sources 9 as described above. Alternatively, the side lights 6 may be turned on. As a result, the user can easily recognize from the side lights 6 that the battery is fully charged.

In addition, the control device 20 turns on all the light sources 9 to indicate that the battery is fully charged, or turns off all the side lights 6 after a predetermined time has passed since they were turned on. As a result, it is possible to prevent the light source 9 and the side lamp 6 from continuing to light up after the battery has been fully charged, thereby preventing excessive consumption of electric power.

Furthermore, the control device 20 may change the blinking interval according to the output of the fuel cell 3 to blink the light source 9 . For example, during maximum efficiency operation, the light source 9 is blinked relatively slowly. On the other hand, during maximum output operation, the light source 9 is blinked relatively quickly. This allows users outside the vehicle to know whether charging is being done efficiently or rapidly.

Of course, it is not limited to displaying only the highest efficiency operation and the maximum output operation by blinking. For example, the light source 9 may be flashed by setting the flashing interval so as to be proportional to the output of the fuel cell 3 . In addition, if the blinkers 7 are capable of emitting multiple colors, they will emit different colors depending on whether the vehicle is operating at maximum efficiency or at maximum output, thereby notifying the user outside the vehicle of the operating mode of the fuel cell. You may do so.

As described above, according to the electric vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment, the fuel cell 3 can be operated to charge the secondary battery 4 while the vehicle is stopped, and the state of charge of the secondary battery 4 can be checked. A user outside the vehicle can be notified by the vehicle side lights 6 and the winkers 7.例文帳に追加As a result, the user can sit in the driver's seat, turn on the ignition switch, etc. of the electric vehicle 1 to save the trouble of checking instruments on the instrument panel. The charging status can be grasped at a glance from outside the vehicle.

Moreover, since the existing side lights 6 and winkers 7 are used, the cost for constructing the display means can be reduced.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is, of course, not limited to the above-described embodiments. Other changes are possible.

For example, if the blinkers 7 are capable of emitting a plurality of colors, the charge rate may be notified to the user outside the vehicle by emitting different colors according to the charge rate.

Also, a display device such as a liquid crystal display that displays an image may be employed as the display means. Such a display device may be provided on the vehicle body (either outside the vehicle body or inside the vehicle) so as to be visible from outside the vehicle, and the charging state may be displayed as an image on this display device.

Furthermore, the control device 20 may transmit the state of charge to the mobile terminal 11 via the communication device 10 and display the state of charge on the display section of the mobile terminal 11 .

Specifically, the control device 20 determines the SOC of the secondary battery 4, whether the fuel cell 3 is performing normal charging or rapid charging (whether the fuel cell 3 is performing maximum efficiency operation or maximum output operation), and the time required for full charging. , information representing the consumption amount of fuel required for charging (the cost associated with the consumption amount) is transmitted to the mobile terminal 11 via the communication device 10 . Then, in the mobile terminal 11, such information is displayed on a display unit such as a liquid crystal display.

Furthermore, a speaker that emits sound toward the outside of the vehicle may be used as the display means. The control device 20 causes the speaker to output the aforementioned state of charge as sound or voice. Thereby, the charging state of the secondary battery 4 can be notified to the user outside the vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Electric vehicle, 2... Motor, 3... Fuel cell, 4... Secondary battery, 6... Vehicle side lamp (display means), 7... Winker (display means), 9... Light source, 10... Communication device, 11... Mobile phone Terminal (display means), 20... Control device

Claims (4)

An electric vehicle equipped with a fuel cell that generates power by being supplied with a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas,
a secondary battery for charging the power generated by the fuel cell;
display means for displaying the state of charge of the secondary battery outside the vehicle;
a control device that causes the fuel cell to generate power while the electric vehicle is stopped and displays the state of charge of the secondary battery on the display means. ,
The display means includes a plurality of light sources that emit light toward the outside of the vehicle,
The control device turns on the number of the light sources corresponding to the charging rate of the secondary battery, and changes the blinking interval according to the output of the fuel cell to blink the light sources.
An electric vehicle characterized by: In the electric vehicle according to claim 1 ,
The electric vehicle, wherein the control device stops the fuel cell and turns on all the light sources when the secondary battery is fully charged. In the electric vehicle according to claim 2 ,
The electric vehicle, wherein the control device turns off all the light sources after a predetermined time has elapsed since all the light sources were turned on. In the electric vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The control device displays the charging amount of the secondary battery by means of a direction indicator equipped with a plurality of the light sources, and indicates that the secondary battery is fully charged by turning on a side lamp. electric vehicle.

Images