Vehicle and charging control method of the vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10000136-B2
Application number	US-201615244640-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2016
Priority date	Nov 9, 2015
Publication date	Jun 19, 2018
Grant date	Jun 19, 2018

Abstract

A charging control method of a vehicle includes setting a reserved charging, closing a first switch in an on-board charger (OBC) controller, measuring an input voltage at an input side of the OBC controller when an external charger supplies power when the first switch is closed, setting a charging start time based on the measured input voltage, and starting charging a battery when the charging start time is reached.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A charging control method of a vehicle, the charging control method comprising:
setting a reserved charging;
closing a first switch in an on-board charger (OBC) controller;
measuring an input voltage at an input side of the OBC controller when an external charger supplies power when the first switch is closed;
setting a charging start time based on the measured input voltage; and
starting charging a battery when the charging start time is reached.

2. The charging control method according to claim 1 , further comprising opening the first switch when the step of measuring an input voltage is finished.

3. The charging control method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of setting reserved charging includes setting a departure time and using a late night electricity rate.

4. The charging control method according to claim 3 , further comprising estimating an input current using a control pilot duty cycle.

5. The charging control method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of setting a charging start time includes:
calculating an estimated charging time using the measured input voltage and the estimated input current; and
determining the charging start time in consideration of the calculated estimated charging time, the departure time, a time at which the late night electricity rate is applied and a predetermined margin.

6. The charging control method according to claim 5 , wherein the step of determining the charging start time is performed such that the estimated charging time is maximized within the time at which the late night electricity rate is applied.

7. The charging control method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of estimating an input current includes:
applying a control pilot duty cycle to a prescribed current map to acquire a first current;
acquiring a second current using a maximum power of the external charger and the measured input voltage;
acquiring a third current using a maximum power of the OBC controller and the measured input voltage; and
determining a lowest value of the first current, the second current and the third current as the input current.

8. The charging control method according to claim 1 , further comprising the vehicle standing by in a start-up off (IG OFF) state until the charging start time after the charging start time is set.

9. The charging control method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first switch changes an equivalent resistance of the OBC controller upon operation of a closed circuit formed between the external charger and the OBC controller, and
the OBC controller does not output power to an output side even when the external charger supplies power as the first switch is closed.

10. The charging control method according to claim 9 , wherein the external charger supplies charging power to the OBC controller when a voltage change due to a change in the equivalent resistance is detected.

11. A vehicle comprising:
an electric motor for driving wheels;
a battery for supplying power to the electric motor; and
an on-board charger (OBC) controller for closing a first switch when a reserved charging is set, measuring an input voltage at an input side thereof when an external charger supplies power, setting a charging start time based on the measured input voltage, and starting charging the battery when the charging start time is reached.

12. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the OBC controller controls opening the first switch when a measurement of the measuring an input voltage is finished.

13. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the reserved charging is set along with a departure time and use a late night electricity rate.

14. The vehicle according to claim 13 , wherein the OBC controller estimates an input current using a control pilot duty cycle.

15. The vehicle according to claim 14 , wherein the OBC controller calculates an estimated charging time using the measured input voltage and the estimated input current, and determines the charging start time in consideration of the calculated estimated charging time, the departure time, a time at which the late night electricity rate is applied and a predetermined margin.

16. The vehicle according to claim 15 , wherein the OBC controller determines the charging start time such that the estimated charging time is maximized within the time at which the late night electricity rate is applied.

17. The vehicle according to claim 14 , wherein the OBC controller applies a control pilot duty cycle to a prescribed current map to acquire a first current, acquires a second current using a maximum power of the external charger and the measured input voltage, acquires a third current using a maximum power of the OBC controller and the measured input voltage, and determines a lowest value of the first current, the second current and the third current as the input current.

18. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the vehicle stands by in a start-up off (IG OFF) state until the charging start time after the charging start time is set.

19. The vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the first switch changes an equivalent resistance of the OBC controller upon operation of a closed circuit formed between the external charger and the OBC controller, and
the OBC controller does not output power to an output side even when the external charger supplies power as the first switch is closed.

20. The vehicle according to claim 19 , wherein the external charger supplies charging power to the OBC controller when a voltage change due to change in the equivalent resistance is detected.

21. A non-transitory recording medium having instructions which cause a controller to execute the steps of the method of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Jang Young Jin
• Noh Soung Han
• Park Jun Yeon
• Kang Hyung Souk

Classifications

• H02J2105/55

  according to an economic condition, e.g. tariff-based load management · CPC title

• H02J2105/37

  exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] · CPC title

• H02J7/92

  with prioritisation of loads or sources · CPC title

• B60L53/11

  DC charging controlled by the charging station, e.g. mode 4 · CPC title

• B60L53/63

  in response to network capacity · CPC title