Method and system for calculating distance to empty of eco-friendly vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11155181-B2
Application number	US-201916397798-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2019
Priority date	Nov 26, 2018
Publication date	Oct 26, 2021
Grant date	Oct 26, 2021

Abstract

A method for calculating a distance to empty (DTE) of an eco-friendly vehicle is provided. The method includes determining a travel route along which the vehicle travels to a received destination, estimating cooling power consumption for cooling a battery by reflecting travel information predicted for the determined travel route, and calculating the DTE by reflecting the estimated cooling power consumption.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for calculating a distance to empty (DTE) of a vehicle, the method comprising:
determining, by a navigation device, a travel route along which the vehicle travels to an input destination;
estimating, by a cooling controller, cooling power consumption for cooling a battery based on travel information predicted for the travel route;
calculating, by a vehicle controller, the DTE based on the cooling power consumption;
determining, by the vehicle controller, whether the calculated DTE is less than a predetermined distance; and
when it is determined that the calculated DTE is less than the predetermined distance, setting a notification to charge the battery and automatically switch a traveling mode of the vehicle to an economical mode,
wherein estimating the cooling power consumption further comprises:
estimating, by the cooling controller, the cooling power consumption using a previously mapped cooling power consumption map that is determined experimentally by mapping the cooling power consumption according to an outside air temperature, an amount of solar radiation, and a discharge current of the battery; and
updating the previously mapped cooling power consumption map by cooling power consumption data based on actual travel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the cooling power consumption comprises:
determining, by the cooling controller, whether the battery is required to be cooled by predicting a temperature of the battery in each section of a plurality of sections into which the travel route is divided; and
estimating, by the cooling controller, the cooling power consumption in a section of the plurality of sections that the battery is required to be cooled.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining whether the battery is required to be cooled comprises:
determining, by the cooling controller, a section of the plurality of sections that the temperature of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined cooling temperature as the section of the plurality of sections that the battery is required to be cooled, wherein the temperature of the battery is estimated based on an outside air temperature, an amount of solar radiation, and a predicted discharge current of the battery.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the predicted discharge current of the battery is predicted by reflecting real-time road information in the section of the plurality of sections into which the travel route is divided.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein estimating the cooling power consumption comprises:
estimating, by the cooling controller, the cooling power consumption is based on the outside air temperature, the amount of solar radiation, and the predicted discharge current of the battery in the section of the plurality of sections that the battery is required to be cooled.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the DTE comprises:
calculating, by the vehicle controller, the DTE based on driving power predicted for the travel route and the cooling power consumption.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein calculating the DTE comprises:
calculating, by the vehicle controller, final energy consumption efficiency by reflecting the driving power predicted for the travel route and the cooling power consumption; and
calculating, by the vehicle controller, the DTE based on the final energy consumption efficiency and a state of charge of the battery.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein calculating the DTE comprises:
calculating, by the vehicle controller, cooling energy consumption efficiency by subtracting the final energy consumption efficiency from driving energy consumption efficiency predicted for the travel route; and
calculating, by the vehicle controller, the DTE by subtracting a cooling distance corresponding to the cooling energy consumption efficiency from a driving distance corresponding to the driving energy consumption efficiency.

9. A system for calculating a distance to empty (DTE) of a vehicle, the system comprising:
a navigation device configured to determine a travel route along which the vehicle travels to a destination received from a user;
memory configured to store a previously mapped cooling power consumption map that is determined experimentally by mapping cooling power consumption according to an outside air temperature, an amount of solar radiation, and a discharge current of a battery to cool the battery;
a cooling controller configured to:
estimate the cooling power consumption for cooling the battery based on travel information predicted for the travel route;
estimate the cooling power consumption based on the outside air temperature, the amount of solar radiation, and the discharge current of the battery in a section of a plurality of sections that the battery is required to be cooled; and
update the previously mapped cooling power consumption map using cooling power consumption data based on actual travel; and

a vehicle controller configured to:
calculate the DTE based on the cooling power consumption;
determine whether the calculated DTE is less than a predetermined distance; and
when it is determined that the calculated DTE is less than the predetermined distance, set a notification to charge the battery and automatically switch a traveling mode of the vehicle to an economical mode.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the cooling controller is configured to:
determine whether the battery is required to be cooled by predicting a temperature of the battery in each section of a plurality of sections into which the travel route is divided; and
estimate the cooling power consumption in a section of the plurality of sections that the battery is required to be cooled.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system further comprises:
a temperature sensor configured to measure an outside air temperature; and
a solar radiation sensor configured to measure an amount of solar radiation,
wherein the cooling controller is configured to determine a section of the plurality of sections that the temperature of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined cooling temperature as the section of the plurality of sections that the battery is required to be cooled, and wherein the temperature of the battery is estimated based on the outside air temperature, the amount of solar radiation, and a predicted discharge current of the battery.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle controller is configured to calculate the DTE based on driving power predicted for the travel route and the cooling power consumption.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Shin Hyun Woo

Classifications

• Y02T90/12

  Electric charging stations · CPC title

• Y02T10/7072

  Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors · CPC title

• B60L2240/545

  Temperature · CPC title

• B60L2240/68

  Traffic data · CPC title

• B60L2260/54

  Energy consumption estimation · CPC title