Light electric vehicle with dynamic gear ratio selection feature

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11358478-B2
Application number	US-201916662973-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 24, 2019
Priority date	Jul 25, 2019
Publication date	Jun 14, 2022
Grant date	Jun 14, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a system for determining an optimal gear ratio for a light electric vehicle. The optimal gear ratio may be based on an anticipated or current route of an individual riding the light electric vehicle, riding habits of the individual and/or on maintenance status information associated with the light electric vehicle. When the optimal gear ratio is determined, the system provides an indication of the optimal gear ratio to the light electric vehicle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving a light electric vehicle use request from a computing device associated with an individual, the use request indicating a user intent to reserve or use the light electric vehicle;
determining, based at least in part, on the light electric vehicle use request, profile information associated with the individual, the profile information including a riding habit of the individual and being received from the computing device;
determining a location of the individual;
identifying a light electric vehicle associated with the location of the individual;
receiving light electric vehicle information associated with the light electric vehicle, the light electric vehicle information including at least one of (i) a current state of charge of a rechargeable battery of the light electrical vehicle, (ii) a maintenance history of the light electrical vehicle, or (iii) an efficiency rating of the light electrical vehicle;
determining, during a use period of the light electric vehicle and using the riding habit of the individual and the light electric vehicle information, a determined optimal gear ratio for the light electric vehicle, the optimal gear ratio being selected from a plurality of different gear ratios of the light electric vehicle; and
providing an indication of the optimal gear ratio to the light electric vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing an indication of the optimal gear ratio comprises transmitting a shift notification to the light electric vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the shift notification comprises a haptic notification.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the shift notification is a visual indication.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the riding habit of the individual comprises one or more of:
a pedaling cadence of the individual;
an average amount of power of a rechargeable battery used by the light electric vehicle when the individual is riding the light electric vehicle; or
shifting habits of the individual.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, based at least in part, on the profile information associated with the individual, an anticipated route of travel of the light electric vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the optimal gear ratio is based, at least in part, on the anticipated route of travel.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the optimal gear ratio is based, at least in part, on a specific location within the anticipated route of travel.

9. A system, comprising:
at least one processor; and
a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform operations, comprising:
receiving a light electric vehicle use request from a computing device associated with an individual, the use request indicating a user intent to reserve or use the light electric vehicle;
receiving light electric vehicle information from an identified light electric vehicle, the light electric vehicle information including at least one of (i) a current state of charge of a rechargeable battery of the light electrical vehicle, (ii) a maintenance history of the light electrical vehicle, or (iii) an efficiency rating of the light electrical vehicle;
determining a riding habit of the individual, the riding habit of the individual being based, at least in part, on one or more previous rides of the individual on light electric vehicles;
determining, based at least in part, on the light electric vehicle information and the riding habit of the individual, a range of gear ratios of the identified light electric vehicle that the individual can access; and
providing an indication of the range of gear ratios to the identified light electric vehicle.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising instructions for determining, based at least in part, on location information of the individual and profile information of the individual, an anticipated route of travel of the individual.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising instructions for updating the range of gear ratios of the light electric vehicle based, at least in part, on the anticipated route of travel of the individual.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the vehicle further comprising instructions for providing, in substantially real time, a gear ratio shift notification to the identified light electric vehicle based, at least in part, on an identified location of the light electric vehicle.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the light electric vehicle information comprises a charge status of a rechargeable battery associated with the light electric vehicle.

14. The system of claim 9 , further comprising instructions for restricting access to one or more gear ratios that are outside of the range of gear ratios.

15. A method, comprising:
receiving, from a computing device of an individual, rider profile information associated with the individual, the rider profile information comprising light electric vehicle riding habits of the individual;
receiving light electric vehicle information for a light electric vehicle selected by the individual, the light electric vehicle information including at least one of (i) a current state of charge of a rechargeable battery of the light electrical vehicle, (ii) a maintenance history of the light electrical vehicle, or (iii) an efficiency rating of the light electrical vehicle;
determining, based at least in part, on the riding habits of the individual and the light electric vehicle information, an optimal gear ratio for the light electric vehicle; and
during a route from an origin to a destination, providing a shift notification to the light electric vehicle, the shift notification being used to prompt the individual to shift from a current gear ratio of the light electric vehicle to the optimal gear ratio.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the optimal gear ratio is based, at least in part, on a current location of the light electric vehicle along the route from the origin to the destination.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the optimal gear ratio is based, at least in part, on a desired ride profile selected by the individual.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the light electric vehicle information includes performance metrics of the light electric vehicle based on a current state of charge of a rechargeable battery associated with the light electric vehicle.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the optimal gear ratio is based, at least in part, on an anticipated route from the origin to the destination.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the efficiency rating of the light electrical vehicle is based, at least in part, on weight information for the individual.

Assignees

• Uber Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Sussna Daniel Andrew
• Cooper Ashley

Classifications

• Y02T10/7072

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

• B60L2250/20

  by driver identification · CPC title

• B60L2240/48

  related to transmissions · CPC title

• B62J50/20

  Information-providing devices · CPC title

• B62M6/40

  Rider propelled cycles with auxiliary electric motor · CPC title