Hybrid vehicle and method for controlling hybrid vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11440434-B2
Application number	US-202016902229-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2020
Priority date	Jul 17, 2019
Publication date	Sep 13, 2022
Grant date	Sep 13, 2022

Abstract

A hybrid vehicle includes an electric generator, a drive motor, a power storage device, a power consuming device, and a controller. The controller is configured to control driving of the power consuming device. The controller is configured to execute power consumption increasing control when a vehicle power balance value is larger than a first threshold while the drive motor operates in a braking-period power generation mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hybrid vehicle comprising:
an electric generator configured to generate electric power for driving the hybrid vehicle;
a drive motor configured to operate in any one of a power running mode in which the drive motor drives the hybrid vehicle and a braking-period power generation mode in which the drive motor generates braking-period electric power by operating as a generator and generates a braking force for the hybrid vehicle;
a power storage device configured to store the electric power generated by the electric generator and the braking-period electric power generated by the drive motor;
a power consuming device configured to consume electric power; and
a controller configured to control driving of the power consuming device, wherein
the controller is configured to execute power consumption increasing control when a vehicle power balance value is larger than a first threshold while the drive motor operates in the braking-period power generation mode,
the vehicle power balance value being a vehicle power balance value that does not include a charging and discharging amount of the power storage device and that is obtained by subtracting vehicle-consuming power consumed by the hybrid vehicle from vehicle-generating power,
the vehicle-generating power being electric power generated by the hybrid vehicle, including an estimated value of the braking-period electric power,
the power consumption increasing control being control for setting power consumption of the power consuming device to be larger than power consumption of the power consuming device at the vehicle power balance value that is smaller than a second threshold set smaller than the first threshold,
the first threshold being preset based on a permissible dischargeable power, which is determined depending on a condition of the power storage device as an upper limit of electric power to be discharged by the power storage device,
the first threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is smaller than a predetermined first reference power value being set larger than the first threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is equal to or larger than the first reference power value,
the second threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is smaller than the first reference power value being set larger than the second threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is equal to or larger than the first reference power value, and

the controller is configured to terminate the power consumption increasing control when the vehicle power balance value is smaller than the second threshold after a start of the power consumption increasing control.

2. The hybrid vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the first threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is smaller than the first reference power value and larger than a second reference power value that is smaller than the first reference power value is set to increase as the permissible dischargeable power decreases, and
the second threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is smaller than the first reference power value and larger than the second reference power value is set to increase as the permissible dischargeable power decreases.

3. The hybrid vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured such that, when a predetermined first reference time elapses without starting the power consumption increasing control after a termination of the power consumption increasing control, the first threshold is set to zero until the power consumption increasing control is started subsequently.

4. The hybrid vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured such that, when a predetermined second reference time or longer elapses while the vehicle power balance value remains equal to or larger than the second threshold and equal to or smaller than the first threshold without executing the power consumption increasing control, the first threshold is set to zero until the power consumption increasing control is started subsequently.

5. The hybrid vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured such that, when a predetermined third reference time elapses without terminating the power consumption increasing control after a start of the power consumption increasing control, the second threshold is set to zero until the power consumption increasing control is terminated subsequently.

6. The hybrid vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured such that, when a predetermined fourth reference time or longer elapses while the vehicle power balance value remains equal to or larger than the second threshold and equal to or smaller than the first threshold under execution of the power consumption increasing control, the second threshold is set to zero until the power consumption increasing control is terminated subsequently.

7. A method for controlling a hybrid vehicle, the hybrid vehicle including an electric generator configured to generate electric power for driving the hybrid vehicle, a drive motor configured to operate in any one of a power running mode in which the drive motor drives the hybrid vehicle and a braking-period power generation mode in which the drive motor generates braking-period electric power by operating as a generator and generates a braking force for the hybrid vehicle, a power storage device configured to store the electric power generated by the electric generator and the braking-period electric power generated by the drive motor, and a power consuming device configured to consume electric power, the method for controlling the hybrid vehicle comprising:
executing power consumption increasing control when a vehicle power balance value is larger than a first threshold while the drive motor operates in the braking-period power generation mode,
the vehicle power balance value being a vehicle power balance value that does not include a charging and discharging amount of the power storage device and that is obtained by subtracting vehicle-consuming power consumed by the hybrid vehicle from vehicle-generating power,
the vehicle-generating power being electric power generated by the hybrid vehicle, including an estimated value of the braking-period electric power,
the power consumption increasing control being control for setting power consumption of the power consuming device to be larger than power consumption of the power consuming device at the vehicle power balance value that is smaller than a second threshold set smaller than the first threshold,
the first threshold being preset based on a permissible dischargeable power, which is determined depending on a condition of the power storage device as an upper limit of electric power to be discharged by the power storage device,
the first threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is smaller than a predetermined first reference power value being set larger than the first threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is equal to or larger than the first reference power value,
the second threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is smaller than the first reference power value being set larger than the second threshold at the permissible dischargeable power that is equal to or larger than the first reference power value; and

terminating the power consumption increasing control when the vehicle power balance value is smaller than the second threshold after a start of the power consumption increasing control.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Takasaki Asuka

Classifications

• B60W2510/244

  Charge state · CPC title

• B60W20/13

  in order to stay within battery power input or output limits; in order to prevent overcharging or battery depletion · CPC title

• B60K6/32

  characterised by the fuel cells · CPC title

• B60W2710/305

  target power to auxiliaries · CPC title

• B60W2510/305

  Power absorbed by auxiliaries · CPC title