Electric vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11794718-B2
Application number	US-202117356086-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2021
Priority date	Aug 7, 2020
Publication date	Oct 24, 2023
Grant date	Oct 24, 2023

Abstract

The controller of the electric vehicle is configured to control the torque of the electric motor using the MT vehicle model based on the operation amount of the accelerator pedal, the operation amount of the pseudo-clutch pedal, and the shift position of the pseudo-shifter. The electric vehicle also includes a shift reaction force generator that generates a shift reaction force in response to the operation of the pseudo-shifter using by the operating of the reaction force actuator. The controller is configured to store the shift reaction force characteristic simulating the characteristic of the shift reaction force according to the operation of the shifter. Then, the controller is configured to control the shift reaction force output by the shift reaction force generator according to the operation of the pseudo-shifter using the stored shift reaction force characteristic.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric vehicle using an electric motor as a power source for traveling, the electric vehicle comprising:
an accelerator pedal;
a pseudo-clutch pedal;
a pseudo-shifter; and
a controller configured to control motor torque output by the electric motor,
wherein, the controller comprises:
a memory; and
a processor,

wherein, the memory configured to store an MT vehicle model simulating a torque characteristic of a driving wheel torque in an MT vehicle having an internal combustion engine which is controlled torque by operation of a gas pedal, and a manual transmission in which a gear stage is switched by operation of a clutch pedal and a shifter,
wherein, the processor is configured to execute:
a process of receiving an operation amount of the accelerator pedal as an input of an operation amount of the gas pedal with respect to the MT vehicle model,
a process of receiving an operation amount of the pseudo-clutch pedal as an input of an operation amount of the clutch pedal with respect to the MT vehicle model,
a process of receiving a shift position of the pseudo-shifter as an input of a shift position of the shifter with respect to the MT vehicle model,
a process of calculating the driving wheel torque determined by the operation amount of the accelerator pedal, the operation amount of the pseudo-clutch pedal, and the shift position of the pseudo-shifter, using the MT vehicle model, and
a process of calculating the motor torque for providing the driving wheel torque to driving wheels of the electric vehicle,

wherein, the electric vehicle comprises a shift reaction force generator that generates a shift reaction force against operation of the pseudo-shifter, by operation of a reaction force actuator, and
wherein, the controller is configured to control the shift reaction force output by the shift reaction force generator in response to the operation of the pseudo-shifter.

2. The electric vehicle according to claim 1 ,
wherein, the memory is configured to store a shift reaction force characteristic simulating a characteristic of the shift reaction force corresponding to the operation of the shifter, and
wherein, the processor is configured to execute a process of controlling the shift reaction force output by the shift reaction force generator using the shift reaction force characteristic.

3. The electric vehicle according to claim 2 ,
wherein, the memory is configured to store a plurality of shift reaction force characteristic of different characteristic,
wherein, the electric vehicle includes a pattern selection switch for selecting one shift reaction characteristic from among the plurality of shift reaction force characteristics, and
wherein, the processor is configured to execute a process of controlling the shift reaction force output by the shift reaction force generator using the shift reaction force characteristic selected by the pattern selection switch.

4. The electric vehicle according to claim 1 ,
wherein, the controller is configured to execute a fixed reaction force addition control for adding a shift reaction force for fixing the operation of the pseudo-shifter based on a state of the electric vehicle.

5. The electric vehicle according to claim 4 ,
wherein, in the fixed reaction force addition control, the controller is configured to add the shift reaction force for fixing the shift position to the neutral position when the shift position of the pseudo-shifter is a position corresponding to the neutral position of the shifter and the operation amount of the pseudo-clutch pedal is smaller than a reference operation amount.

6. The electric vehicle according to claim 4 ,
wherein, in the fixed reaction force addition control, the controller is configured to add the shift reaction force to fix the shift position to a current shift position when the operation amount of the pseudo-clutch pedal is zero during acceleration of the electric vehicle.

7. The electric vehicle according to claim 1 ,
wherein, the pseudo-shifter includes:
a plurality of shift gates provided in parallel in a shift direction,
a select gate that is connected to each of the plurality of shift gates and extends in a select direction, and
a shift lever that defines the shift position by being operated along the plurality of shift gates and the select gate,

wherein, the select gate is a shift position corresponding to a neutral position of the shifter, and
wherein, when the shift lever is operated to the neutral position, the controller is configured to execute a process of adding the shift reaction force toward a predetermined reference position of the select gate.

8. The electric vehicle according to claim 7 ,
wherein, the pseudo-shifter includes a reverse lock switch for switching the activation and deactivation of reverse lock control, and
wherein, when the reverse lock control is activated by the reverse lock switch, the controller is configured to increase the reaction force against operating the shift position to the shift gate corresponding to the reverse gear than when the reverse lock control is deactivated.

9. The electric vehicle according to claim 1 ,
wherein, the memory in configured to store a plurality of shift patterns in which shift positions of the shifter with respect to the MT vehicle model are associated with the shift positions of the pseudo-shifter,
wherein, the electric vehicle comprises a shift pattern selection switch for selecting one shift pattern from among the plurality of shift patterns, and
wherein, the processor is configured to execute a process of receiving a shift position of the pseudo-shifter as an input of a shift position of the shifter relative to the MT vehicle model based on the shift pattern selected by the shift pattern selection switch.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Isami Yoichiro
• Itou Yoshio
• Amano Hiroyuki
• Imamura Tatsuya
• Nishimine Akiko
• Ebuchi Hiroaki
• Kodera Hiroaki

Classifications

• B60W20/15 Primary

  Control strategies specially adapted for achieving a particular effect · CPC title

• B60K17/02

  characterised by arrangement, location, or kind of clutch · CPC title

• B60K26/021

  with means for providing feel, e.g. by changing pedal force characteristics · CPC title

• B60L15/20

  for control of the vehicle or its driving motor to achieve a desired performance, e.g. speed, torque, programmed variation of speed · CPC title

• B60K2026/023

  with electrical means to generate counter force or torque · CPC title