Road trip detection for state of charge management in a motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024109431-A1
Application number	US-202217959493-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 4, 2022
Priority date	Oct 4, 2022
Publication date	Apr 4, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for adjusting state of charge (SOC) limits aboard a motor vehicle having a propulsion battery pack includes receiving a pre-drive information set via a host computer and identifying, from the pre-drive information set, a probability that the motor vehicle is about to embark on a road trip. The road trip is a drive event in which the motor vehicle will travel outside of a predetermined area. The method further includes expanding the SOC limits of the propulsion battery pack when the motor vehicle is about to embark on the road trip, such that a total SOC window of the propulsion battery pack is increased for a duration of the road trip.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for controlling a propulsion battery pack aboard a motor vehicle, comprising:
recording initial state of charge (SOC) limits of the propulsion battery pack; receiving a pre-drive information set via a host computer; identifying, from the pre-drive information set, a probability of the motor vehicle embarking on a road trip, wherein the road trip is a vehicle drive event in which the motor vehicle will travel outside of a predetermined drive area; and temporarily expanding the initial SOC limits via the host computer in response to the probability of the motor vehicle embarking on the road trip, such that a total SOC operating window of the propulsion battery pack is increased for a duration of the road trip.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the pre-drive information set includes accessing a historical database of past drive events of the motor vehicle.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
constructing a geofenced area using corresponding drive distances of the past drive events of the motor vehicle; and using the geofenced area as the predetermined drive area.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
re-enabling the initial SOC limits when the motor vehicle returns to the geofenced area.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the pre-drive information set includes accessing a calendar or database of holidays, vacations, and/or weekends.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the pre-drive information set includes receiving signals from a controller area network (CAN) bus indicative of the road trip.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein receiving the signals from the CAN bus includes receiving door opening/closing signals, trunk opening/closing signals, and/or a vehicle weight.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the probability of the motor vehicle embarking on the road trip is accomplished by the host computer using machine learning or statistical methods.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting a user prompt to a user device in response to the probability of the motor vehicle embarking on the road trip; receiving a confirmation signal from the user device that the motor vehicle is about to embark on the road trip; and temporarily expanding the initial SOC limits in response to the confirmation signal.

10 . A system for controlling a propulsion battery pack aboard a motor vehicle, comprising:
a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium on which is recorded an instruction set, wherein executing the instruction set by the processor causes the processor to:
determine initial state of charge (SOC) limits of the propulsion battery pack;
receive a pre-drive information set of the motor vehicle;
identify, from the pre-drive information set, a probability of the motor vehicle embarking on a road trip, wherein the road trip is a vehicle drive event in which the motor vehicle will travel outside of a predetermined drive area; and
temporarily expand the initial SOC limits when the motor vehicle is about to embark on the road trip, such that a total SOC operating window of the propulsion battery pack is increased for a duration of the road trip.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein executing the instruction set by the processor causes the processor to receive the pre-drive information set from a historical database of past drive events of the motor vehicle.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein executing the instruction set by the processor causes the processor to construct a geofenced area using corresponding drive distances of the past drive events; and
use the geofenced area as the predetermined drive area.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein executing the instruction set by the processor causes the processor to re-enable the initial SOC limits via the controller when the motor vehicle returns to the geofenced area.

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein executing the instruction set by the processor causes the processor to receive the pre-drive information set from a calendar or database of holidays, vacations, and/or weekends.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein executing the instruction set by the processor causes the processor to receive the pre-drive information set as signals from a controller area network (CAN) bus, wherein the signals are indicative of the road trip.

16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein executing the instruction set by the processor causes the processor to:
transmit a prompt to a user device in response to the motor vehicle being about to embark on the road trip; receive a confirmation signal from the user device that the motor vehicle is about to embark on the road trip; and temporarily expand the initial SOC limits in response to the confirmation signal.

17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are components of a battery management system of the motor vehicle.

18 . A method for controlling a propulsion battery pack aboard a motor vehicle, comprising:
recording initial state of charge (SOC) limits of the propulsion battery pack; receiving a pre-drive information set via a host computer, including:
accessing a historical database of past drive events of the motor vehicle;
accessing a calendar or database of holidays, vacations, and/or weekends; and
receiving signals from a controller area network (CAN) bus indicative of a road trip, wherein the road trip is a vehicle drive event in which the motor vehicle will travel outside of a predetermined drive area;
identifying, from the pre-drive information set, a probability of the motor vehicle embarking on the road trip; temporarily expanding the initial SOC limits via the host computer when the motor vehicle is about to embark on the road trip, such that a total SOC operating window of the propulsion battery pack is increased for a duration of the road trip; and re-enabling the initial SOC limits via the host computer when the motor vehicle returns to the predetermined drive area.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
transmitting a user prompt to a user device in response to the probability of the motor vehicle embarking on the road trip; receiving a confirmation signal from the user device that the motor vehicle is about to embark on the road trip; and temporarily expanding the initial SOC limits in response to the confirmation signal.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
constructing a geofenced area using corresponding drive distances of the past drive events of the motor vehicle; and using the geofenced area as the predetermined drive area.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Neuman Christopher R
• Kulkarni Gautam

Classifications

• B60L58/12 Primary

  responding to state of charge [SoC] · CPC title

• B60L15/2045 Primary

  for optimising the use of energy · CPC title

• B60R16/0231 Primary

  Circuits relating to the driving or the functioning of the vehicle (monitoring tyres B60C23/00; indicating overspeed B60K31/00; for dash boards B60K37/00, B60Q3/10; for indicating emergencies B60Q1/52; brake control systems B60T; registering or indicating the working of vehicles G07C5/00; measuring distance G01C, e.g. combinations of speed and distance G01C23/00; engine indicators G01L; measuring speed or acceleration G01P) · CPC title

• G07C5/10

  using counting means or digital clocks · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title