User interface with stop-start benefit metric

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9850843-B2
Application number	US-201514745935-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2015
Priority date	Jun 22, 2015
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle according to the present disclosure includes an engine configured to autostop and autostart during a drive cycle. The vehicle additionally includes a user interface and a controller. The controller is configured to present on the user interface a metric indicative of a quantity of engine autostops during a drive cycle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
an engine configured to autostop and autostart during a drive cycle;
a user interface; and
a controller configured to present on the user interface a metric based on a running total of engine autostops for a drive cycle.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the metric includes a counter corresponding to a number of times the engine has been autostopped during the drive cycle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the metric includes an efficiency value corresponding to a ratio of a number of requested engine autostops during the drive cycle to a number of available engine autostops during the drive cycle.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the number of available engine stops during the drive cycle is based on a number of vehicle stops during the drive cycle, a number of respective stops during the drive cycle during which a driver-dependent autostop-inhibit condition is satisfied, and a number of respective stops during the drive cycle during which a driver-independent autostop-inhibit condition is satisfied.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the metric indicates a quantity of engine autostops during a previous drive cycle, and the controller is further configured to present the metric in response to a key-on event.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the metric indicates a quantity of engine autostops during a current drive cycle, and the controller is further configured to present the metric in response to a key-off event.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the metric indicates a quantity of engine autostops during a current drive cycle, and the controller is further configured to present the metric in response to a user request.

8. A method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:
receiving a first input indicating vehicle speed falling below a calibratable threshold;
receiving a second input indicating a vehicle temperature parameter being in an allowable range for an engine autostop;
receiving a third input indicating an engine autostop request; and
outputting an autostop efficiency metric based on the first, second, and third inputs.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein outputting an autostop efficiency metric includes displaying the autostop efficiency metric on a vehicle user interface.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the efficiency metric includes a ratio of a number of engine autostop requests during a current drive cycle to a number of vehicle stops with the vehicle temperature parameter being in the allowable range during the current drive cycle.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the outputting is in further response to a key-on event.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the outputting is in further response to a key-off event.

13. A control system for a vehicle, comprising:
a controller configured to receive a first input indicative of an engine autostop function being activated; and
a user interface in communication with the controller and configured to display a metric based on a running total of the first inputs received during a drive cycle.

14. The control system of claim 13 , wherein the metric includes a counter indicative of a total number of times the engine autostop function is activated during the drive cycle.

15. The control system of claim 13 , wherein the metric includes an efficiency value corresponding to a ratio of the first inputs received during a drive cycle to a number of available engine autostops during the drive cycle.

16. The control system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to receive a second input indicative of vehicle speed falling below a threshold and a third input indicative of a driver-independent autostop-inhibit condition being satisfied, and wherein the number of available engine stops is based on the number of second inputs received during the drive cycle and the number of third inputs received during the drive cycle.

17. The control system of claim 13 , wherein the user interface is further configured to display the metric in response to a key-on event.

18. The control system of claim 13 , wherein the user interface is further configured to display the metric in response to a key-off event.

19. The control system of claim 13 , wherein the user interface is further configured to display the metric in response to a user request.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc
• Ford Global Tech Inc

Inventors

• Dokras Nupur
• ILKKA Marirose
• Pebley Kirk

Classifications

• F02D41/042

  for stopping the engine · CPC title

• F02D41/28 Primary

  Interface circuits · CPC title

• F02D41/065

  at hot start or restart (F02D41/067 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60R16/0236 Primary

  for economical driving · CPC title

• B60W30/18018

  Start-stop drive, e.g. in a traffic jam · CPC title