JP2020093647A - Hybrid vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To make it possible to easily and accurately identify from a vehicle outer part whether or not a hybrid vehicle is travelling while stopping an engine in an exhaust gas suppression area.SOLUTION: A vehicle is configured to switch a hybrid travel mode in which it travels by power of an engine and a motor generator and an EV travel mode in which the engine is stopped and it travels by power of the motor generator. The vehicle is provided with an indicating lamp fitted to a position where it is visible from outside the vehicle; and a control unit configured to control a lighting state of the indicating lamp. The control unit puts the indicating lamp in the lighting state when the vehicle travels in a ZEV area (an exhaust gas suppression area) in the EV travel mode and otherwise puts the indicating lamp in the light-off state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a hybrid vehicle that travels with the power of at least one of an internal combustion engine and a rotating electric machine.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-75210 (Patent Document 1) discloses a hybrid vehicle that travels with the power of at least one of an internal combustion engine and a rotating electric machine. In this hybrid vehicle, when the current position detected based on GPS (Global Positioning System) information or the like is included in a predetermined air pollution prevention enhancement region (exhaust gas suppression region), the internal combustion engine is stopped, It travels using the power of the rotating electric machine.

JP, 7-75210, A

In recent years, regulations on vehicle exhaust gas have been tightened in various countries, such as setting ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) areas in urban areas where only vehicles that do not emit exhaust gas are allowed to run and the travel of vehicles that emit exhaust gas is restricted. Has been done.

The hybrid vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1 complies with the regulation by stopping the internal combustion engine in the exhaust gas suppression region such as the city ZEV region. However, from the outside of the vehicle, it is not possible to easily and accurately identify whether or not the vehicle is running with the internal combustion engine stopped, and it is difficult to find a vehicle that violates the regulations.

The present disclosure has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to determine whether or not a hybrid vehicle is running with an internal combustion engine stopped in an exhaust gas suppression region, easily and from outside the vehicle. It is to be able to identify accurately.

The hybrid vehicle according to the present disclosure is configured to be capable of switching between a hybrid travel mode in which the engine runs with the power of the internal combustion engine and the rotary electric machine and an electric travel mode in which the internal combustion engine is stopped and the vehicle travels with the power of the rotary electric machine. This hybrid vehicle includes a light emitting device mounted at a position visible from the outside of the hybrid vehicle, and a control device configured to control a light emitting state of the light emitting device. The control device causes the light emitting device to emit light when the hybrid vehicle is traveling in a predetermined exhaust gas suppression region in the electric traveling mode. The control device stops the light emission of the light emitting device when the hybrid vehicle is not traveling in the exhaust gas suppression region or when the hybrid vehicle is not traveling in the electric traveling mode.

According to the above hybrid vehicle, the light emitting device is provided at a position visible from the outside of the vehicle. The light emitting device emits light when the hybrid vehicle is traveling in the exhaust gas suppression region in the electric traveling mode, and stops emitting light otherwise. Therefore, by confirming from outside the vehicle whether or not the light emitting device emits light, it is possible to easily and accurately identify whether or not the hybrid vehicle is running with the internal combustion engine stopped in the exhaust gas suppression region. You can

According to the present disclosure, it can be easily and accurately discriminated from outside the vehicle whether or not the hybrid vehicle is running in the exhaust gas suppression region with the internal combustion engine stopped.

It is a figure which shows an example of the whole structure of a vehicle typically. It is a flow chart which shows an example of the processing procedure which a control device performs.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts will be denoted by the same reference characters and description thereof will not be repeated.

<Vehicle configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the overall configuration of vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment. Vehicle 1 includes a power storage device 10, a system main relay (hereinafter also referred to as “SMR: System Main Relay”) 20, a power control unit (hereinafter also referred to as “PCU (Power Control Unit)”) 30, and a motor generator ( Rotating electrical machines) 41, 42, engine (internal combustion engine) 50, power split device 60, drive shaft 70, drive wheel 80, communication device 91, HMI (Human Machine Interface) device 92, and GPS (Global). Positioning System) module 93, changeover switch 94, indicator light 95, and control device 100. Further, the vehicle 1 includes a charging relay 210, a charging device 220, and an inlet 230.

Vehicle 1 is a hybrid vehicle including engine 50 and motor generators 41 and 42 as a driving force source. Further, the vehicle 1 is configured to be connectable to a power feeding device 2 outside the vehicle via a charging cable 3, and is configured to be capable of performing external charging for receiving power from the power feeding device 2 and charging a vehicle-mounted power storage device 10. It is a so-called plug-in vehicle. The vehicle 1 may be a vehicle configured to be able to receive power from the power feeding device in a non-contact (wireless) manner by magnetic coupling with the power feeding device without passing through the charging cable 3.

Power storage device 10 is configured to include a plurality of stacked batteries. The battery is, for example, a secondary battery such as a nickel hydrogen battery or a lithium ion battery. The power storage device 10 may be a large-capacity capacitor.

PCU 30 performs electric power conversion between power storage device 10 and motor generators 41, 42 in accordance with a control signal from control device 100, so that motor generators 41, 42 can be controlled separately.

Each of motor generators 41 and 42 is an AC rotating electric machine, for example, a three-phase AC rotating electric machine in which a permanent magnet is embedded in a rotor (not shown). Motor generator 41 is connected to the crankshaft of engine 50 via power split device 60. Motor generator 41 uses the electric power of power storage device 10 to rotate the crankshaft of engine 50 when starting engine 50. Further, the motor generator 41 can also generate power by using the power of the engine 50 while the vehicle 1 is traveling and is stopped.

Motor generator 42 rotates drive shaft 70 using at least one of the electric power from power storage device 10 and the electric power generated by motor generator 41. The motor generator 42 can also generate electric power by regenerative braking when braking or when reducing acceleration.

The engine 50 is, for example, an internal combustion engine such as a gasoline engine or a diesel engine. The engine 50 is controlled by a control signal from the control device 100.

The power split device 60 is, for example, a planetary gear mechanism having three rotation shafts of a sun gear, a carrier, and a ring gear, and the power generated by the engine 50 is transmitted to the drive wheels 80 and the motor generator 41. And the power transmitted to.

The communication device 91 is configured to be capable of wireless communication with the server 6 provided outside the vehicle. Communication device 91 is connected to control device 100 via a communication line, and receives, for example, ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) area information from server 6 and outputs it to control device 100. The control device 100 stores the ZEV area information received from the server 6 in the internal memory. The ZEV area information includes map information that specifies the ZEV area in which only the vehicle that does not emit exhaust gas is allowed to travel and the travel of the vehicle that emits exhaust gas is restricted.

The HMI device 92 is a device that provides the user with various information regarding the vehicle 1 and receives the operation of the user. The HMI device 92 includes a display, a speaker and the like provided indoors.

The GPS module 93 includes a receiving device used in the satellite positioning system. The GPS module 93 identifies the current position of the vehicle 1 based on the received signal and outputs the result to the control device 100. The GPS module 93 may be incorporated in a navigation device having a map database.

The changeover switch 94 is a switch for the user to perform an operation of manually switching the traveling mode of the vehicle 1 between the hybrid traveling mode and the electric traveling (EV traveling) mode. In the hybrid travel mode, the vehicle 1 travels using the power of both the engine 50 and the motor generator 42. In the EV traveling mode, the vehicle 1 travels by using the power of the motor generator 42 with the engine 50 stopped.

The indicator light 95 is a light emitting device that emits light for visually confirming from the outside of the vehicle 1 that the vehicle 1 is stopped in the engine 50 and is traveling in the EV traveling mode. Therefore, the indicator light is attached to a position visible from the outside of the vehicle 1. The mounting position of the indicator light 95 may be outside the vehicle compartment (front bumper, rear bumper, roof, etc.) directly visible from the outside of the vehicle 1, or visible from the outside of the vehicle 1 through the windshield or the rear glass. It may be a vehicle interior (the upper part of the instrument panel, the upper surface of the windshield or the rear glass on the indoor side). The lighting state of the indicator lamp 95 is controlled by a control signal from the control device 100. The number of the indicator lights 95 may be one or may be two or more.

The inlet 230 is configured to be connectable to the power feeding device 2 via the charging cable 3. When the charging cable 3 is connected to the inlet 230, a signal indicating that the charging cable 3 is connected to the inlet 230 is output from the inlet 230 to the control device 100.

Charging device 220 is connected between inlet 230 and charging relay 210. Charging device 220 converts AC power supplied from power feeding device 2 via charging cable 3 and inlet 230 into DC power and outputs the DC power to charging relay 210. The power supplied from the power feeding device 2 to the vehicle 1 may be DC power. In this case, the charging device 220 can be omitted.

Charging relay 210 is electrically connected to a high voltage line that connects power storage device 10 and charging device 220. The charging relay 210 is switched between open and closed states according to a control signal from the control device 100.

The control device 100 is configured to include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and an input/output port (not shown) through which various signals are input/output. The control device 100 inputs a signal from each sensor and outputs a control signal to each device and controls each device. Note that these controls are not limited to the processing by software, and it is also possible to construct and process by dedicated hardware (electronic circuit).

The control device 100 sets the traveling mode of the vehicle 1 to either the hybrid traveling mode or the EV traveling mode based on the traveling state of the vehicle 1, the charging state of the power storage device 10, a user operation input to the changeover switch 94, and the like. Set.

Further, the control device 100, based on the current position of the vehicle 1 specified by the GPS module 93, the ZEV area information received from the server 6 and stored in the internal memory, and the traveling mode of the vehicle 1, As described above, the lighting state of the indicator lamp 95 is controlled.

<Control of lighting state of indicator>
In recent years, in each country, regulations on vehicle exhaust gas have been tightened, such as setting ZEV regions where urban vehicles and the like, where only vehicles that do not emit exhaust gas are allowed to travel and vehicles that emit exhaust gas are restricted, are set in urban areas.

The vehicle 1 can travel in the ZEV region by selecting the EV traveling mode in which the engine 50 is traveling in the ZEV region (exhaust gas suppression region). However, simply selecting the EV traveling mode cannot easily and accurately identify whether or not the vehicle 1 is traveling with the engine 50 stopped from the outside of the vehicle 1 and violates the regulation. There is a problem that it is difficult to find a vehicle that does.

In view of the above problems, the vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment includes the indicator lamp 95 that emits light for visually confirming that the vehicle 1 is running with the engine 50 stopped from the outside of the vehicle 1. Then, control device 100 turns on indicator light 95 when vehicle 1 is traveling in the EV drive mode in the ZEV region, and turns off indicator light 95 otherwise. Therefore, by confirming from outside the vehicle 1 whether or not the indicator light 95 is lit, it is possible to easily and accurately identify whether or not the vehicle 1 is running with the engine 50 stopped in the ZEV range. can do.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the control device 100. This flowchart is repeatedly executed every time a predetermined condition is satisfied (for example, every predetermined cycle).

The control device 100 determines whether or not the vehicle 1 is traveling in the ZEV area (step S10). The control device 100 determines that the vehicle 1 is traveling in the ZEV area when the current position of the vehicle 1 specified by the GPS module 93 is included in the ZEV area information stored in the internal memory.

When vehicle 1 is traveling in the ZEV region (YES in step S10), control device 100 determines whether the traveling mode of vehicle 1 is the EV traveling mode (step S12).

Then, when vehicle 1 is traveling in the ZEV region (YES in step S10) and the traveling mode of vehicle 1 is the EV traveling mode (YES in step S12), control device 100 turns on indicator light 95. (Step S14).

On the other hand, when the vehicle 1 is not traveling in the ZEV region (NO in step S10) or the traveling mode of the vehicle 1 is not the EV traveling mode (NO in step S12), the control device 100 turns off the indicator lamp 95. (Step S16).

As described above, the vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment includes the indicator lamp 95 that emits light for visually confirming from the outside of the vehicle 1 that the vehicle 1 is running with the engine 50 stopped. Then, control device 100 turns on indicator light 95 when vehicle 1 is traveling in the EV drive mode in the ZEV region, and turns off indicator light 95 otherwise. Therefore, by confirming from outside the vehicle 1 whether or not the indicator light 95 is lit, it is possible to easily and accurately identify whether or not the vehicle 1 is running with the engine 50 stopped in the ZEV range. can do.

<Modification 1>
In the above-described embodiment, when the indicator lamp 95 is in the lighting state, a message indicating that the vehicle 1 is traveling in the ZEV area in the EV traveling mode is displayed on the display of the HMI device 92 as a display for the vehicle interior. It may be displayed.

<Modification 2>
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the ZEV area information is received from the server 6 outside the vehicle and stored in the internal memory of the control device 100 has been shown.

However, the ZEV area information may be stored in advance in the internal memory of the control device 100. In this case, the communication device 91 can be omitted.

<Modification 3>
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the indicator lamp 95 is used as a light emitting device that emits light for visually confirming from the outside of the vehicle 1 that the vehicle 1 has stopped the engine 50 and is traveling in the EV traveling mode. Indicated.

However, instead of or in addition to the indicator lamp 95, a light emitting device (so-called electronic bulletin board) in which a plurality of light emitting bodies are arranged in a matrix and the character information and the like can be expressed using these light emitting bodies may be used. It is possible. When the electronic bulletin board is used, message information indicating that the vehicle 1 is traveling in the EV drive mode in the ZEV area may be displayed on the electronic bulletin board.

<Modification 4>
In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the indicator light 95 is turned on when the vehicle 1 is traveling in the EV drive mode in the ZEV region, and is turned off otherwise.

However, the indicator light 95 may be turned on when the engine 50 of the vehicle 1 is operating in the ZEV region, and may be turned off otherwise. Even in this case, by confirming from outside the vehicle 1 that the indicator light 95 is off in the ZEV region, it is possible to confirm that the vehicle 1 is running with the engine 50 stopped in the ZEV region. You can

<Modification 5>
In the above-mentioned embodiment, the electric vehicle without the engine is not mentioned.

However, an indicator lamp that emits light for visually recognizing that it is an electric vehicle may be provided in the electric vehicle, and the indicator lamp may be turned on when the electric vehicle travels in the ZEV region. In this case, in order to distinguish between the electric vehicle and the hybrid vehicle, for example, the lighting color of the indicator light of the electric vehicle and the lighting color of the indicator light of the hybrid vehicle are color-coded (for example, lighting of the indicator light of the electric vehicle The color may be green, and the lighting color of the indicator light of the hybrid vehicle may be red).

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

1 vehicle, 2 power feeding device, 3 charging cable, 6 server, 10 power storage device, 41, 42 motor generator, 50 engine, 60 power split device, 70 drive shaft, 80 drive wheel, 91 communication device, 92 HMI device, 93 GPS Module, 94 changeover switch, 95 indicator light, 100 control device, 210 charging relay, 220 charging device, 230 inlet.

Claims (1)

A hybrid vehicle configured to be capable of switching between a hybrid drive mode that travels with the power of an internal combustion engine and a rotary electric machine and an electric drive mode that stops the internal combustion engine and travels with the power of the rotary electric machine,
A light emitting device attached to a position visible from the outside of the hybrid vehicle;
A control device configured to control a light emitting state of the light emitting device,
The control device is
When the hybrid vehicle is traveling in a predetermined exhaust gas suppression region in the electric traveling mode, the light emitting device is caused to emit light,
A hybrid vehicle that stops the light emission of the light emitting device when the hybrid vehicle is not traveling in the exhaust gas suppression region or when the hybrid vehicle is not traveling in the electric traveling mode.

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