JP2023069685A - vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent degradation of fuel in a fuel tank in a vehicle which includes the fuel tank and can execute external charging.SOLUTION: A vehicle 2 comprises: a power storage device 7; an engine 50; a fuel tank 55; an MG 30; a power reception device 6 and an inlet 8; and an ECU 100. The engine 50 generates power by burning fuel. The MG 30 generates travel drive power by consuming the power stored in the power storage device 7. The power reception device 6 and the inlet 8 respectively receive power supplied from a non-contact power supply device 4 and a charging stand 3. The ECU 100 is configured to execute external charging control of charging the power storage device 7 using the power received by the power reception device 6 and the inlet 8. The ECU 100 sets an external charging prohibition period being a period of prohibiting the external charging control when the execution frequency of the external charging control becomes equal to or greater than a threshold frequency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to vehicles.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-167898 (Patent Document 1) discloses a hybrid vehicle. This vehicle includes a power receiving device, an engine, a power storage device, and a motor. The power receiving device is configured to receive power from a power feeding device (charging facility) outside the vehicle. An engine produces power by burning fuel. The motor generates driving force by consuming electric power stored in the power storage device. The vehicle is configured to perform external charging of charging a power storage device using electric power received by the power receiving device. The vehicle can run only by the driving force of the motor without operating the engine (EV (Electric Vehicle) running).

JP 2010-167898 A

When external charging is frequently executed in the vehicle as described above, the SOC (State of Charge) of the power storage device is likely to be maintained at a high state, and the vehicle is likely to continue EV running. If the vehicle continues EV driving for an extended period of time, the fuel in the vehicle's fuel tank will not be refueled by the engine during that period. As a result, the fuel in the fuel tank may remain and deteriorate for a long period of time.

The present disclosure has been made in view of the background as described above, and an object thereof is to prevent deterioration of fuel in a fuel tank in a vehicle that includes a fuel tank and is capable of executing external charging. .

A vehicle according to the present disclosure includes a power storage device, an engine, a fuel tank, a rotating electric machine, a power receiving device, and a control device. An engine produces power by burning fuel. A fuel tank stores fuel. The rotating electrical machine consumes electric power stored in the power storage device to generate driving force. The power receiving device receives power supplied from a charging facility provided outside the vehicle. The control device drives at least one of the engine and the rotating electric machine. The control device is configured to execute external charging control to charge the power storage device using power received by the power receiving device. When the number of executions of external charging control reaches or exceeds a threshold number of times, the control device sets an external charging inhibition period, which is a period during which external charging control is inhibited.

With the above configuration, the power storage device is not charged with power supplied from the charging facility through the power receiving device during the external charging inhibition period after the number of times the external charging control has been executed reaches or exceeds the threshold number of times. The electric power stored in the power storage device is likely to be consumed by the rotating electric machine driven while the vehicle is running. When the electric power of the power storage device decreases, the engine is more likely to be driven among the engine and the rotating electric machine. As a result, the fuel stored in the fuel tank is easily consumed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the fuel from remaining in the fuel tank for a long period of time and deteriorating.

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present disclosure, deterioration of fuel in a fuel tank can be prevented in a vehicle that includes a fuel tank and is capable of external charging.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a charging system according to Embodiment 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a vehicle; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by an ECU in Embodiment 1; FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the difference between the torque request value-vehicle speed characteristic in a comparative example and the torque request value-vehicle speed characteristic in a second embodiment; 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by an ECU in Embodiment 2; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a history of SOC of a power storage device;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding parts in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.
[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a charging system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. Referring to FIG. 1 , charging system 1 includes vehicle 2 , charging stand 3 , contactless power supply device 4 , and system power supply 5 .

Vehicle 2 includes power receiving device 6 , power storage device 7 , inlet 8 , and charging lid 13 . The power receiving device 6 includes a power receiving coil 9 and is configured to receive power from the contactless power supply device 4 in a contactless manner. Electric power received by the power receiving device 6 is charged in the power storage device 7 . The power receiving device 6 may include a plurality of power receiving coils 9 .

Inlet 8 is configured to receive power from charging station 3 . Charging lid 13 is configured to be openable and closable. When the charging lid 13 is open, the inlet 8 is not covered by the charging lid 13 and can receive power from the charging stand 3 . On the other hand, when the charging lid 13 is closed, the inlet 8 is covered with the charging lid 13 and cannot receive power from the charging stand 3 . The opening/closing state of the charging lid 13 may be controlled by the ECU 100 . Electric power received by the inlet 8 is charged in the power storage device 7 .

The power storage device 7 is a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery. The amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage device 7 is represented by SOC. Power storage device 7 is provided with a sensor unit (not shown) for detecting its voltage, current and temperature.

The charging station 3 is provided outside the vehicle 2 . Charging stand 3 includes power converter 11 , charging cable 12 , and charging connector 14 provided at the tip of charging cable 12 . The power conversion device 11 converts power from the system power supply 5 . The converted electric power is supplied to inlet 8 of vehicle 2 through charging cable 12 and charging connector 14 . Charging station 3 is configured to communicate with vehicle 2 through a CAN communication line (not shown).

The contactless power supply device 4 is provided on the ground and connected to the system power supply 5 . The contactless power supply device 4 may be provided on the side wall. The contactless power supply device 4 includes a power transmission coil 10 . The contactless power supply device 4 may include a plurality of power transmission coils 10 .

When power is supplied from the system power supply 5 to the power transmission coil 10 , an electromagnetic field is formed around the power transmission coil 10 . The power receiving coil 9 of the vehicle 2 receives power through this electromagnetic field. Thereby, contactless power supply to the vehicle 2 is performed from the contactless power supply device 4 . The contactless power supply device 4 is configured to communicate with the vehicle 2 by proximity communication. Hereinafter, external charging of the vehicle 2 using power supplied from the contactless power supply device 4 to the power receiving device 6 is also referred to as "contactless charging". When the non-contact power supply device 4 is provided in the running lane (charging lane), the vehicle 2 can perform non-contact charging while running (charging while running).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the detailed configuration of the vehicle 2. As shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 2 , vehicle 2 includes, in addition to power receiving device 6 , power storage device 7 and inlet 8 , MGs (Motor Generators) 20 and 30 , PCU 40 and converters 45 and 47 . Vehicle 2 further includes an engine 50 , a fuel tank 55 , a power split device 60 , driving wheels 70 , an SMR (System Main Relay) 80 and relays 90 and 95 . Vehicle 2 further includes an accelerator pedal 97 , an accelerator position sensor 98 and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 100 .

MGs 20 and 30 are driven by AC power. MG 20 generates power using power transmitted from engine 50 through power split device 60 . The power generated by MG20 is supplied to at least one of power storage device 7 and MG30.

MG 30 generates driving force for running vehicle 2 using at least one of electric power supplied from power storage device 7 and electric power generated by MG 20 . This traveling driving force is transmitted to the driving wheels 70 . Thereby, the vehicle 2 runs.

PCU 40 includes a converter 41 and inverters 42 and 43 . Converter 41 is provided between power storage device 7 and inverters 42 and 43 and performs voltage conversion between power storage device 7 and inverters 42 and 43 .

Inverter 42 is provided between converter 41 and MG 20 . Inverter 43 is provided between converter 41 and MG 30 . Inverters 42 and 43 convert the DC power output from converter 41 into AC power, and output the converted power to MGs 20 and 30, respectively.

Converter 45 is provided between power storage device 7 and inlet 8 and performs voltage conversion between power storage device 7 and inlet 8 .

Converter 47 is provided between power storage device 7 and power receiving device 6 and performs voltage conversion between power storage device 7 and power receiving device 6 .

The engine 50 is an internal combustion engine that generates power by burning fuel stored in a fuel tank 55 . Engine 50 , MG 20 and MG 30 are connected through power split device 60 . Power generated by engine 50 is split by power split device 60 into power to be transmitted to drive wheels 70 and power to be transmitted to MG 20 . Vehicle 2 runs using driving force output from at least one of engine 50 and MG 30 .

SMR 80 is provided between power storage device 7 and converter 41 and switches between supply and cutoff of power between power storage device 7 and PCU 40 .

Relay 90 is provided between power storage device 7 and converter 45 . Relay 95 is provided between power storage device 7 and converter 47 .

An accelerator pedal 97 is provided in the driver's seat. The accelerator position sensor 98 detects the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal 97 by the driver (accelerator opening) and outputs the detected value to the ECU 100 .

ECU 100 includes a memory 105 and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 110 . The memory 105 includes ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (both not shown). The CPU 110 is configured to execute various arithmetic processes based on information stored in the memory 105 .

ECU 100 controls various devices of vehicle 2 such as PCU 40 , engine 50 , SMR 80 , and relays 90 and 95 . ECU 100 drives (controls) MGs 20 and 30 through PCU 40 . ECU 100 drives at least one of engine 50 and MG 30 so that vehicle 2 runs. ECU 100 receives the detected value output from the sensor unit described above, and calculates the SOC of power storage device 7 according to the detected value. ECU 100 stores the SOC history in memory 105 .

The ECU 100 calculates the torque request value of the vehicle 2 according to the detected value (accelerator opening) of the accelerator position sensor 98 . The ECU 100 calculates the torque request value according to, for example, a map showing the relationship between the accelerator opening and the torque request value and the detected value of the accelerator position sensor 98 . This map is stored in memory 105 . When the torque request value is less than the threshold torque during EV running of vehicle 2 , ECU 100 controls PCU 40 so that MG 30 outputs torque corresponding to the torque request value. On the other hand, a case where the torque request value exceeds the threshold torque during EV running of the vehicle 2 will be described later.

ECU 100 is configured to execute external charging control, which is control for charging power storage device 7 using power received by power receiving device 6 or inlet 8 . Hereinafter, the external charging control using the power supplied from the charging stand 3 to the inlet 8 is also referred to as "contact charging control". External charging control using power supplied from the contactless power supply device 4 to the power receiving device 6 is also referred to as “contactless charging control”.

For example, when executing the contact charging control, the ECU 100 outputs a request to start charging to the charging station 3 through the CAN communication line described above and turns on the relay 90 . Thereby, contact charging is performed. After that, when the SOC of power storage device 7 reaches the charging threshold, ECU 100 transmits a request to stop charging to charging station 3 and controls relay 90 to be OFF. Thereby, the contact charging of the vehicle 2 is completed. The charge threshold is, for example, the SOC when power storage device 7 is in a fully charged state.

On the other hand, when executing non-contact charging control, the ECU 100 outputs a charging start request to the non-contact power feeding device 4 through proximity communication and turns on the relay 95 . Thereby, non-contact charging of the vehicle 2 is started. After that, the ECU 100 turns off the relay 95 when proximity communication with the contactless power supply device 4 is disconnected or when the SOC reaches the charging threshold. Thereby, the non-contact charging of the vehicle 2 ends.

The number of times the ECU 100 executes external charging control is stored in the memory 105 . The ECU 100 increments the number of times of execution stored in the memory 105 by one each time the external charging control ends.

When the ECU 100 frequently executes the external charging control, the SOC of the power storage device 7 is likely to be maintained at a high state, so the vehicle 2 is likely to continue EV running. When the vehicle 2 continues EV running for a long period of time, the fuel in the fuel tank 55 is not fueled by the engine 50 during that period. As a result, the fuel in the fuel tank 50 may remain and deteriorate for a long period of time.

Therefore, ECU 100 according to the present embodiment sets an external charging inhibition period, which is a period during which external charging control is inhibited, when the number of executions of external charging control during the most recent period reaches or exceeds a threshold number of times. The number of times the external charging control is executed by the ECU 100 is equal to the number of times the external charging of the vehicle 2 is executed.

The most recent period is a period from a time point that is a first predetermined time (for example, 24 hours) before the current time point to the current time point, and is determined in advance as appropriate. The external charging inhibition period is a period from the current time to the time after the current time by a second predetermined time (for example, 12 hours).

For example, when the vehicle 2 is capable of executing charging while driving, "prohibiting external charging control" means that the vehicle 2 runs on the driving lane without the power receiving device 6 receiving power from the contactless power supply device 4 on the driving lane. The ECU 100 drives at least one of the engine 50 and the MG 30 so as to do so.

During the external charging prohibited period set as described above, the power storage device 7 is not charged with power supplied from the charging station 3 or the contactless power supply device 4 through the inlet 8 or the power receiving device 6 . The electric power stored in power storage device 7 tends to decrease as it is consumed by MG 30 driven by ECU 100 while vehicle 2 is running. When the electric power (SOC) of power storage device 7 becomes so low that MG 30 cannot generate the driving force for running, engine 50 of engine 50 and MG 30 is likely to be driven by ECU 100 . As a result, the fuel stored in the fuel tank 55 is easily consumed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the fuel from remaining in the fuel tank 55 for a long period of time and deteriorating.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the ECU 100 according to the first embodiment. This flowchart is executed when the external charging control by the ECU 100 ends. External charging control may be either contact charging control or contactless charging control.

Referring to FIG. 3, ECU 100 calculates the number of times N that external charging has been performed during the most recent period (step S10). For example, the ECU 100 executes the above calculation process by incrementing by one the number of times the external charging control has been executed, which is stored in the memory 105 before the external charging control ends.

Next, the ECU 100 determines whether or not the number of times N has reached the threshold number of times THN (step S20). If the number of times N has not reached the threshold number of times THN, that is, if it is less than the threshold number of times (NO in step S20), the ECU 100 ends the process. On the other hand, when the number of times N reaches the threshold number of times THN (YES in step S20), ECU 100 sets the external charging inhibition period ECPP (step S25), and ends the process. After the external charging prohibition period ECPP has passed, the ECU 100 may reset the number of times N and permit the external charging of the vehicle 2 again.
[Embodiment 2]
As described above, the torque request value may exceed the threshold torque during EV running of the vehicle 2 . In this case, ECU 100 is configured to start engine 50 .

In the second embodiment, the ECU 100 sets the threshold torque so that the threshold torque becomes smaller during the external charging inhibition period ECPP than during a period different from the external charging inhibition period ECPP.

As a result, the engine 50 is more likely to be started during the external charging inhibition period ECPP than during a period other than this period. As a result, the fuel in the fuel tank 55 is consumed more easily. In other words, the fuel is likely to be consumed in a shorter period of time, so the fuel consumption is likely to increase. Therefore, deterioration of fuel can be prevented more effectively during the external charging inhibition period ECPP, as compared with the case of the first embodiment.

The configuration of vehicle 2 and the control procedure in the second embodiment are basically the same as the configuration of vehicle 2 (FIGS. 1 and 2) and the control procedure (FIG. 3) in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the difference between the torque request value-vehicle speed characteristic in the comparative example and the torque request value-vehicle speed characteristic in the second embodiment. Hereinafter, the torque request value-vehicle speed characteristic is also expressed as a TV characteristic.

Referring to FIG. 4, TV characteristic 405 represents the TV characteristic in the comparative example. In the TV characteristic 405, the threshold torque THT (threshold torque THT0 in this example) is constant independent of the number N of times external charging was performed during the most recent period.

An EV driving region (hatched region) 407 of the TV characteristic 405 is a region in which the vehicle speed V is less than the threshold speed THV0 (threshold speed THV) and the torque request value T is less than the threshold torque THT0. . When the coordinates of the point determined by the set of vehicle speed V and torque request value T are within EV travel region 407 , the ECU of the comparative example stops engine 50 and drives MG 30 . As a result, EV travel is performed.

An HV driving region (non-hatched region) 408 of the TV characteristic 405 is a region where the vehicle speed V is equal to or higher than the threshold speed THV0, or the torque request value T is equal to or higher than the threshold torque THT0. When the coordinates of the point determined by the set of vehicle speed V and torque request value T are in HV travel region 408, the ECU controls engine 50 and MG 30 so that HV travel is performed. HV running means that vehicle 2 runs while both MG 30 and engine 50 are generating driving force for running vehicle 2 . When the vehicle speed V exceeds the threshold speed THV0 or the torque request value T exceeds the threshold torque THT0, the ECU starts the engine 50 so that HV running is performed. ECU 100 may drive engine 50 without driving MG 30 at this point.

Next, TV characteristics in Embodiment 2 will be described. During a period different from the external charging inhibition period ECPP, the TV characteristic in the second embodiment is equal to the TV characteristic 405 in the comparative example. On the other hand, the TV characteristic in the second embodiment changes from the TV characteristic 405 to the TV characteristic 410 during the external charging inhibition period ECPP.

The ECU 100 sets the threshold torque THT during the external charging inhibition period ECPP so that the threshold torque THT is smaller than during a period other than this period. In this example, the ECU 100 reduces the threshold torque THT from the threshold torque THT0 to the threshold torque THT1.

As a result, the EV travel area 412 during the external charging inhibition period ECPP is narrower than the EV travel area 407 in the vertical axis direction. As a result, the engine 50 is easily started (the driving mode of the vehicle 2 is easily switched from EV driving to HV driving).

The ECU 100 may set the threshold speed THV during the external charging inhibition period ECPP so that the threshold speed THV is lower than during a period other than this period. This makes it easier to start the engine 50 as in the case where the threshold torque THT is lowered.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the ECU 100 according to the second embodiment. This flowchart is executed at predetermined time intervals while the vehicle 2 is running in EV mode. In the following description, FIG. 4 will be referred to as appropriate.

Referring to FIG. 5, ECU 100 switches the process depending on whether it is during the external charging inhibition period ECPP (step S105).

If it is the external charging inhibition period ECPP (YES in step S105), ECU 100 sets threshold torque THT to threshold torque THT1 (<THT0) (step S110).

On the other hand, if it is not the external charging inhibition period ECPP (NO in step S105), ECU 100 sets threshold torque THT to threshold torque THT0 (step S115).
[Embodiment 3]
In the third embodiment, the ECU 100 sets the threshold number of times THN according to the SOC history of the power storage device 7 .

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the history of the SOC of the power storage device 7. As shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 6, history 500 is stored in memory 105 .

The history 500 includes a history of SOC during a plurality of external charging inhibition periods ECPP (in this example, external charging inhibition periods ECPP1 and ECPP2). The period PR1 is a period from the end of the external charging inhibition period ECPP1 to the current time tn. Period PR1 includes the most recent period PRN from time t1 to current time tn. The period PR2 is a period from the end of the external charging prohibited period ECPP2 to the start of the external charging prohibited period ECPP1.

The ECU 100 sets the threshold number of times THN during the most recent period PRN according to the average SOC (average value X1 in this example) of the power storage device 7 during the period PR2.

Specifically, the ECU 100 sets the threshold number of times THN during the most recent period PRN to be smaller when the average value X1 is large than when the average value X1 is low.

When the average value X1 is high, it is conceivable that the frequency of external charging of the vehicle 2 (for example, charging while running) during the period PR2 is higher than when the average value X1 is low. Therefore, it is conceivable that the frequency of execution of external charging is high even during the most recent period PRN, and that the SOC during the most recent period PRN is likely to be increased. When external charging is repeated in a situation where the SOC is relatively high, EV running is likely to continue. In this case, there is a possibility that the inconvenience caused by deterioration of combustion in the fuel tank 55 is greater than the advantage of external charging (for example, prevention of electric shortage).

When the threshold number of times THN is set as described above, the number of times the external charging control is executed (number of times N) during the most recent period PRN reaches the threshold number of times THN more than when the threshold number of times THN is not set as described above. Cheap. As a result, it becomes easier for the engine 50 to be driven while the vehicle 2 is running. Therefore, deterioration of the fuel in the fuel tank 55 can be prevented more effectively.
[Other Modifications]
“Prohibiting external charging” may be that the ECU 100 controls (locks) the charging lid 13 in the closed state during the external charging prohibition period ECPP. This prevents the user of the vehicle 2 from inserting the charging connector 14 of the charging cable 12 of the charging station 3 into the inlet 8 . As a result, since contact charging of vehicle 2 is prohibited, the SOC of power storage device 7 is likely to decrease, and engine 50 is likely to be driven while vehicle 2 is running.

It should be considered that the embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the scope of the claims rather than the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the scope and meaning of equivalents of the scope of the claims.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 charging system 2 vehicle 3 charging station 4 contactless power supply device 6 power receiving device 7 power storage device 8 inlet 50 engine 55 fuel tank 60 power split device 70 drive wheel 90, 95 relay 100 ECU, 105 Memory, ECPP, ECPP1, ECPP2 External charge inhibition period.

Claims (1)

a power storage device;
an engine that produces power by burning fuel;
a fuel tank that stores the fuel;
a rotating electrical machine that generates a running driving force by consuming the electric power stored in the power storage device;
a power receiving device that receives power supplied from a charging facility provided outside the vehicle;
a control device that drives at least one of the engine and the rotating electrical machine;
The control device is
configured to execute external charging control for charging the power storage device using the power received by the power receiving device;
The vehicle sets an external charging inhibition period, which is a period during which the external charging control is inhibited, when the number of executions of the external charging control reaches or exceeds a threshold number of times.

Images