Systems and methods to determine electric vehicle range based on environmental factors
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsKenneth James Miller, William Paul Perkins, Jimmy Kapadia
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Example systems and methods to determine electric vehicle range based on environmental factors are disclosed. An example disclosed vehicle includes a battery pack, a HVAC control module, and an electronic control unit that includes a range calculator. The example range calculator determine a base power load, determines an auxiliary power load based on a sun load, an ambient temperature, a cabin temperature, and a temperature setting, and calculates a range of the vehicle based on the base power load, the auxiliary power load and a charge of the battery pack.
Claims12
A vehicle comprising:
- a battery pack;
- temperature sensors within a cabin of the vehicle;
- an HVAC control module comprising input devices;
- and
- an electronic control unit that includes a range calculator configured to:
- determine a base power load;
- select a base auxiliary power load from a table comprising a plurality of base auxiliary power loads based on:
- (1) a first temperature measured by the temperature sensors, (2) a user-selected temperature value input via the input devices;
- (3) and an amount of time elapsed since the first temperature was measured by the temperature sensors;
- determine an auxiliary power load based on a solar power load, a convective power load, and the selected base auxiliary power load;
- and
- calculate a range of the vehicle based on the base power load, the auxiliary power load and a charge of the battery pack.
A method to determine an estimated range of an electric vehicle, the method comprising:
- determining a base power load on a battery pack used to drive an electric motor of the electric vehicle;
- selecting a base auxiliary power load from a table comprising a plurality of base auxiliary power loads based on:
- (1) a first temperature measured by temperature sensors within a cabin of the electric vehicle;
- (2) a user-selected temperature value input via input devices of an HVAC control module;
- (3) and an amount of time elapsed since the first temperature was measured by the temperature sensors;
- determining an auxiliary power load on the battery pack used to power the HVAC control module of the electric vehicle based on a solar power load, a convective power bad, and the selected base auxiliary power bad;
- and
- calculating, with a processor, the estimated range of the vehicle based on the base power bad, the auxiliary power bad and a charge of the battery pack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.