# US 11,110,931 B2 · Range extender control > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,110,931 B2 - Document ID: US11110931B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/075,650 - Filed: 2017-02-06 - Published: 2019-02-14 - Granted: 2021-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2016-02-05 - Assignees: Tevva Motors Limited - Applicants: Tevva Motors Limited - Inventors: Asher Bennett; Richard Lidstone-Scott; David Hampton; Tomasz Kusmierz; Robert Watson; John Hankinson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11110931B2 ## CPC - B60W 40/02: related to ambient conditions - B60K 6/46: Series type - B60L 15/2045: {for optimising the use of energy} - B60L 50/61: by batteries charged by engine-driven generators, e.g. series hybrid electric vehicles - B60L 58/12: responding to state of charge [SoC] - B60W 10/06: including control of combustion engines - B60W 10/08: including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators - B60W 10/26: for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors - B60W 20/12: using control strategies taking into account route information {(estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters B60W40/00)} - B60W 20/13: in order to stay within battery power input or output limits; in order to prevent overcharging or battery depletion - B60W 20/40: Controlling the engagement or disengagement of prime movers, e.g. for transition between prime movers {(power-up or power-down of the driveline B60W30/192)} - B60W 50/0097: {Predicting future conditions} - G01C 21/26: specially adapted for navigation in a road network - B60L 2240/62: Vehicle position - B60L 2240/64: Road conditions - B60L 2240/66: Ambient conditions - B60L 2240/70: Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres - B60L 2260/52: drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance - B60L 2260/58: Departure time prediction - B60L 2270/12: of exhaust - B60L 2270/142: acoustic - B60W 2552/05: Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads - B60W 2555/20: Ambient conditions, e.g. wind or rain - B60W 2555/60: Traffic rules, e.g. speed limits or right of way - B60W 2556/50: of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data - B60W 2710/09: Other types of propulsion units, e.g. fluid motors, or type not specified - Y02T 10/40: Engine management systems - Y02T 10/62: Hybrid vehicles - Y02T 10/64: Electric machine technologies in electromobility - Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries - Y02T 10/7072: Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors - Y02T 10/72: Electric energy management in electromobility - Y02T 90/16: Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract A method of controlling a range extender of an electric vehicle comprises using actual measured or modelled pollution levels dynamically to set a target state of charge level for a range extender of an electric vehicle at a particular location. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of controlling a range extender of an electric vehicle, the method comprising: using actual measured or modelled pollution levels dynamically to set a target state of charge level for a range extender of an electric vehicle at a current location of the electric vehicle, wherein using actual measured pollution levels comprises measuring a dynamic level of pollution at the current location of the electric vehicle using one or more sensors arranged on the electric vehicle, and wherein using modelled pollution levels comprises: generating a dynamic model of pollution; and using the generated dynamic model to calculate the modelled pollution level at the current location of the electric vehicle at a current or future point in time; monitoring a state of charge of an on-board battery powering the electric vehicle; and activating the range extender in response to the state of charge being lower than the target state of charge level. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting the current location of the electric vehicle and limiting an operating level of the range extender based on a maximum operating level of the range extender set for the electric vehicle at the current location. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting the current location of the electric vehicle and setting an operating level of the range extender based on a predetermined operating level of the range extender set for the electric vehicle at the current location. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a projected route for the electric vehicle; and setting a target state of charge profile comprising the target state of charge level set for a plurality of locations on the projected route. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising: calculating a journey itinerary comprising the plurality of locations on the projected route and a projected arrival time of the electric vehicle at each location, wherein setting the target state of charge profile comprises setting the target state of charge level for each location at the projected arrival time of the electric vehicle. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the actual measured or modelled levels of pollution comprise levels of oxides of carbon or nitrogen, hydrocarbons, particulates or noise at one or more locations. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a maximum operating level of the range extender for the current location of the electric vehicle based on the actual measured or modelled pollution levels. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, further comprising: based on a maximum level of pollution for the current location of the electric vehicle and based on the actual measured or modelled pollution levels, determining a maximum level of emissions for the range extender of the electric vehicle at the current location of the electric vehicle, wherein setting the maximum operating level of the range extender for the current location of the electric vehicle is further based on the determined maximum level of emissions for the range extender of the electric vehicle at the current location of the electric vehicle. ### Claim 9 An apparatus for controlling a range extender of an electric vehicle, the apparatus being configured to perform operations comprising: using actual measured or modelled pollution levels dynamically to set a target state of charge level for a range extender of an electric vehicle at a current location of the electric vehicle, wherein using actual measured pollution levels comprises measuring a dynamic level of pollution at the current location of the electric vehicle using one or more sensors arranged on the electric vehicle, and wherein using modelled pollution levels comprises: generating a dynamic model of pollution; and using the generated dynamic model to calculate the modelled pollution level at the current location of the electric vehicle at a current or future point in time; monitoring a state of charge of an on-board battery powering the electric vehicle; and activating the range extender in response to the state of charge being lower than the target state of charge level when the electric vehicle. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, the operations further comprising detecting the current location of the electric vehicle and limiting an operating level of the range extender based on a maximum operating level of the range extender set for the electric vehicle at the current location. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, the operations further comprising detecting the current location of the electric vehicle and setting an operating level of the range extender based on a predetermined operating level of the range extender set for the electric vehicle at the current location. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, the operations further comprising: identifying a projected route for the electric vehicle; and setting a target state of charge profile comprising the target state of charge level set for a plurality of locations on the projected route. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The apparatus of claim 12, the operations further comprising: calculating a journey itinerary comprising the plurality of locations on the projected route and a projected arrival time of the electric vehicle at each location, wherein setting the target state of charge profile comprises setting the target state of charge level for each location at the projected arrival time of the electric vehicle. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the actual measured or modelled levels of pollution comprise levels of oxides of carbon or nitrogen, hydrocarbons, particulates or noise at one or more locations. ### Claim 15 A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software code for controlling a range extender of an electric vehicle, wherein execution of the software code on a data processing apparatus causes the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising: using actual measured or modelled pollution levels dynamically to set a target state of charge level for a range extender of an electric vehicle at a current location of the electric vehicle, wherein using actual measured pollution levels comprises measuring a dynamic level of pollution at the current location of the electric vehicle using one or more sensors arranged on the electric vehicle, and wherein using modelled pollution levels comprises: generating a dynamic model of pollution; and using the generated dynamic model to calculate the modelled pollution level at the current location of the electric vehicle at a current or future point in time; monitoring a state of charge of an on-board battery powering the electric vehicle; and activating the range extender in response to the state of charge being lower than the target state of charge level. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising detecting the current location of the electric vehicle and limiting an operating level of the range extender based on a maximum operating level of the range extender set for the electric vehicle at the current location. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising detecting the current location of the electric vehicle and setting an operating level of the range extender based on a predetermined operating level of the range extender set for the electric vehicle at the current location. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising: identifying a projected route for the electric vehicle; and setting a target state of charge profile comprising the target state of charge level set for a plurality of locations on the projected route. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising: calculating a journey itinerary comprising the plurality of locations on the projected route and a projected arrival time of the electric vehicle at each location, wherein setting the target state of charge profile comprises setting the target state of charge level for each location at the projected arrival time of the electric vehicle. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the actual measured or modelled levels of pollution comprise levels of oxides of carbon or nitrogen, hydrocarbons, particulates or noise at one or more locations.