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US 12,409,747 B2Granted
Methods and apparatus for powering a vehicle
OwnerAnthony Macalusoinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for managing a vehicle's energy can comprise an energy generation system, one or more energy storage devices, and a hardware controller. The energy generation system can generate energy to provide to the one or more energy storages devices and/or to a motor of the vehicle. The hardware controller can selectively electrically couple the one or more energy storage devices to the energy generation system based on one or more conditions. The hardware controller can control an electrical coupling between the one or more energy storage devices based on charge levels or an energy demand of the motor.
Claims24
A system for managing energy within a vehicle, the system comprising:
- an on-board energy generation system configured to generate an energy output;
- a first energy storage device selectively electrically coupled with the on-board energy generation system;
- a second energy storage device selectively electrically coupled with the on-board energy generation system, the second energy storage device having a different power density than the first energy storage device and a different energy density than the first energy storage device;
- a motor configured to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy to cause one or more wheels of the vehicle to rotate;
- a switch assembly electrically coupled with the on-board energy generation system and configured to control selective electrical coupling between the second energy storage device and the on-board energy generation system responsive to input from an operator of the vehicle to control dumping energy from the on-board energy generation system to the second energy storage device;
- and
- a hardware controller configured to:
- control selective electrical coupling between the first energy storage device and the on-board energy generation system via the switch assembly automatically based on one or more of time or distance travelled by the vehicle to automatically control dumping energy from the on-board energy generation system to the first energy storage device;
- monitor a charge level of the second energy storage device and an energy demand of the motor;
- control electrically coupling the first energy storage device with the second energy storage device based on at least the charge level of the second energy storage device or the energy demand of the motor;
- and
- control electrically coupling the motor to the first energy storage device or to the second energy storage device.
9 more elements
A method for managing energy within a vehicle, the method comprising:
- selectively electrically coupling an on-board energy generation system with a first energy storage device based one or more of time or distance travelled by the vehicle to automatically control dumping energy from the on-board energy generation system to the first energy storage device;
- selectively electrically coupling the on-board energy generation system with a second energy storage device responsive to input from an operator of the vehicle to control dumping energy from the on-board energy generation system to the second energy storage device, the second energy storage device having a different power density than the first energy storage device and a different energy density than the first energy storage device;
- monitoring a charge level of the second energy storage device and an energy demand of a motor of the vehicle;
- and
- controlling an electrical coupling between the first energy storage device and the second energy storage device based on at least the charge level of the second energy storage device or the energy demand of the motor.
2 more elements
A computer system comprising:
- one or more hardware computer processors configured to execute program instructions to cause the computer system to:
- selectively electrically couple an on-board energy generation system of a vehicle with a first energy storage device based on one or more of time or distance travelled by the vehicle to automatically control dumping energy from the on-board energy generation system to the first energy storage device;
- selectively electrically couple the on-board energy generation system with a second energy storage device responsive to input from an operator of the vehicle to control dumping energy from the on-board energy generation system to the second energy storage device, the second energy storage device having a different power density than the first energy storage device and a different energy density than the first energy storage device;
- monitor a charge level of the second energy storage device and an energy demand of a motor of a vehicle;
- and
- control an electrical coupling between the first energy storage device and the second energy storage device based on at least the charge level of the second energy storage device or the energy demand of the motor.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.