Electric vehicle employing fuel cells and rechargeable batteries

An electric vehicle, comprising:

• electric powered systems and components, comprising,
• an electric powered propulsion system that propels the electric vehicle;
• and
• a plurality of additional electric powered systems that operate non-propulsion related systems and components of the electric vehicle;
• one or more fuel cells that consume a gaseous fuel stored in one or more onboard fuel tanks to produce electric energy, and which are sized to be no larger than that required to produce an electric power output within the fuel cells maximum fuel efficiency range approximately equal to an anticipated average electric power requirement of the electric vehicle over a projected work cycle of the electric vehicle;
• rechargeable batteries that provide electric energy during a discharge mode and store electric energy during a charging mode, and which are sized to be no larger than that required to make up for a shortage in electric power required by the electric vehicle in periods when more than the anticipated average electric power requirement of the electric vehicle is needed up to approximately an anticipated maximum power draw over the anticipated work cycle of the electric vehicle;
• an electric power distribution component that is electrically connected to and which provides electric energy to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle, the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in the recharge mode, and an electric vehicle controller, and additionally the electric power distribution component being electrically connected to and receiving electric power from the fuel cells and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are operating in the discharge mode;
• electric powered cooling components for cooling the one or more fuel cells to a temperature within the prescribed operating temperature range of the fuel cells, and cooling the rechargeable batteries to a temperature within the prescribed operating temperature range of the rechargeable batteries;
• electric powered heating components for heating the one or more fuel cells to a temperature within the prescribed operating temperature range of the fuel cells, and heating the rechargeable batteries to a temperature within the prescribed operating temperature range of the rechargeable batteries;
• a suite of sensors comprising,
• at least one state of charge sensor that measures the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries,
• a plurality of electric power sensors that measure the amount of electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle, and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in the recharge mode,
• a fuel cell temperature sensor whose output is indicative of the operating temperature of the fuel cells, and
• a rechargeable battery temperature sensor whose output is indicative of the operating temperature of the rechargeable batteries;
• and
• the electric vehicle controller comprising one or more computing devices, and a non-transitory electric vehicle control computer program having a plurality of sub-programs executable by said computing device or devices, wherein the sub-programs configure said computing device or devices to,
• monitor the amount of electric power provided to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle, and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in the recharge mode, using the output from the electric power sensors,
• control the amount of electric power output from the fuel cells and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in discharge mode,
• input data indicative of an anticipated work cycle for the electric vehicle which comprises the anticipated electric power requirements of the electric vehicle over the course of the work cycle,
• monitor the amount of fuel in the onboard fuel tanks and the operating temperatures of the fuel cells and the rechargeable batteries,
• predict when additional fuel will need to be added to the onboard fuel tanks to keep the fuel cells in operation during the anticipated work cycle based on the anticipated electric power requirements of the electric vehicle over the work cycle, and the actual rate of consumption of the fuel, and electric power requirements of any heating or cooling required to keep the fuel cells and the rechargeable batteries within their respective prescribed operating temperature ranges,
• provide data indicative of the time remaining until additional fuel will need to be added to the onboard fuel tanks to keep the fuel cells in operation during the anticipated work cycle to one or more users,
• control the electric power output from the fuel cells at a rate that is equal to or less than a rate at which the fuel cells are operating at maximum fuel efficiency,
• monitor the electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle,
• control the electric power output from the rechargeable batteries to provide electric power to the electric power distribution component for distribution to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle during times when the electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle exceeds the electric power being provided by the fuel cells and the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries is within a prescribed range, and
• control the electric power distribution component to provide electric power from the fuel cells to the rechargeable batteries whenever the rechargeable batteries are not providing electric power to the electric power distribution component when the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries is less than a maximum state of charge, and cease providing electric power from the fuel cells to the rechargeable batteries whenever the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries reaches the maximum state of charge.

A non-transitory computer-implemented process for controlling the operation of electric powered systems and components of an electric vehicle, the process comprising the actions of:

• using one or more computing devices to perform the following process actions, the computing devices being in communication with each other whenever a plurality of computing devices is used:
• controlling electric power output from one or more fuel cells that consume a gaseous fuel stored in one or more onboard fuel tanks to produce the electric energy, and which are sized to be no larger than that required to produce an electric power output within the fuel cells maximum fuel efficiency range approximately equal to an anticipated average electric power requirement of the electric vehicle over a projected work cycle of the electric vehicle;
• monitoring the electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle;
• controlling the electric power output from rechargeable batteries that provide electric energy during a discharge mode and store electric energy during a charging mode, and which are sized to be no larger than that required to make up for a shortage in electric power required by the electric vehicle in periods when more than the anticipated average electric power requirement of the electric vehicle is needed up to approximately an anticipated maximum power draw over the anticipated work cycle of the electric vehicle, to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle during times when electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components exceeds the electric power being provided by the fuel cells and the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries is within a prescribed range;
• and
• controlling the electric power provided from the fuel cells to the rechargeable batteries whenever the rechargeable batteries are not providing electric power to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle and the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries is less than a maximum state of charge and cease providing electric power from the fuel cells to the rechargeable batteries whenever the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries reaches the maximum state of charge;
• receiving data indicative of an anticipated work cycle for the electric vehicle which includes the anticipated electric power requirements of the electric vehicle over the course of the work cycle;
• monitoring the amount of fuel in the onboard fuel tanks;
• predicting when additional fuel will need to be added to the onboard fuel tanks to keep the fuel cells in operation during the anticipated work cycle based on the anticipated electric power requirements of the electric vehicle over the work cycle and the actual rate of consumption of the fuel;
• providing data indicative of the time remaining until additional fuel will need to be added to the onboard fuel tanks to keep the fuel cells in operation during the anticipated work cycle to one or more users:
• controlling the electric power output from the fuel cells at a rate that is equal to or less than a rate at which the fuel cells are operating at maximum fuel efficiency;
• monitoring the electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle;
• controlling the electric power output from the rechargeable batteries to provide electric power to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle during times when the electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle exceeds the electric power being provided by the fuel cells and the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries is within a prescribed range;
• and
• providing electric power from the fuel cells to the rechargeable batteries whenever the rechargeable batteries are not providing electric power to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle and the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries is less than a maximum state of charge, and cease providing electric power from the fuel cells to the rechargeable batteries whenever the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries reaches the maximum state of charge.

An electric vehicle, comprising:

• electric powered systems and components, comprising,
• an electric powered propulsion system that propels the electric vehicle;
• and
• a plurality of additional electric powered systems that operate non-propulsion related systems and components of the electric vehicle;
• one or more fuel cells that consume a gaseous fuel stored in one or more onboard fuel tanks to produce electric energy, and which are sized to be no larger than that required to produce an electric power output within the fuel cells maximum fuel efficiency range approximately equal to an anticipated average electric power requirement of the electric vehicle over a projected work cycle of the electric vehicle;
• rechargeable batteries that provide electric energy during a discharge mode and store electric energy during a charging mode, and which are sized to be no larger than that required to make up for a shortage in electric power required by the electric vehicle in periods when more than the anticipated average electric power requirement of the electric vehicle is needed up to approximately an anticipated maximum power draw over the anticipated work cycle of the electric vehicle;
• an electric power distribution component that is electrically connected to and which provides electric energy to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle, the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in the recharge mode, and an electric vehicle controller, and additionally the electric power distribution component being electrically connected to and receiving electric power from the fuel cells and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are operating in the discharge mode;
• a suite of sensors comprising at least one state of charge sensor that measures the state of charge of the rechargeable batteries, and a plurality of electric power sensors that measure the amount of electric power being drawn by the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle, and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in the recharge mode;
• and
• the electric vehicle controller comprising one or more computing devices, and a non-transitory electric vehicle control computer program having a plurality of sub-programs executable by said computing device or devices, wherein the sub-programs configure said computing device or devices to,
• monitor the amount of electric power provided to the electric powered systems and components of the electric vehicle, and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in the recharge mode, using the output from the electric power sensors,
• control the amount of electric power output from the fuel cells and the rechargeable batteries whenever the batteries are in discharge mode,
• input data indicative of an anticipated work cycle for the electric vehicle which comprises the anticipated electric power requirements of the electric vehicle over the course of the work cycle,
• monitor the amount of fuel in the onboard fuel tanks,
• predict when additional fuel will need to be added to the onboard fuel tanks to keep the fuel cells in operation during the anticipated work cycle based on the anticipated electric power requirements of the electric vehicle over the work cycle and the actual rate of consumption of the fuel, and
• provide data indicative of the time remaining until additional fuel will need to be added to the onboard fuel tanks to keep the fuel cells in operation during the anticipated work cycle to one or more users.