Vehicle battery monitoring

A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program product embodied thereon and comprising computer readable instructions executable by a processor direct the performance of operations comprising:

• receiving a feed of data indicative of the voltage of the battery of the vehicle with respect to time from a telematics control unit (TCU) of the vehicle at a plurality of different times during each one of a plurality of driving cycles of an associated vehicle, wherein a driving cycle is defined between initiation of engine cranking, and stopping of the vehicle with the ignition off;
• detecting an ignition state of the vehicle;
• sampling the voltage at a first rate when the ignition state of the vehicle is detected to be an ignition off state;
• sampling the voltage at a second, higher rate, when the ignition state of the vehicle is detected to be an ignition on state;
• obtaining data indicative of a timing of each one of the plurality of driving cycles of the vehicle from the detected ignition state of the vehicle;
• calculating a set of driving cycle related parameters using at least a portion of the data indicative of the timing of the plurality of driving cycles of the vehicle, wherein the calculated set of driving cycle parameters includes an average duration of a driving cycle and/or an average interval between driving cycles;
• calculating a set of one or more voltage related parameters using at least a portion of the data indicative of the voltage of the battery at a plurality of different times during each one of the driving cycles;
• calculating a state of charge (SOC) of the battery based at least on the calculated average duration of a driving cycle and/or the average interval between driving cycles;
• calculating a state of health (SOH) of the battery based on a number of driving cycles the battery has undergone and/or an age of the battery;
• calculating, for one or more times, a starting probability factor for the battery indicative of a likelihood that the battery will be capable of starting the engine of the vehicle at an applicable time, wherein the starting probability factor is based on the applicable SOC and SOH of the battery;
• and
• using the starting probability factor or factors calculated for at least a portion of the one or more times to generate information based on the starting probability factor of the battery for the applicable time for output to a user.

A system comprising a server device configured to calculate information in relation to the state of a vehicle battery for provision to a user, wherein the battery is used to power cranking of an engine of the vehicle, the server device configured to:

• receive a feed of data indicative of the voltage of the battery of the vehicle with respect to time from a telematics control unit (TCU) of the vehicle at a plurality of different times during each one of a plurality of driving cycles of an associated vehicle, wherein a driving cycle is defined between initiation of engine cranking, and stopping of the vehicle with the ignition off;
• instruct detection of an ignition state of the vehicle;
• instruct sampling of the voltage at a first rate when the ignition state of the vehicle is detected to be an ignition off state;
• instruct sampling of the voltage at a second, higher rate, when the ignition state of the vehicle is detected to be an ignition on state;
• obtain data indicative of a timing of each one of the plurality of driving cycles of the vehicle from the detected ignition state of the vehicle;
• calculate a set of driving cycle related parameters using at least a portion of the data indicative of the timing of the plurality of driving cycles of the vehicle, wherein the calculated set of driving cycle parameters includes an average duration of a driving cycle and/or an average interval between driving cycles;
• calculate a set of one or more voltage related parameters using at least a portion of the data indicative of the voltage of the battery at a plurality of different times during each one of the driving cycles;
• calculate a state of charge (SOC) of the battery based on the calculated average duration of a driving cycle and/or the average interval between driving cycles;
• calculate a state of health (SOH) of the battery based on a number of driving cycles the battery has undergone and/or an age of the battery;
• calculate, for one or more times, a starting probability factor for the battery indicative of a likelihood that the battery will be capable of starting the engine of the vehicle at an applicable time, wherein the starting probability factor is based on the applicable SOC and SOH of the battery;
• and
• use the starting probability factor or factors calculated for at least a portion of the one or more times to generate information based on the starting probability factor of the battery for the applicable time for output to a user;
• and
• the system further comprising a positioning system of the vehicle configured to provide data indicative of a position of the vehicle to the server device, the server device further configured to determine the temperature expected at a position of the vehicle at the applicable time, using the data indicative of a position of the vehicle to select weather data applicable to the position of the vehicle.