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US 2023/0264604 A1Published application
Predictive fuel cell restart during low speed operation
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsNaginder Gogna, Jason Meyer, Rajit Johri
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuel cell electric vehicle is powered by a fuel cell that converts hydrogen gas into electricity to power the vehicle's electric motor. The fuel cell drivetrain includes the fuel cell, traction battery, vehicle controller, and other components. The vehicle controller, also known as an electronic control unit, manages and controls various functions of the vehicle, such as the fuel cell system, engine, and traction battery. It makes decisions based on data from sensors and inputs and optimizes fuel efficiency.
Claims16
A vehicle comprising:
- a traction battery;
- an electric machine;
- a fuel cell system;
- and
- a controller programmed to, provided the fuel cell system is on, operate the fuel cell system such that current generated by the fuel cell system does not flow to the traction battery or the electric machine while data is indicative of the vehicle being in a queue of vehicles at a traffic stop, but not first in the queue, and responsive to the data being indicative of the vehicle being first in the queue and stopped, operate the fuel cell system such that the current flows to the traction battery or the electric machine.
2 more elements
A method comprising:
- provided a fuel cell system of a vehicle is on, operating the fuel cell system such that current generated by the fuel cell system does not flow to a traction battery or electric machine of the vehicle while data is indicative of the vehicle being in a queue of vehicles at a traffic stop, but not first in the queue, and responsive to the data being indicative of the vehicle being first in the queue and stopped, operating the fuel cell system such that the current flows to the traction battery or the electric machine.
A system of a vehicle comprising:
- a controller programmed to, provided a fuel cell system of the vehicle is on, operate the fuel cell system such that current generated by the fuel cell system does not flow to a traction battery or electric machine of the vehicle while data is indicative of the vehicle being in a predefined traffic condition, and responsive to the data being indicative of an anticipated transition out of the predefined traffic condition, operate the fuel cell system such that the current flows to the traction battery or the electric machine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.