Hybrid/electric vehicle charge port door

#The present disclosure relates to electric, hybrid-electric, and plug-in vehicles.

#Plug-in vehicles, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles, may include a rechargeable power source, such as a battery, that is configured to accept electrical power from a power source located externally to the vehicle. Such external power sources may include standard household electric outlets, external chargers or charging stations.

#A charge port for a vehicle includes a cover having first and second surfaces, a display assembly and a controller. The display assembly has a first indicator coupled with the first surface and a second indicator coupled with the second surface. The controller is configured to, in response to the cover defining an open position, illuminate the indicators to display a state of charge of a battery of the vehicle on the first and second surfaces.

#FIG. 1 is schematic view of a vehicle;

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vehicle charge port; and

#FIG. 3 is a control logic flow diagram for display of battery charge information on the charge port cover member.

#Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.

#With respect to FIG. 1, a schematic side view of a vehicle 10 is illustrated. The vehicle 10 may be any type of automobile including, but not limited to, sedans, coupes, SUVs, CUVs, pickup trucks, minivans, full size vans, commercial vehicles, convertibles, recreation vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, golf carts, neighborhood electric vehicles, battery electrical vehicles and fuel cell vehicles and buses. The vehicle 10 includes a vehicle body 11 and a propulsion unit, which in this embodiment is an electric motor 12 configured to deliver torque to front wheels 14. In other embodiments, torque may be delivered to rear wheels or to all wheels on the vehicle, and other types of propulsion units may be used. The electric motor 12 receives electrical power from a battery 16 which is configured to store electrical energy supplied by a source external to the vehicle 10. In some embodiments of the vehicle 10, an internal combustion engine (not shown) is connected to vehicle body 11 and configured to deliver torque to wheels such as front wheels 14 to assist the electric motor 12 in propelling the vehicle 10. In other embodiments, the internal combustion engine may also be configured to recharge the battery 16. In still other embodiments, the internal combustion engine's sole duty may be to recharge the battery 16.

#The overall life of a rechargeable the battery is dependent upon the number of full discharges and recharges the battery undergoes. The microprocessor, computer or other computing device (not shown) may be programmed with an algorithm that calculates whether the battery 16 should be recharged in a manner that optimizes the life of the battery 16. In other embodiments, the vehicle 10 may record a particular driver's driving habits and duration of vehicle operation to calculate how often the battery 16 should be recharged to maximize the life of the battery 16 in view of that particular driver's driving habits and patterns.