JP-2026074749-A - Power control device and power control method

JP2026074749AJP 2026074749 AJP2026074749 AJP 2026074749AJP-2026074749-A

Abstract

[Challenge] To reduce the amount of change in the power output of the fuel cell. [Solution] The power control device 10 includes a receiving unit 121 that receives traffic information indicating the traffic conditions in front of the vehicle S, an acquisition unit 122 that acquires the vehicle speed V of the vehicle S and the charge level C of the battery 4 equipped in the vehicle S, an estimation unit 123 that estimates whether the vehicle S will accelerate after a predetermined time has elapsed based on the traffic conditions when the vehicle speed V is less than or equal to a first threshold Vth1 and the charge level C is less than a predetermined charge level Cth, and a power control unit 124 that causes the fuel cell 5 equipped in the vehicle S to output a predetermined power WF2 before the vehicle S accelerates, based on the estimation unit 123's estimation that the vehicle S will accelerate. The power control unit 124 charges the battery 4 with the surplus power obtained by subtracting the first power required by the bodywork 7 equipped in the vehicle S and the second power required by the motor 6 equipped in the vehicle S from the predetermined power WF2. [Selection Diagram] Figure 1

Inventors

田中晴也

Assignees

いすゞ自動車株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241021

Claims (9)

A receiving unit that receives traffic information showing the traffic conditions in front of the vehicle, An acquisition unit that acquires the vehicle speed of the vehicle and the charge level of the battery equipped in the vehicle, If the vehicle speed is below a first threshold and the charge level is below a predetermined charge level, an estimation unit estimates whether the vehicle will accelerate after a predetermined time has elapsed, based on the traffic conditions. The system includes a power control unit that, upon estimating that the vehicle is accelerating, causes the vehicle's fuel cell to output a predetermined amount of power even before the vehicle begins to accelerate, The power control unit charges the battery with the surplus power obtained by subtracting the first power required by the vehicle's bodywork and the second power required by the vehicle's drive source from the predetermined power. Power control device.
The power control unit continues to output the predetermined power after the vehicle has started accelerating, provided that the vehicle speed is below a second threshold and the charge level is below a predetermined charge level. The power control device according to claim 1.
The power control unit, after the vehicle has started accelerating, outputs the second power to the fuel cell when the vehicle speed reaches the second threshold or the charge level reaches the predetermined charge level, while the fuel cell is outputting the predetermined power. The power control device according to claim 2.
The aforementioned traffic information includes gradient information indicating the gradient in front of the vehicle, The power control unit reduces the second threshold value when the gradient is an uphill gradient compared to when the gradient is a downhill gradient. The power control device according to claim 2.
The aforementioned traffic information includes other vehicle information indicating the speed of other vehicles ahead of the vehicle. The estimation unit estimates whether the vehicle will accelerate or not based on the speed of the other vehicle. The power control device according to claim 1.
The aforementioned traffic information includes section information indicating a construction zone or congested zone ahead of the vehicle. The estimation unit estimates whether the vehicle will accelerate or not based on the distance between the vehicle's end point in the construction section or the congested section and the vehicle's position, and the vehicle's speed. The power control device according to claim 1.
The estimation unit reduces the predetermined time if the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a public road compared to if the road is an expressway. The power control device according to claim 1.
The aforementioned traffic information includes gradient information indicating the gradient in front of the vehicle, The estimation unit reduces the first threshold to a smaller value when the gradient is an uphill gradient than when the gradient is a downhill gradient. The power control device according to claim 1.
The processor executes An acquisition process for acquiring the vehicle speed and the charge level of the battery installed in the vehicle, A receiving process for receiving traffic information indicating the traffic conditions in front of the vehicle, If the vehicle speed is below a first threshold and the charge level is below a predetermined charge level, the estimation step is to estimate whether the vehicle will accelerate after a predetermined time has elapsed, based on the traffic conditions. The estimation step includes a power control step that, based on the estimation that the vehicle will accelerate, causes the fuel cell equipped in the vehicle to output a predetermined amount of power even before the vehicle accelerates. In the power control step, the surplus power obtained by subtracting the first power required by the vehicle's bodywork and the second power required by the vehicle's drive source from the predetermined power is used to charge the battery. Power control method.

Description

This invention relates to a power control device and a power control method. The fuel cell vehicle described in Patent Document 1 comprises a fuel cell and a battery, and stores the surplus power, which is the difference between the power output by the fuel cell and the power required to drive the fuel cell vehicle, in the battery. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-129551 This figure shows an overview of the vehicle S according to this embodiment.This figure shows an example of the operation of the power control device 10.This diagram shows the operation of the power control device 10 when a predetermined power is generated.This figure shows an example of the operation in which the fuel cell 5 outputs a predetermined amount of power.This figure shows an example of a processing sequence in the power control device 10. <Overview of Vehicle S> Figure 1 is a diagram showing an overview of the vehicle S according to this embodiment. The vehicle S shown in Figure 1 comprises a receiving device 1, a vehicle speed sensor 2, a battery sensor 3, a battery 4, a fuel cell 5, a motor 6, a body 7, and a power control device 10. The vehicle S is a vehicle that runs by the motor 6 being driven by power supplied from the fuel cell 5, and is, for example, an FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle). The receiving device 1 is a receiver that receives at least one of the following information as traffic information from an external information processing device: ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) information, VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) (registered trademark) information, and probe traffic information. The traffic information includes, for example, gradient information indicating the gradient ahead of vehicle S, other vehicle information indicating the speed of other vehicles ahead of vehicle S, and section information indicating a construction zone or congested zone ahead of vehicle S. The vehicle speed sensor 2 is a sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of vehicle S. The battery sensor 3 is a sensor for detecting the State of Charge (SOC) of battery 4. Battery 4 is an energy storage device containing a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery, and is a device that outputs power to the vehicle body 7 and charges the fuel cell 5 with the power generated. The fuel cell 5 is a battery that converts chemical energy into electrical energy by reacting a fuel and an oxidizer. For example, the fuel cell 5 converts chemical energy into electrical energy by reacting hydrogen stored in a hydrogen tank (not shown) of the vehicle S with oxygen contained in the atmosphere (air) to produce water. The fuel cell 5 then uses the converted electrical energy (electricity) to output power to the motor 6 and the bodywork 7, or to charge the battery 4. Motor 6 is an electric motor for driving the vehicle S and is a power source driven by electricity supplied from the fuel cell 5. The bodywork 7 is installed on the cargo bed of the vehicle S and is a device operated by electricity supplied from the battery 4 and the fuel cell 5; for example, it is a refrigerator or refrigeration unit. The power control device 10 is a device for outputting power from the battery 4 and the fuel cell 5. Figure 2 shows an example of the operation of the power control device 10. As shown in Figure 2, the power control device 10 outputs first power from the battery 4 to the vehicle body 7 and second power from the fuel cell 5 to the motor 6. The first power is a fixed amount of power required by the vehicle body 7 of the vehicle S. The second power is the power required by the motor 6 of the vehicle S, and corresponds to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal (not shown) of the vehicle S. In vehicle S, the greater the acceleration of vehicle S, the greater the change in the amount of power output by the fuel cell 5 to the motor 6 per unit time. Furthermore, because vehicle S is heavier than other vehicles without the bodywork 7, this change in power with respect to acceleration is larger. Therefore, in vehicle S, for example, during acceleration after traffic congestion clears, this change in power tends to be larger, leading to faster degradation of the fuel cell 5. Therefore, the power control device 10 estimates the timing when the congestion will clear based on the traffic information received by the receiving device 1, and generates a predetermined amount of power in the fuel cell 5 from a time before that timing. This predetermined power is, for example, greater than the sum of the second power required for acceleration as the congestion clears and the first power required by the vehicle body 7. Figure 3 shows the operation of the power control device 10 when the predetermined power is generated. As shown in Figure 3, the power control device 10 outputs the first power from the fuel cell 5 to the vehicle body 7, outputs the second power from the fuel cell 5 to the motor 6, and charges the battery 4 with the surplus power, which is the p