阅读说明：本技术 电池管理设备、电池管理方法、电池组和电动车辆 (Battery management apparatus, battery management method, battery pack, and electric vehicle ) 是由 徐甫京 于 2020-07-27 设计创作，主要内容包括：根据本公开的电池管理设备包括：存储器,该存储器用于存储充电序列表,该充电序列表记录第一至第m温度范围、第一至第m SOC列表以及第一至第m电流列表之间的对应关系；感测单元,其检测电池的电压、电流和温度；以及控制单元。SOC列表中的每一个均定义第一至第n SOC范围。控制单元基于检测到的电压和检测到的电流来确定电池的当前SOC。控制单元基于检测到的温度从充电序列表中确定关注温度范围、关注SOC列表和关注电流列表。控制单元基于检测到的电流、当前SOC、关注SOC列表和关注电流列表来确定将电池充电至目标SOC所需的剩余充电时间。(The battery management apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a memory for storing a charging sequence table that records correspondence among first to mth temperature ranges, first to mth SOC lists, and first to mth current lists; a sensing unit detecting a voltage, a current, and a temperature of the battery; and a control unit. Each of the SOC lists defines first to nth SOC ranges. The control unit determines a present SOC of the battery based on the detected voltage and the detected current. The control unit determines a temperature range of interest, an SOC list of interest, and a current list of interest from the charge sequence table based on the detected temperature. The control unit determines a remaining charging time required to charge the battery to the target SOC based on the detected current, the current SOC, the attention SOC list, and the attention current list.)

1. A battery management apparatus comprising:

a memory storing a charging sequence table recording correspondence among first to mth temperature ranges, first to mth state of charge (SOC) lists, and first to mth current lists, wherein m is a natural number of 2 or more;

a sensing unit configured to detect a voltage, a current, and a temperature of a battery; and

a control unit operatively coupled to the memory and the sensing unit,

wherein each of the SOC lists defines first to nth SOC ranges, and n is a natural number of 2 or more,

each of the current lists defines first to nth allowable constant currents corresponding to the first to nth SOC ranges in a one-to-one relationship, and

the control unit is configured to:

determining a present SOC of the battery based on the detected voltage and the detected current;

determining a temperature range of interest, an SOC list of interest, and a current list of interest from the charge sequence table based on the detected temperature, wherein the temperature range of interest is a temperature range to which the detected temperature belongs among the first to mth temperature ranges, the SOC list of interest is an SOC list corresponding to the temperature range of interest among the first to mth SOC lists, and the current list of interest is a current list corresponding to the temperature range of interest among the first to mth current lists, and

determining a remaining charging time required to charge the battery to a target SOC based on the detected current, the current SOC, the attention SOC list, and the attention current list.

2. The battery management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to:

determining first to nth set capacities corresponding to the first to nth SOC ranges defined by the attention SOC list in a one-to-one relationship,

determining first to nth target capacities for charging the battery in each of the first to nth SOC ranges defined by the SOC list of interest, based on the current SOC and the first to nth set capacities, and

determining the remaining charging time based on the detected current, the first to nth target capacities, and the first to nth allowable constant currents defined by the attention current list.

3. The battery management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is configured to:

determining first to nth range estimated times required to charge the battery in each of the first to nth SOC ranges using equation 1 below:

< equation 1>

Wherein, in equation 1, j represents a natural number of n or less, I_mRepresenting the detected current, ij]Denotes the j-th allowable constant Current, MIN (I)_m，I[j]) Is represented by_mAnd I [ j ]]The smaller of which, Δ Q_tg[j]Represents the jth target capacity, and Δ T_r[j]Indicating the jth range estimate time.

4. The battery management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit is configured to determine the remaining charge time to be equal to a sum of the first to nth range estimation times.

5. The battery management device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit is configured to determine, from a target charging sequence corresponding to the attention SOC list and the attention current list, a first to nth range spent time spent for charging in each of the first to nth SOC ranges when the battery is charged to the target SOC.

6. The battery management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit is configured to:

determining first to nth capacity losses corresponding to the first to nth SOC ranges in a one-to-one relationship based on the first to nth range estimated times and the first to nth range spent times, and

updating the SOC list of interest based on the first through nth capacity losses.

7. The battery management apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit is configured to determine the first to nth capacity losses using the following equation 2:

< equation 2>

ΔQ_loss[j]＝(ΔT_r[j]-ΔT_s[j])×MIN(I_m，I[j])

Wherein, in equation 2, Δ T_s[j]Represents that the jth range takes time, and Δ Q_loss[j]Indicating the j-th capacity loss.

8. The battery management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit is configured to update the SOC-of-interest list using equation 3 below:

< equation 3>

Wherein, in equation 3, Δ Q_set[k]Denotes the kth set capacity, Q_maxRepresents a predetermined maximum capacity, and SOC_limit[j]Represents the upper limit of the jth SOC range defined by the updated SOC-of-interest list.

9. A battery pack comprising a battery management apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 8.

10. An electric vehicle comprising the battery pack according to claim 9.

11. A battery management method performed by the battery management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the battery management method comprising:

detecting, by the sensing unit, a voltage, a current, and a temperature of the battery;

determining, by the control unit, a present state of charge (SOC) of the battery based on the detected voltage and the detected current;

determining, by the control unit, the temperature range of interest, the SOC list of interest, and the current list of interest from the charge sequence list; and

determining, by the control unit, the remaining charging time based on the detected current, the present SOC, the attention SOC list, and the attention current list.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to techniques for estimating a time required to charge a battery.

The present application claims priority from korean patent application No.10-2019-0110759, filed in korea at 6.9.2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Background

Recently, the demand for portable electronic products such as notebook computers, video cameras, and mobile phones has sharply increased, and with the widespread development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, and satellites, much research is being conducted on high-performance batteries that can be repeatedly recharged.

Currently, commercially available batteries include nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries, nickel zinc batteries, lithium batteries, and the like, and among them, lithium batteries have little or no memory effect, and thus they gain much attention as compared to nickel-based batteries because they can be charged at any convenient time, have a very low self-discharge rate, and have a high energy density.

Battery constant current-constant voltage (CC-CV) charging is widely used. The CC-CV charge is a combined charging technique of the CC charge and the CV charge, and is performed until the voltage (or state of charge (SOC)) of the battery reaches a predetermined cutoff voltage (or conversion SOC), and transits to the CV charge. During CV charging, battery charging may be stopped in response to the current flowing through the battery falling to a threshold.

When charging a battery using CC-CV charging, it is important to estimate the time (referred to as "remaining charging time") required to charge the battery to a target SOC (e.g., 95%).

Conventionally, the estimated remaining charge time is calculated by dividing the difference between the current SOC and the target SOC of the battery by the current flowing in the battery. However, the above-described conventional technique is not applicable to so-called multi-stage CC charging using a plurality of charging ranges (for example, SOC ranges) defining a plurality of allowable constant currents of different magnitudes. In addition, the conventional technique cannot reflect a change in each charging range due to battery deterioration in estimating the remaining charging time, resulting in low accuracy of the estimated remaining charging time.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

The present disclosure is designed to solve the above-described problems, and therefore it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a battery management apparatus, a battery management method, a battery pack, and an electric vehicle for accurately estimating a remaining charge time required to charge a battery to a target state of charge (SOC) using a plurality of charge ranges defining allowable constant currents of different magnitudes.

The present disclosure is also directed to providing a battery management apparatus, a battery management method, a battery pack, and an electric vehicle for preventing the estimation accuracy of the remaining charge time from being lowered due to the deterioration of a battery by correcting the range of each charge range based on the difference between the estimated time required for charging in each charge range and the actual time taken for charging in each charge range.

These and other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be understood by the following description, and will be apparent from the embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, it will be readily understood that the objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the appended claims.

Technical scheme

A battery management apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a memory storing a charging sequence table recording correspondence among first to mth temperature ranges, first to mth state of charge (SOC) lists, and first to mth current lists, wherein m is a natural number of 2 or more; a sensing unit configured to detect a voltage, a current, and a temperature of the battery; and a control unit operatively coupled to the memory and the sensing unit. Each of the SOC lists defines a first to nth SOC range. n is a natural number of 2 or more. Each of the current lists defines first to nth allowable constant currents, which correspond to the first to nth SOC ranges in a one-to-one relationship. The control unit determines a present SOC of the battery based on the detected voltage and the detected current. The control unit determines a temperature range of interest, an SOC list of interest, and a current list of interest from the charge sequence table based on the detected temperature. The temperature range of interest is a temperature range to which the detected temperature belongs, among the first to mth temperature ranges. The attention SOC list is an SOC list corresponding to the attention temperature range among the first to mth SOC lists. The current list of interest is a current list corresponding to the temperature range of interest among the first to mth current lists. The control unit is configured to determine a remaining charging time required to charge the battery to the target SOC based on the detected current, the current SOC, the attention SOC list, and the attention current list.

The control unit may be configured to determine first to nth set capacities corresponding to first to nth SOC ranges defined by the attention SOC list in a one-to-one relationship. The control unit may be configured to determine first to nth target capacities for charging the battery in each of first to nth SOC ranges defined by the SOC-of-interest list, based on the current SOC and the first to nth set capacities. The control unit may be configured to determine the remaining charging time based on the detected current, the first to nth target capacities, and the first to nth allowable constant currents defined by the attention current list.

The control unit may be configured to determine first to nth range estimated times required to charge the battery in each of the first to nth SOC ranges using equation 1 below:

< equation 1>

In equation 1, j represents a natural number of n or less, I_mIndicating the detected current, ij]Denotes the j-th allowable constant Current, MIN (I)_m，I[j]) Is represented by_mAnd I [ j ]]The smaller of which, Δ Q_tg[j]Represents the jth target capacity, anAnd Δ T_r[j]Indicating the jth range estimate time.

The control unit may be configured to determine the remaining charging time to be equal to a sum of the first to nth range estimation times.

The control unit may be configured to determine first to nth range spent time spent for charging in each of the first to nth SOC ranges when the battery is charged to the target SOC, according to a target charging sequence corresponding to the attention SOC list and the attention current list.

The control unit may be configured to determine first to nth capacity losses based on the first to nth range estimated times and the first to nth range spent times, the first to nth capacity losses corresponding to the first to nth SOC ranges in a one-to-one relationship.

The control unit may be configured to update the attention SOC list based on the first to nth capacity losses.

The control unit may be configured to determine the first to nth capacity losses using the following equation 2:

< equation 2>

ΔQ_loss[j]＝(ΔT_r[j]-ΔT_s[j])×MIN(I_m，I[j])

In equation 2, Δ T_s[j]Represents that the jth range takes time, and Δ Q_loss[j]Indicating the j-th capacity loss.

The control unit may be configured to update the SOC-of-interest list using equation 3 below:

< equation 3>

In equation 3, Δ Q_set[k]Denotes the kth set capacity, Q_maxRepresents a predetermined maximum capacity, and SOC_limit[j]Represents the upper limit of the jth SOC range defined by the updated SOC-of-interest list.

A battery pack according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes a battery management device.

An electric vehicle according to still another aspect of the present disclosure includes a battery pack.

A battery management method according to still another aspect of the present disclosure uses a battery management apparatus. The battery management method comprises the following steps: detecting, by a sensing unit, a voltage, a current, and a temperature of the battery; determining, by the control unit, the SOC of the battery based on the detected voltage and the detected current; determining an attention temperature range, an attention SOC list and an attention current list from the charging sequence list by the control unit; and determining, by the control unit, a remaining charging time based on the detected current, the current SOC, the attention SOC list, and the attention current list.

Advantageous effects

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of charging ranges defining allowable constant currents of different magnitudes may be used to accurately estimate a remaining charging time required to charge a battery to a target state of charge (SOC).

In addition, according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to prevent the estimation accuracy of the remaining charge time from being lowered due to the deterioration of the battery by correcting the range of each charge range based on the difference between the estimated time required for charging in each charge range and the actual time taken for charging in each charge range.

The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, and other effects not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the appended claims.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the detailed description of the disclosure described below, serve to provide a further understanding of the technical aspects of the disclosure, and therefore, the disclosure should not be construed as being limited to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a view exemplarily showing a configuration of an electric vehicle according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart exemplarily illustrating a battery management method according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a view illustrating an exemplary charge sequence table for performing the battery management method of fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart exemplarily illustrating a battery management method according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a reference diagram for describing an exemplary charging process by the battery management method of fig. 4.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Before the description, it should be understood that the terms or words used in the specification and the appended claims should not be construed as limited to general and dictionary meanings, but interpreted based on the meanings and concepts corresponding to technical aspects of the present disclosure on the basis of the principle that the inventor is allowed to define terms appropriately for the best explanation.

Therefore, the embodiments described herein and the illustrations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to fully describe the technical aspects of the present disclosure, so it should be understood that various other equivalent substitutions and modifications may have been made thereto at the time of filing the application.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as "first," "second," etc., are used to distinguish one element from another element among the various elements, but are not intended to limit the elements by the terms.

Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, it should be understood that the term "comprising" when used in this specification specifies the presence of the stated elements, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements. In addition, the term "control unit" used herein refers to at least one processing unit of functions or operations, and may be implemented by hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

In addition, throughout the specification, it will be further understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may be present.

Fig. 1 is a view exemplarily showing a configuration of an electric vehicle 1 according to the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 1, an electric vehicle 1 includes a battery pack 100, a switch 20, and a charger 10.

The battery pack 100 includes a battery 200 and a battery management system 300.

The battery 200 includes at least one battery cell. When the battery 200 includes a plurality of battery cells, each of the battery cells may be electrically connected to the other battery cells in series and/or in parallel. The battery cell is not limited to a specific type, and may include any type that can be repeatedly recharged, for example, a lithium ion secondary battery.

The switch 20 is installed on a current path connected between the battery 200 and the charger 10. That is, the battery 200 and the charger 10 are electrically connected to each other through the switch 20. The switch 20 may comprise known switching devices that may be controlled using electrical signals, such as, for example, Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs), relays, and the like.

The charger 10 is configured to supply a constant current or a constant voltage having a magnitude corresponding to a request to the battery 200 in response to the request from the battery management system 300.

The battery management system 300 includes a memory 310, a sensing unit 320, and a control unit 330.

The memory 310 stores programs and various types of data required to manage the battery 200. For example, memory 310 may include at least one type of storage media: flash memory type, hard disk type, Solid State Disk (SSD) type, Silicon Disk Drive (SDD) type, micro multimedia card type, Random Access Memory (RAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), and Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM).

In particular, the memory 310 may store a charging sequence table DT (see fig. 3). The charging sequence table DT records the correspondence among the first to mth temperature ranges, the first to mth SOC lists, and the first to mth current lists. m is a natural number of 2 or more. When i is 1 to m, the ith temperature range, the ith SOC list, and the ith current list may be associated with each other.

Each SOC list defines first through nth SOC ranges. Each current list defines the first to nth allowable constant currents. n is a natural number of 2 or more. When j is 1 to n, the jth soc range and the jth allowable constant current may be associated with each other.

In the first to mth SOC lists, an upper limit of an nth SOC range of the SOC list associated with the lower temperature range is lower than an upper limit of an nth SOC range of the SOC list associated with the higher temperature range. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the upper limit 25% of the fifth SOC range of the first SOC list associated with the first temperature range is lower than the upper limit 100% of the fifth SOC range of the second SOC list associated with the second temperature range higher than the first temperature range. This takes into account the property of the battery 200 that the electrochemical reaction slows down in a low temperature environment.

In each current list, the allowable constant current associated with the higher SOC range is lower than the allowable constant current associated with the lower SOC range. Each allowable constant current is preset to suppress factors (e.g., lithium deposition, overpotential, etc.) that deteriorate the battery 200 due to the charging current.

The charge sequence table DT will be described in more detail with reference to fig. 3.

The sensing unit 320 is provided to be electrically connected to the battery 200. The sensing unit 320 includes a voltage sensor 321, a current sensor 322, and a temperature sensor 323.

The voltage sensor 321 is electrically connected to the positive and negative terminals of the battery 200. The voltage sensor 321 is configured to detect a voltage across the battery 200 and output a voltage signal indicative of the detected voltage to the control circuit. The current sensor 322 may be connected in series to the switch 20 between the battery 200 and the charger 10. The current sensor 322 is configured to detect a current flowing through the battery 200 and output a current signal indicating the detected current to the control unit 330. The temperature sensor 323 is configured to detect the temperature of the battery 200 and output a temperature signal indicating the detected temperature to the control unit 330.

The control unit 330 is operatively coupled to the charger 10, the switch 20, the memory 310, and the sensing unit 320. The control unit 330 may be implemented in hardware using at least one of: application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), microprocessors, and electrical units for performing other functions.

The control unit 330 is configured to convert each signal from the sensing unit 320 into a digital signal using an embedded analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and periodically determine battery information indicating the state of the battery 200. The battery information includes at least one of a voltage history, a current history, or a temperature history of the last predetermined period of time. The battery information may also include a state of charge (SOC) of the battery 200. The SOC is a parameter indicating a ratio of the remaining capacity of the battery 200 to the maximum capacity of the battery 200, and may be expressed as 0 to 1 or 0 to 100%. The maximum capacity indicates the maximum amount of charge that can be stored in the battery 200. The maximum capacity of battery 200 at the beginning of life may be referred to as the design capacity.

The control unit 330 may determine the SOC of the battery 200 based on at least two of the voltage signal, the current signal, and the temperature signal collected at predetermined time intervals (e.g., 0.001 second). Various known estimation techniques may be used to determine the SOC. For example, using an SOC-OCV table defining a correspondence relationship between SOC and Open Circuit Voltage (OCV), the SOC of the battery 200 may be determined from the OCV of the battery 200 detected by the sensing unit 320. Different estimation techniques, such as amp-counting, equivalent circuit models, or extended kalman filters, which involve periodically integrating the battery current, may be used to determine the SOC.

The control unit 330 may control charging of the battery 200 using the charger 10 based on the battery information. When the battery 200 is being charged, the control unit 330 controls the switch 20 to the on state.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart exemplarily illustrating a battery management method according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 3 is a view illustrating an exemplary charge sequence table for performing the battery management method of fig. 2.

The battery management method of fig. 2 is performed by the battery management system 300 to determine the remaining charge time, which is the time required to charge the battery 200 from the current SOC to the target SOC.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, in step S200, the control unit 330 detects the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery 200 using the sensing unit 320. Specifically, when the sensing unit 320 outputs a voltage signal, a current signal, and a temperature signal to the control unit 330, the control unit 330 generates battery information indicating the voltage, the current, and the temperature of the battery 200 based on each signal.

In step S210, the control unit 330 determines the current SOC of the battery 200 based on each signal from the sensing unit 320.

In step S220, the control unit 330 determines a temperature range of interest, an SOC list of interest, and a current list of interest from the charge sequence table DT based on the detected temperature.

Fig. 3 shows a table DT, where m is 3 and n is 5. Referring to fig. 3, a temperature equal to or lower than-10 ℃ is defined as a first temperature range, a temperature between-10 ℃ and 10 ℃ is defined as a second temperature range, and a temperature equal to or higher than 10 ℃ is defined as a third temperature range. The first SOC list defines 0 to 5% SOC as a first SOC range, 5 to 10% SOC as a second SOC range, 10 to 15% SOC as a third SOC range, 15 to 20% SOC as a fourth SOC range, and 20% to 25% SOC as a fifth SOC range. The second SOC list defines 0 to 10% SOC as a first SOC range, 10 to 50% SOC as a second SOC range, 50 to 80% SOC as a third SOC range, and 80 to 90% SOC as a fourth SOC range, and 90 to 95% SOC as a fifth SOC range. The third SOC list defines 0 to 50% SOC as a first SOC range, 50 to 80% SOC as a second SOC range, 80 to 90% SOC as a third SOC range, and 90 to 95% SOC as a fourth SOC range, and 95 to 100% SOC as a fifth SOC range. The first current list defines 4A (amperes) as a first allowable constant current, 3A as a second allowable constant current, 2A as a third allowable constant current, 1A as a fourth allowable constant current, and 0.3A as a fifth allowable constant current. The second current list defines 10A as a first allowable constant current, 8A as a second allowable constant current, 5A as a third allowable constant current, 2A as a fourth allowable constant current, and 1A as a fifth allowable constant current. The third current list defines 20A as the first allowable constant current, 10A as the second allowable constant current, 5.5A as the third allowable constant current, 2.3A as the fourth allowable constant current, and 1.1A as the fifth allowable constant current.

The temperature range of interest is any one of the first to nth temperature ranges to which the temperature detected in step S200 belongs. For example, when the temperature detected in step S200 is 0 ℃, since 0 ℃ belongs to the second temperature range, the control unit 330 determines the second temperature range as the temperature range of interest. In addition, the control unit 330 may determine a second SOC list and a second current list associated with the temperature range of interest (-10 ℃ to 10 ℃) as the SOC list of interest and the current list of interest, respectively. The target SOC may be an upper limit of an nth SOC range defined by the SOC-of-interest list. For example, when the second current list is determined as the SOC-of-interest list, the control unit 330 may determine the target SOC to be equal to an upper limit (95%) of a fifth SOC range defined by the second current list.

In step S230, the control unit 330 determines the first to nth set capacities. The first to nth set capacities correspond to the first to nth SOC ranges defined by the attention SOC list in a one-to-one relationship. When j is 1 to n, the j-th set capacity is a capacity corresponding to a difference between a lower limit and an upper limit of a j-th SOC range defined by the attention SOC list. For example, since the lower and upper limits of the second SOC range defined by the second SOC list are 10% and 50%, respectively, the second set capacity may be equal to 40% of the maximum capacity. For reference, the upper limit of the jth SOC range may be equal to the lower limit of the jth +1SOC range.

Assume that the second SOC list is the SOC-of-interest list, and the maximum capacity of battery 200 is 10Ah (ampere-hour). The first set capacity is determined to be 1Ah, the second set capacity is determined to be 4Ah, the third set capacity is determined to be 3Ah, the fourth set capacity is determined to be 1Ah, and the fifth set capacity is determined to be 0.5 Ah.

In step S240, the control unit 330 determines the first to nth target capacities. The first to nth target capacities also correspond to the first to nth SOC ranges defined by the SOC-of-interest list in a one-to-one relationship. When j is 1 to n, the j-th target capacity is a total capacity required to charge the battery 200 in the j-th SOC range defined by the attention SOC list.

Assuming that the second SOC list is the SOC-of-interest list, the maximum capacity of the battery 200 is 10Ah, and the current SOC determined in step S210 is 30%. In this case, since the current SOC 30% belongs to 10 to 50% of the second SOC range, exceeding the first SOC range of the second SOC list by 0 to 10%, the first target capacity is determined to be 0 Ah. In addition, since it is necessary to charge the capacity corresponding to 20% of the maximum capacity to reach the upper limit 50% of the second SOC range, the second target capacity is determined to be 2 Ah. Since the lower limits of the third to fifth SOC ranges are higher than 30%, the third to fifth target capacities are determined to be equal to the third to fifth set capacities, respectively.

In step S250, the control unit 330 determines the first to nth range estimated times. The first to nth range estimated times are based on the current detected in step S200, the first to nth target capacities, and the first to nth allowable constant currents defined by the attention current list. When j is 1 to n, the j-th range estimated time is an estimated time required to charge the battery 200 in the j-th SOC range. The control unit 330 may determine the first to nth range estimated times using equation 1 below.

< equation 1>

In equation 1, I_mIndicates the current detected in step S200, Ij]J-th allowable constant Current, Δ Q, representing Current List of interest_tg[j]Represents the jth target capacity, and Δ T_r[j]Indicating the jth range estimate time. MIN (x, y) is a function of the smaller of the outputs x and y. MIN (z, z) ═ z.

Let I_m8A. Passing squareEquation 1, the first range estimate time will be determined as 0 Ah/8A-0 h (hours), the second range estimate time as 2 Ah/8A-0.25 h, the third range estimate time as 3 Ah/5A-0.375 h, the fourth range estimate time as 1 Ah/2A-0.5 h, and the fifth range estimate time as 0.5 Ah/1A-0.5 h.

In step S260, the control unit 330 determines the remaining charging time. The remaining charging time is equal to the sum of the first to nth range estimated times. For example, the remaining charge time is (0+0.25+0.375+0.5+0.5) h is 1.625 h.

In step S270, the control unit 330 outputs a notification message indicating the remaining charging time. The notification message may be transmitted to the charger 10 and/or the upper controller 2 coupled with the control unit 330 via a wired or wireless communication channel. The upper controller 2 may be an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the electric vehicle 1. The communication channel may use, for example, a wired communication protocol such as Controller Area Network (CAN), or a wireless communication protocol such as ZigBee or bluetooth.

On the other hand, independently of the operation of determining the remaining charging time, the control unit 330 may control the charging of the battery 200 according to a target charging sequence corresponding to each of the attention SOC list and the attention current list determined in step S220 until the SOC of the battery 200 reaches the target SOC.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart exemplarily showing a battery management method according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 5 is a diagram for reference in describing an exemplary charging process by the battery management method of fig. 4.

The battery management method of fig. 4 is for charging the battery 200 according to the target charging sequence and updating the SOC-of-interest list for determining the remaining charging time in the battery management method of fig. 2. The battery management method of fig. 4 may be performed after step S220.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, in step S400, the control unit 330 determines a sequence index k based on the current SOC of the battery 200. In the case where j is 1 to n, when the current SOC of the battery 200 belongs to the jth SOC range of the attention SOC list, the series index k may be determined to be equal to j. For example, when the SOC of the battery 200 is 30%, 30% belongs to the second SOC range of the SOC-of-interest list, and thus k is 2.

In step S410, the control unit 330 determines the kth charging current. The kth charging current is the smaller one of the current detected in step S200 and the kth allowable constant current defined by the attention current list. For example, when the series index k is 2, the current 8A detected in step S200 and the second allowable constant current 8A are equal, and thus 8A is determined as the second charging current. In another example, when the series index k is 3, the smaller one (5A) of the current 8A detected in step S200 and the third allowable constant current 5A is determined as the third charging current.

In step S420, the control unit 330 transmits a k-th command message to the charger 10 to request the supply of a k-th charging current to the battery 200. The charger 10 is configured to supply a kth charging current to the battery 200 in response to the kth command message.

In step S430, the control unit 330 determines whether the SOC of the battery 200 reaches the upper limit of the kth SOC range of the attention SOC list. A value of yes at step S430 indicates that the charging process in the kth soc range has been completed. When the value of step S430 is yes, step S440 is performed. When the value of step S430 is "no", step S430 may be performed again.

In step S440, the control unit 330 determines that the k-th range takes time. The k-th range spent time is the time it takes to charge the battery 200 in the k-th SOC range. For example, the kth range spent time may be determined to be equal to a period of time from the time at which the kth charging current is determined to the time at which the SOC of the battery 200 reaches the upper limit of the kth SOC range.

In step S450, the control unit 330 determines whether the sequence index k is equal to n. When the value of step S450 is "no", step S460 is performed. A value of yes at step S450 indicates that the SOC of battery 200 reaches the target SOC. When the value of step S450 is yes, step S470 is performed.

In step S460, the control unit 330 increments the sequence index k by 1. After step S460, the process may return to step S410.

In step S470, the control unit 330 determines the first to nth capacity losses. When j is 1 to n, the j-th capacity loss is the difference between the j-th target capacity and the increased capacity of the battery 200, in which the k-th range takes time. That is, as the battery 200 deteriorates, the jth capacity loss may increase, and thus the jth capacity loss may indicate a decrease in the total capacity required to charge the jth SOC range. The control unit 330 may determine the first to nth capacity losses using the following equation 2.

< equation 2>

ΔQ_loss[j]＝(ΔT_r[j]-ΔT_s[j])×MIN(I_m，I[j])

In equation 2, Δ T_r[j]Denotes the jth range estimation time, Δ T_s[j]Represents that the jth range takes time, and Δ Q_loss[j]Indicating the j-th capacity loss. Equation 2 can be expressed as equation 2-1 below.

< equation 2-1>

ΔQ_loss[j]＝ΔQ_tg[j]-ΔT_s[j]×MIN(I_m，I[j])＝ΔQ_tg[j]-ΔQ_ch[j]

In equation 2-1, Δ Q_ch[j]Indicating the increased capacity of battery 200 over the time spent in the k-th range.

In step S480, the control unit 330 updates the attention SOC list. The control unit 330 may update the SOC-of-interest list recorded in the charge sequence table DT using the following equation 3.

< equation 3>

In equation 3, Δ Q_set[k]Denotes the kth set capacity, Q_maxRepresenting maximum capacity, SOC_limit[j]Represents the upper limit of the jth SOC range defined by the updated SOC-of-interest list.

Fig. 5 is a graph showing a process of charging the battery 200 according to the target charging sequence when the current detected in step S200 is 8A, the SOC determined in step S210 is 30%, and the SOC list of interest and the current list of interest determined in step S220 are the second SOC list and the second current list of the charging sequence table DT, respectively.

Referring to fig. 1 to 5, from a time point t₂To a point of time t₃The battery 200 is charged with the second charging current 8A. Time t₃Is a point of time when the SOC of battery 200 reaches the upper limit 50% of the second SOC range. From the point of time t₂To a point of time t₃Time period Δ T of_s[2]The second range determined to be taken to charge the second SOC range takes time.

From the point of time t₃To a point of time t₄The battery 200 is charged with the third charging current 5A. Time t₄Is the point in time when the SOC of battery 200 reaches the upper limit 80% of the third SOC range. From the point of time t₃To a point of time t₄Time period Δ T of_s[3]The third range determined to take time to charge within the third SOC range.

From the point of time t₄To a point of time t₅The battery 200 is charged with the fourth charging current 2A. Time t₅Is the point in time when the SOC of battery 200 reaches the upper limit 90% of the fourth SOC range. From the point of time t₄To a point of time t₅Time period Δ T of_s[4]The fourth range determined to take time to charge within the fourth SOC range.

From the point of time t₅To a point of time t₆The battery 200 is charged with the fifth charging current 1A. Time t₆Is a point of time when the SOC of battery 200 reaches the target SOC 95% corresponding to the upper limit of the fifth SOC range. From the point of time t₅To a point of time t₆Time period Δ T of_s[5]The fifth range determined to take time to charge in the fifth SOC range. At a point in time t₆Constant current charging may be converted to constant voltage charging.

Meanwhile, since the charging in the first SOC range is omitted, the first range takes 0 h.

Assume that the first to fifth ranges of estimated time are 0h, 0.25h, 0.375h, respectivelyh. 0.5h, the first to fifth ranges take time of 0h, 0.1875h, 0.365h, 0.375h, 0.5h, respectively, and the maximum capacity Q_maxIs 10 Ah. The first to fifth capacity losses are determined as 0Ah, 0.5Ah, 0.05Ah, 0.25Ah, 0Ah, respectively, by equation 2 (or equation 2-1). Subsequently, the SOC-of-interest list is updated by equation 3. That is, the upper limit of each of the first to fifth SOC ranges defined by the SOC-of-interest list is updated from 10%, 50%, 80%, 90%, 95% to 10%, 45%, 74.5%, 82%, 82.5%.

The embodiments of the present disclosure described above are not realized only by the apparatus and method, and may be realized by a program that executes functions corresponding to the configuration of the embodiments of the present disclosure or a recording medium having the program recorded thereon, and those skilled in the art can easily realize such an implementation from the disclosure of the foregoing embodiments.

Although the present disclosure has been described above with respect to a limited number of embodiments and drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made thereto within the technical scope of the present disclosure and the equivalent scope of the appended claims.

In addition, since many substitutions, modifications and changes may be made to the present disclosure described above by those skilled in the art without departing from the technical aspects of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and drawings, and some or all of the embodiments may be selectively combined to allow various modifications.