阅读说明：本技术 车辆用拆装式蓄电池以及车辆用拆装式蓄电池的防盗系统 (Detachable battery for vehicle and antitheft system for detachable battery for vehicle ) 是由 北村彻 于 2020-07-03 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种车辆用拆装式蓄电池以及车辆用拆装式蓄电池的防盗系统。车辆用拆装式蓄电池拆装自如地装配于电动车辆,其具备：时刻取得部,其取得当前时刻；时间带存储部,其存储供给电力的时间带；以及电力供给控制部,其控制蓄电部蓄积的电力向电动车辆的供给,电力供给控制部为,在检测到进行了电动车辆的起动指示之后,在时刻取得部取得的当前时刻包含于由时间带存储部存储的时间带的情况下,设为能够将蓄电部蓄积的电力向电动车辆供给,在当前时刻不包含于时间带的情况下,禁止电力向电动车辆供给。(The invention provides a detachable storage battery for a vehicle and an antitheft system for the detachable storage battery for the vehicle. A detachable storage battery for a vehicle is detachably mounted on an electric vehicle, and is provided with: a time acquisition unit that acquires a current time; a time zone storage unit for storing time zones for supplying power; and a power supply control unit that controls supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit to the electric vehicle, wherein the power supply control unit is configured to enable supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit to the electric vehicle when the current time acquired by the time acquisition unit is included in the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit after detection of the start instruction of the electric vehicle, and to prohibit supply of the electric power to the electric vehicle when the current time is not included in the time slot.)

1. A detachable battery for a vehicle, which is detachably mounted on an electric vehicle, comprising:

a time acquisition unit that acquires a current time;

a time zone storage unit for storing time zones for supplying power; and

an electric power supply control unit that controls supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit to the electric vehicle,

the power supply control part is used for controlling the power supply,

after detecting that the start instruction of the electric vehicle is made,

when the current time acquired by the time acquisition unit is included in the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit, the electric power stored in the power storage unit may be supplied to the electric vehicle,

and prohibiting the supply of the electric power to the electric vehicle when the current time is not included in the time zone.

2. The removable storage battery for a vehicle according to claim 1,

the power supply control part is used for controlling the power supply,

after detecting that the start instruction of the electric vehicle is made,

acquiring a first unique code transmitted from a battery management server that manages use of a vehicle removable battery of the electric vehicle,

acquiring a second unique code input by a user of the electric vehicle from an input device,

the electric power is supplied to the electric vehicle when the acquired first unique code matches the second unique code.

3. The removable storage battery for a vehicle according to claim 2,

the power supply control unit acquires the first unique code via a communication device provided in the electric vehicle.

4. The removable storage battery for a vehicle according to claim 2 or 3,

the power supply control unit updates the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit with a time slot from a power supply start time to a power supply end time acquired based on a state of operation of the electric vehicle as the new time slot.

5. The removable storage battery for a vehicle according to claim 4,

the power supply control unit acquires the current time when the start instruction of the electric vehicle is detected as the power supply start time and the current time when the operation end instruction of the electric vehicle is detected as the power supply end time, respectively.

6. The removable storage battery for a vehicle according to claim 2,

the input device is mounted on the electric vehicle,

the electric power supply control unit updates the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit with a time slot input by a user of the electric vehicle as a new time slot.

7. An antitheft system for a detachable battery for a vehicle, comprising:

the removable storage battery for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6; and

a battery management server for managing the use of a vehicle removable battery for an electric vehicle,

the storage battery management server is used for storing the storage battery management information,

creating a unique code for using the detachable storage battery for a vehicle in the electric vehicle based on a request for use of the detachable storage battery for a vehicle, a use start time, and a use end time transmitted from a terminal device of a user of the electric vehicle, and transmitting the created unique code as a second unique code to the terminal device,

transmitting the unique code created in response to a request from the detachable vehicle battery mounted on the electric vehicle to the detachable vehicle battery as a first unique code,

the vehicle removable storage battery is configured to be able to supply the electric power stored in the storage unit to the electric vehicle when the first unique code transmitted by the storage battery management server matches the second unique code input by the user from an input device, and to prohibit the electric power from being supplied to the electric vehicle when the first unique code does not match the second unique code.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a detachable storage battery for a vehicle and an antitheft system for a detachable storage battery for a vehicle.

Background

In recent years, Electric vehicles, such as BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) and HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), that run on an Electric motor driven by Electric power supplied from a Battery (secondary Battery) have been developed. Among recent electric vehicles, there is also an electric vehicle that employs a detachable battery (hereinafter referred to as a "detachable battery"). In an electric vehicle using a detachable storage battery, when the power consumption of the detachable storage battery currently mounted is exhausted, for example, the detachable storage battery is replaced with another detachable storage battery that stores sufficient power, such as a spare detachable storage battery that has been charged, and thus the vehicle can continue traveling. Therefore, in the electric vehicle using the detachable battery, there is a possibility that the detachable battery itself may be stolen, not only the vehicle itself.

Conventionally, techniques related to an antitheft device have been disclosed (for example, refer to japanese unexamined patent application publication 2007-.

However, the technique of japanese patent application laid-open No. 2007 & 030863 is not a technique for preventing theft of a battery. The techniques of japanese laid-open patent publication nos. 2002-193074 and 2003-132954 are techniques of incorporating an antitheft device in a battery mounted and installed in a vehicle. Therefore, sufficient studies have not been made on the theft prevention of a battery itself having excellent mobility on the premise that the battery is replaced with a detachable battery as used in an electric vehicle.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a detachable vehicle battery and an antitheft system for a detachable vehicle battery, which can reduce the possibility of theft.

[ MEANS FOR solving PROBLEMS ] A method for solving the problems

The present invention provides a detachable battery for a vehicle and an antitheft system for a detachable battery for a vehicle, which have the following configurations.

(1): a detachable battery for a vehicle according to an aspect of the present invention is a detachable battery for a vehicle detachably attached to an electric vehicle, including: a time acquisition unit that acquires a current time; a time zone storage unit for storing time zones for supplying power; and a power supply control unit that controls supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit to the electric vehicle, wherein the power supply control unit is configured to enable supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit to the electric vehicle when the current time acquired by the time acquisition unit is included in the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit after detection of an instruction to start the electric vehicle, and to prohibit supply of the electric power to the electric vehicle when the current time is not included in the time slot.

(2): in the aspect (1) described above, the electric power supply control unit may be configured to acquire a first unique code transmitted from a battery management server that manages use of a vehicle removable battery of the electric vehicle after detecting that the start instruction of the electric vehicle is performed, acquire a second unique code input by a user of the electric vehicle from an input device, and supply the electric power to the electric vehicle when the acquired first unique code matches the second unique code.

(3): in the aspect (2) described above, the power supply control unit acquires the first unique code via a communication device provided in the electric vehicle.

(4): in the above-described aspect (2) or (3), the power supply control unit updates the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit with a time slot from a power supply start time to a power supply end time acquired based on a state of operation of the electric vehicle as the new time slot.

(5): in the aspect of the above (4), the power supply control unit may acquire the current time when the start instruction of the electric vehicle is detected as the power supply start time and the current time when the operation end instruction of the electric vehicle is detected as the power supply end time, respectively.

(6): in any one of the above (2) to (5), the input device is mounted on the electric vehicle, and the electric power supply control unit updates the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit with a time slot input by a user of the electric vehicle as the new time slot.

(7): an antitheft system for a detachable battery for a vehicle according to one aspect of the present invention includes the detachable battery for a vehicle according to any one of the above (1) to (6); and a battery management server that manages use of a detachable storage battery for an electric vehicle, wherein the battery management server creates a unique code for using the detachable storage battery for the electric vehicle based on a request for use of the detachable storage battery for the vehicle, which is transmitted from a terminal device of a user of the electric vehicle, a use start time, and a use end time, transmits the created unique code to the terminal device as a second unique code, transmits the unique code created in response to a request from the detachable storage battery for the electric vehicle to the detachable storage battery for the vehicle as a first unique code, and the detachable storage battery for the vehicle is configured such that, when the first unique code transmitted from the battery management server matches the second unique code input from an input device by the user, the electric power stored in the power storage unit is supplied to the electric vehicle, and when the first unique code does not match the second unique code, the electric power is prohibited from being supplied to the electric vehicle.

[ Effect of the invention ]

According to the aspects (1) to (7) described above, the possibility of theft can be reduced.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a structure of an electric vehicle to which a detachable battery for a vehicle according to an embodiment is attached.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an antitheft system for a detachable vehicle battery including an electric vehicle in which the detachable vehicle battery according to the embodiment is mounted.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a detachable battery for a vehicle.

Fig. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the overall flow of the procedure in the antitheft system.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of processing executed by the vehicle removable storage battery when an instruction to start the electric vehicle is given.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of processing executed by the vehicle removable storage battery when an instruction to end the operation of the electric vehicle is given.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow executed when learning a time zone for updating in the detachable storage battery for a vehicle.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of a detachable vehicle battery and an antitheft system for a detachable vehicle battery according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[ Structure of vehicle with removable Battery for vehicle ]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a structure of an electric vehicle 10 to which a vehicle removable storage battery 400 according to an embodiment is attached. Fig. 1 shows a configuration of an electric vehicle 10 in which a vehicle removable battery 400 (hereinafter, simply referred to as "removable battery 400") is mounted. The electric vehicle 10 is a vehicle that runs by an electric motor (electric motor) driven by electric power supplied from the detachable battery 400. The electric vehicle 10 includes not only a four-wheeled vehicle but also all electric vehicles that run on an electric motor driven by electric power supplied from the detachable battery 400, such as a straddle-type two-wheeled vehicle, a three-wheeled vehicle (including a front two-wheeled vehicle and a rear one-wheeled vehicle in addition to a front one-wheeled vehicle and a rear two-wheeled vehicle), an auxiliary-type bicycle, and the like.

The electric vehicle 10 shown in fig. 1 includes, for example, a motor 12, a drive wheel 14, a brake device 16, a vehicle sensor 20, a pcu (power Control unit)30, a battery sensor 40 such as a voltage sensor, a current sensor, and a temperature sensor, a communication device 50, an hmi (human Machine interface)60 including a display device, a charging port 70, and a connection circuit 72.

The motor 12 is, for example, a three-phase ac motor. A rotary member (rotor) of the motor 12 is coupled to a drive wheel 14. The motor 12 is driven by electric power supplied from a power storage unit (not shown) provided in the detachable battery 400, and transmits rotational power to the drive wheels 14. The motor 12 generates electric power using kinetic energy of the electric vehicle 10 at the time of deceleration of the electric vehicle 10.

The brake device 16 includes, for example, a caliper, a hydraulic cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the caliper, and an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic cylinder. The brake device 16 may include a mechanism for transmitting a hydraulic pressure generated by an operation of a brake pedal (not shown) by a user (driver) of the electric vehicle 10 to a hydraulic cylinder via a master cylinder as a backup. The brake device 16 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that transmits the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder to the hydraulic cylinder.

The vehicle sensor 20 includes, for example, an accelerator opening sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a brake depression amount sensor. The accelerator opening degree sensor is attached to an accelerator pedal, detects an operation amount of the accelerator pedal by a driver, and outputs the detected operation amount as an accelerator opening degree to a control unit 36 provided in PCU30 described later. The vehicle speed sensor includes, for example, a wheel speed sensor and a speed computer attached to each wheel of the electric vehicle 10, and derives the speed (vehicle speed) of the electric vehicle 10 by combining the wheel speeds detected by the wheel speed sensors, and outputs the speed to the control unit 36 and the HMI 60. The brake depression amount sensor is attached to the brake pedal, detects an operation amount of the brake pedal by the driver, and outputs the detected operation amount as a brake depression amount to the control unit 36.

The PCU30 includes, for example, the converter 32, the vcu (voltage Control unit)34, and the Control unit 36. In fig. 1, the configuration in which these components are collectively referred to as PCU30 is merely an example, and these components in electric vehicle 10 may be arranged in a dispersed manner.

The converter 32 is, for example, an AC-DC converter. The dc-side terminal of the converter 32 is connected to the dc link DL. A detachable battery 400 is connected to dc link DL via VCU 34. The converter 32 converts ac generated by the motor 12 into dc and outputs the dc to the dc link DL.

The VCU34 is, for example, a DC-DC converter. The VCU34 boosts the electric power supplied from the detachable battery 400 and outputs the boosted electric power to the dc link DL.

The control unit 36 includes, for example, a motor control unit, a brake control unit, and a battery/VCU control unit. The motor Control unit, the brake Control unit, and the battery/VCU Control unit may be replaced with separate Control devices, for example, Control devices such as a motor ECU (electronic Control unit), a brake ECU, and a battery ECU.

The control unit 36 controls the driving of the motor 12 in the motor control unit based on an output from an accelerator opening sensor provided in the vehicle sensor 20. The control unit 36 controls the brake device 16 based on an output from a brake depression amount sensor provided in the vehicle sensor 20 in the brake control unit. The control unit 36 calculates, for example, soc (state Of charge) Of the detachable battery 400 based on an output from a battery sensor 40, which will be described later, connected to the detachable battery 400 in the battery/VCU control unit, and outputs the soc to the VCU34 and the HMI 60. The control unit 36 may output information of the vehicle speed output by the vehicle sensor 20 to the HMI 60. The VCU34 increases the voltage of the dc link DL in accordance with an instruction from the battery/VCU control unit.

Removable battery 400 is a battery pack, such as a cartridge, that is removably mounted to electric vehicle 10. The detachable battery 400 includes a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery that can be repeatedly charged and discharged. As the secondary battery, for example, in addition to a lead storage battery, a nickel metal hydride battery, a sodium ion battery, and the like, a capacitor such as an electric double layer capacitor, a composite battery in which a secondary battery and a capacitor are combined, and the like can be considered. In the present invention, the structure of the secondary battery included in detachable battery 400 is not particularly specified. The secondary battery included in the detachable battery 400 stores electric power introduced from the charger 100 outside the electric vehicle 10, and discharges the electric vehicle 10 for traveling. The secondary battery is an example of the "power storage unit" in the claims.

Removable battery 400 has a structure for preventing theft or making it impossible to use the battery even if it is stolen, in addition to the power storage unit. Detachable battery 400 performs a function of preventing theft of detachable battery 400 based on information obtained by control unit 36 via communication device 50 and HMI60 described later. The structure of removable battery 400 will be described in detail later.

The battery sensor 40 includes, for example, a current sensor, a voltage sensor, and a temperature sensor. Battery sensor 40 is connected to a detachable battery 400 mounted on electric vehicle 10. The battery sensor 40 detects a current of a secondary battery included in the detachable battery 400 by a current sensor, detects a voltage of the secondary battery by a voltage sensor, and detects a temperature of the secondary battery by a temperature sensor. The battery sensor 40 outputs information such as the detected current value, voltage value, and temperature of the secondary battery to the control unit 36 and the communication device 50.

The communication device 50 includes a wireless module for connecting to a cellular network, a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) network. The communication device 50 may include a wireless module used by Bluetooth (registered trademark) or the like. The communication device 50 transmits and receives information for controlling the antitheft function of the detachable battery 400 to and from a battery management server 300, which will be described later, by communication via a network (not shown) in the wireless module, which will be described later. Details of the information transmitted and received between the communication device 50 and the battery management server 300 described later will be described later.

The HMI60 presents various information to a user of the electric powered vehicle 10 such as a driver, and receives an input operation by the user. The HMI60 is, for example, a so-called touch panel in which a Display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is combined with an input device that detects an input operation. The HMI60 may include various display units other than a display device, a speaker, a buzzer, switches other than an input device, keys, and the like. HMI60 displays and presents information related to the antitheft function of removable battery 400 on a display device, and receives information for controlling the antitheft function of removable battery 400 input to an input device. The HMI60 may be configured to include an imaging device such as a camera as an input device, and acquire information for controlling the antitheft function of the detachable battery 400 from an image captured by the camera. The camera is a digital camera using a solid-state imaging device such as a ccd (charge Coupled device) or a cmos (complementary Metal Oxide semiconductor). Details regarding the information prompted and accepted by the HMI60 will be described later.

Charging port 70 is a mechanism for charging the connected secondary battery in a state where electric vehicle 10 is equipped with detachable battery 400. Charging port 70 is provided toward the outside of the vehicle body of electric vehicle 10. The charging port 70 is connected to the charger 100 via a charging cable 120. The charging cable 120 includes a first plug 122 and a second plug 124. The first plug 122 is connected to the charger 100, and the second plug 124 is connected to the charging port 70. The electric power supplied from charger 100 is input (supplied) to charging port 70 via charging cable 120.

The charging cable 120 includes a signal cable attached to a power cable. The signal cable mediates communication between the electric vehicle 10 and the charger 100. Therefore, a power connector for connecting a power cable and a signal connector for connecting a signal cable are provided in the first plug 122 and the second plug 124, respectively.

Connection circuit 72 is provided between charging port 70 and the secondary battery included in detachable battery 400. The connection circuit 72 transmits a current, for example, a direct current, introduced from the charger 100 through the charging port 70 as a current for supplying to the detachable battery 400. The connection circuit 72 outputs a direct current to a secondary battery provided in the detachable battery 400, for example, and stores (charges) electric power in the secondary battery.

[ Structure of anti-theft System ]

Next, an example of an antitheft system including electric vehicle 10 equipped with detachable battery 400 will be described. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of antitheft system 200 including a detachable vehicle battery 400 of electric vehicle 10 in which detachable vehicle battery 400 according to the embodiment is mounted. The antitheft system 200 shown in fig. 2 includes, for example, an electric vehicle 10 having a detachable battery 400 mounted thereon, a battery management server 300, and a user terminal T. Fig. 2 shows a communication device 50 and an HMI60 associated with the antitheft system 200 among the above-described constituent elements included in the electric vehicle 10, and a removable battery 400 mounted on the electric vehicle 10.

In the antitheft system 200, the battery management server 300, the user terminal T, and the communication device 50 provided in the electric vehicle 10 are connected via the network NW. The network NW is a communication network for wireless communication including, for example, the internet, wan (wide Area network), lan (local Area network), provider devices, wireless base stations, and the like.

Antitheft system 200 is a system for preventing theft of detachable battery 400 or preventing theft of detachable battery 400. In antitheft system 200, a time zone in which electric power stored in a power storage unit (secondary battery) included in detachable battery 400 is supplied to electric vehicle 10 is set, and detachable battery 400 does not supply electric power outside the set time zone. In other words, in antitheft system 200, detachable battery 400 cannot be used outside the set time zone.

The user terminal T is a terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal owned by a user (hereinafter, referred to as a user U) of the electric vehicle 10 such as a driver. The user terminal T may be, for example, a fixed terminal device used by the user U. The user U requests the use of the removable storage battery 400 to the storage battery management server 300 by operating an application (hereinafter, referred to as a storage battery use application) or the like executed by the user terminal T to request the use of the removable storage battery 400. The user terminal T transmits information on a request for use of the removable storage battery 400, which is requested by the user U by operating the storage battery use application, to the storage battery management server 300 via the network NW. The information regarding the request for use of removable storage battery 400 transmitted from user terminal T to storage battery management server 300 includes information of the time at which use of removable storage battery 400 is started (hereinafter referred to as "use start time") and the time at which use of removable storage battery 400 is ended (hereinafter referred to as "use end time").

Battery management server 300 manages the use of removable battery 400 in electric vehicle 10. The battery management server 300 includes, for example, a communication unit 302 and a dedicated code creation unit 304. The communication unit 302 and the dedicated code creation unit 304 are each realized by a hardware processor such as a cpu (central Processing unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit) such as lsi (large Scale integration), asic (application Specific Integrated circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), gpu (graphics Processing unit), or the like, or may be realized by cooperation of software and hardware. Some or all of the functions of these components may be realized by a dedicated LSI. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (hard Disk drive) or a flash memory of the battery management server 300, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and attached to the HDD or flash memory of the battery management server 300 by attaching the storage medium to the drive device. The battery management server 300 may be implemented as a server device or a storage device loaded into the cloud computing system. In this case, the function of the battery management server 300 may be realized by a plurality of server devices or storage devices in the cloud computing system.

Communication unit 302 communicates with user terminal T and communication device 50 included in electric powered vehicle 10 via network NW to exchange information. The communication unit 302 receives information related to a request for use of the removable storage battery 400 transmitted from the user terminal T through communication via the network NW. The communication unit 302 outputs the received information on the request for use of the removable storage battery 400 to the dedicated code creation unit 304.

The unique code creating unit 304 creates unique code information (hereinafter, referred to as a unique code) for using the removable storage battery 400 based on the information on the request for using the removable storage battery 400 output from the communication unit 302. The unique code is an authentication code such as a password for authenticating the permission of use of the removable storage battery 400. The unique code is composed of a predetermined number of characters and symbols that can be read by the user U, for example. For example, when the HMI60 included in the electric vehicle 10 is configured to include an imaging device such as a camera, the unique code may be in the form of a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode (so-called QR code (registered trademark)) that is not characters or symbols and is readable from an image captured by the imaging device. The unique code creating unit 304 outputs the created unique code (hereinafter, referred to as a user unique code) to the communication unit 302.

The communication unit 302 transmits the user-specific code output from the specific code creation unit 304 to the user terminal T by communication via the network NW. In this way, the user-specific code created by the specific code creating unit 304 is notified to the user U through the battery application. The user-specific code notified to the user U is an example of the "second-specific code" in the claims.

When the communication unit 302 receives a request for the unique code from the detachable battery 400 transmitted from the communication device 50 provided in the electric vehicle 10 via the network NW when the detachable battery 400 is actually used, the received request for the unique code is output to the unique code creation unit 304. Then, the communication unit 302 transmits the unique code output by the unique code creation unit 304 in response to the request for the unique code to the communication device 50 provided in the electric vehicle 10 by communication via the network NW. In other words, the communication unit 302 transmits the unique code (hereinafter, referred to as a battery unique code) outputted from the unique code creating unit 304 in response to the request of the unique code to the removable storage battery 400. Thus, detachable battery 400 supplies the electric power stored in the secondary battery to VCU34 included in electric vehicle 10 during a time zone in which the electric power stored in the secondary battery is permitted to be supplied to electric vehicle 10, which is stored in a time zone storage unit of detachable battery 400 described later. The battery-specific code transmitted from communication unit 302 to detachable battery 400 may include information of the use start time and the use end time requested by user U. In other words, the battery-specific code may include information of a time zone in which the removable battery 400 is permitted to supply the electric power stored in the secondary battery to the mounted electric vehicle 10. In this case, detachable battery 400 can supply the electric power stored in the secondary battery to VCU34 included in electric powered vehicle 10 during a time period from the use start time to the use end time, instead of or in addition to the time period stored in the time period storage unit of detachable battery 400 described later. The battery unique code transmitted from the communication unit 302 to the detachable battery 400 is an example of the "first unique code" in the claims.

[ Structure of Detachable Battery ]

Next, an example of a detachable battery 400 that is mounted on electric vehicle 10 and constitutes antitheft system 200 will be described. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a detachable battery 400 for a vehicle. Detachable battery 400 shown in fig. 3 includes power storage unit 402, time acquisition unit 404, time zone storage unit 406, power supply control unit 408, and connection unit 410.

Power storage unit 402 is the secondary battery described above. The connection portion 410 is a connection terminal including a power terminal and a communication terminal. When removable battery 400 is mounted on electric vehicle 10, the power terminal supplies the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to VCU34 included in electric vehicle 10. When removable battery 400 is mounted on electric vehicle 10, information for controlling the antitheft function of removable battery 400 is exchanged between the communication terminal and control unit 36 provided in electric vehicle 10.

The time acquisition unit 404 acquires the current time from the control unit 36 via the communication terminal of the connection unit 410. The time acquisition unit 404 may have a clock function of counting the current time. In this case, the time obtaining unit 404 can process the current time of the time measurement as the current time obtained from the control unit 36. When the time acquisition unit 404 itself has a clock function of counting the current time, the current time of the electric vehicle 10 may be acquired from the control unit 36 when the removable storage battery 400 is mounted on the electric vehicle 10, and the current time counted by itself may be corrected based on the acquired current time of the electric vehicle 10.

Time zone storage unit 406 stores information of time zones in which the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 is permitted to be supplied to electrically powered vehicle 10. The time zone storage unit 406 is realized by, for example, a flash memory (eeprom), an eeprom (electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only memory), or the like. The time slot stored in time slot storage unit 406 includes information of a time point at which the permission of the supply of electric power by power storage unit 402 is started (hereinafter, referred to as a power supply permission start time) and a time point at which the permission of the supply of electric power by power storage unit 402 is ended (hereinafter, referred to as a power supply permission end time).

Power supply control unit 408 controls supply of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electrically powered vehicle 10. The power supply control unit 408 includes, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU and a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) storing a program (software), and functions by executing the program by the processor. The power supply control unit 408 may be implemented by hardware (including a circuit unit) such as an LSI, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a GPU, or may be implemented by cooperation of software and hardware. The power supply control unit 408 may be implemented by a dedicated LSI. Here, the program (software) may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) such as a ROM, a RAM, or a flash memory. The power supply control unit 408 can be implemented as a function of a part of a bmu (battery Management unit), not shown, for controlling charging and discharging of the power storage unit 402 provided in the detachable battery 400.

In electric vehicle 10 equipped with detachable battery 400, when a start instruction is given by user U, for example, when an ignition key (not shown) provided in electric vehicle 10 is turned on, power supply control unit 408 controls the antitheft function of detachable battery 400 before electric power stored in power storage unit 402 is supplied to electric vehicle 10. In the control of the antitheft function performed by power supply control unit 408, whether to permit or prohibit the supply of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electrically powered vehicle 10 is controlled. In other words, power supply control unit 408 switches between energizing or interrupting electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electrically powered vehicle 10. As a configuration for switching between energization and interruption of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric powered vehicle 10, for example, an electromagnetic contactor (contactor) or the like may be considered. In this case, power supply control unit 408 outputs a control signal for controlling contact between the power terminal connected to connection unit 410 of the electromagnetic contactor and the power output terminal of power storage unit 402, thereby controlling whether to permit or prohibit supply of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric powered vehicle 10. The initial state of control of the antitheft function of power supply control unit 408 is a state in which supply of electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electrically powered vehicle 10 is prohibited. Thus, even if detachable battery 400 is stolen, detachable battery 400 is not supplied with the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 and is therefore unusable.

The configuration of switching between energizing and interrupting electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electrically powered vehicle 10 by electric power supply control unit 408 is not limited to the above configuration. For example, an electronic configuration such as a transistor may be used as a configuration in which power supply control unit 408 switches between conducting and interrupting the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electrically powered vehicle 10.

[ flow of the entire sequence ]

Next, an example of the overall flow of the procedure for preventing theft of removable storage battery 400 in antitheft system 200 will be described. Fig. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the overall flow of the sequence of the antitheft system 200. Fig. 4 shows an example of processing among removable storage battery 400, storage battery management server 300, and user terminal T that cooperate in antitheft system 200. The user terminal T executes a battery utilization application. As described above, the detachable battery 400 exchanges information for controlling the antitheft function of the detachable battery 400 via the control unit 36, the communication device 50, and the HMI60 included in the electric vehicle 10, but for convenience of description, the detachable battery 400 is configured to directly exchange information for controlling the antitheft function.

In an example of the processing of the antitheft system 200 shown in fig. 4, first, the user U operates the user terminal T (battery use application) and requests (requests) the use of the removable battery 400 to the battery management server 300. At this time, the user U inputs the use start time and the use end time to the user terminal T. In this way, the user terminal T transmits a use request to the battery management server 300 via the network NW (step S1). At this time, the user terminal T includes identification information for identifying the user U (hereinafter, referred to as a user ID), identification information for identifying the electric vehicle 10 owned by the user U (hereinafter, referred to as a vehicle ID), identification information for identifying the detachable storage battery 400 (hereinafter, referred to as a storage battery ID), and the like, and identification information for associating the user U, the electric vehicle 10, and the detachable storage battery 400, in the use request, and transmits the identification information to the storage battery management server 300. The user ID, the vehicle ID, and the battery ID are identification information registered in advance in the battery use application. The user terminal T transmits the usage start time and the usage end time input by the user U to the battery management server 300 via the network NW (step S2).

Upon receiving the use request transmitted from the user terminal T, the battery management server 300 checks the user ID, the vehicle ID, the battery ID, and the like included in the use request, and determines whether or not the user U having transmitted the use request is a correct user who owns the electric vehicle 10 or the removable battery 400. When it is determined that the user U is the correct user, the battery management server 300 creates a unique code based on the usage start time and the usage end time transmitted from the user terminal T (step S3). The battery management server 300 transmits the created unique code (user unique code) to the user terminal T that transmitted the usage request, the usage start time, and the usage end time (step S4).

When the user U gets on the electric vehicle 10 and instructs the start of the electric vehicle 10 by turning on the ignition key, for example (step S10), the removable storage battery 400 transmits a request for a unique code to the storage battery management server 300 via the network NW (step S11). In response to a request from detachable battery 400, battery management server 300 transmits the created unique code (battery unique code) to detachable battery 400 (step S12).

When the detachable battery 400 receives the battery-specific code transmitted from the battery management server 300, the user-specific code is acquired from the user U (step S13). As a method for acquiring the user-specific code from the user U by the detachable battery 400, for example, a method for acquiring the user-specific code input by the user U to the input device of the HMI60 by causing the display device of the HMI60 to display a display urging the input of the user-specific code is conceivable. However, the method of detachable battery 400 acquiring the user-specific code from user U is not limited to this method. For example, in the case where the HMI60 has an imaging device such as a camera as an input device, the display device of the HMI60 may be caused to display the user-specific code on the display unit of the user terminal T to urge the camera to capture an image, and the user-specific code read or recognized from the image captured by the camera may be acquired. When the detachable battery 400 includes a short-range wireless communication module such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example, wireless communication with a battery-use application executed by the user terminal T is possible, and the user-specific code stored in the user terminal T can be acquired.

Next, the detachable battery 400 confirms whether or not the battery-specific code transmitted from the battery management server 300 matches the user-specific code input by the user U (step S14). When the battery-specific code matches the user-specific code, removable battery 400 starts to supply electric power to electric vehicle 10 (step S15). When the battery-specific code does not match the user-specific code, the detachable battery 400 stops the supply of electric power to the electric vehicle 10. In this case, the detachable battery 400 can display a message indicating that the supply of electric power is stopped due to, for example, inconsistency of the unique code on the display device of the HMI 60.

Through the flow of such processing procedures, in the antitheft system 200, the detachable battery 400, the battery management server 300, and the user terminal T cooperate with each other to control the antitheft function of the detachable battery 400. Then, detachable battery 400 supplies the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric powered vehicle 10 during the time slot stored in time slot storage unit 406.

[ control of Power supply to Detachable Battery 400 ]

Next, an example of a flow of more detailed processing of detachable battery 400 constituting antitheft system 200 will be described. Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing executed by the vehicle removable storage battery 400 when an instruction to start the electric vehicle 10 is given. Fig. 5 shows an example of processing performed by detachable battery 400 in a state of being mounted on electric vehicle 10. In the following description, the time zone storage unit 406 included in the removable storage battery 400 stores the power supply permission start time and the power supply permission end time.

When mounted on electric vehicle 10, power supply control unit 408 of removable battery 400 determines whether or not the ignition key is turned on by user U (an instruction to start electric vehicle 10 is given) (step S100). If it is determined in step S100 that the ignition key is not turned on, the power supply control unit 408 repeats step S100 and waits for the ignition key to be turned on.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S100 that the ignition key is in the on state, power supply control unit 408 causes time acquisition unit 404 to acquire the current time from electrically powered vehicle 10 (step S102). The time acquisition unit 404 outputs the acquired current time to the power supply control unit 408.

Next, the power supply control unit 408 acquires the power supply permission start time stored in the time band storage unit 406 (step S104). Next, the power supply control unit 408 acquires the power supply permission completion time stored in the time band storage unit 406 (step S106).

Next, the power supply control unit 408 determines whether or not the acquired current time is within a time band from the acquired power supply permission start time to the power supply permission end time (step S108).

When it is determined in step S108 that the current time is within the time zone, the power supply control unit 408 acquires the battery-specific code from the battery management server 300 connected to the network NW via the control unit 36 and the communication device 50 included in the electric vehicle 10. The power supply control unit 408 acquires the user-specific code input by the user U via the control unit 36 and the HMI60 included in the electric powered vehicle 10 (step S110).

Next, power supply control unit 408 checks whether or not the battery-specific code acquired from battery management server 300 matches the user-specific code input by user U, and determines whether or not the supply of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric vehicle 10 is possible (step S112).

If it is determined in step S112 that the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 can be supplied to electrically powered vehicle 10, electric power supply control unit 408 allows the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to be supplied to electrically powered vehicle 10 (step S114). At this time, the power supply control unit 408 outputs a control signal for bringing the power terminal of the connection unit 410 into contact with the power output terminal of the power storage unit 402 to, for example, an electromagnetic contactor (contactor). Accordingly, the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 is supplied to VCU34 included in electric powered vehicle 10, and electric powered vehicle 10 can start traveling in response to an operation by user U. Then, the power supply control unit 408 ends the processing of this flowchart.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S108 that the current time is not within the time zone, or if it is determined in step S112 that the supply of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric powered vehicle 10 is not possible, power supply control unit 408 prohibits the supply of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric powered vehicle 10 (step S116). At this time, power supply control unit 408 outputs a control signal for preventing the power terminal of connection unit 410 from coming into contact with the power output terminal of power storage unit 402, for example, to an electromagnetic contactor (contactor). Accordingly, the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 is not supplied to VCU34 included in electric vehicle 10, in other words, removable battery 400 cannot be used, and electric vehicle 10 cannot start traveling. Then, the power supply control unit 408 ends the processing of this flowchart.

Through the flow of such processing, when the battery-specific code matches the user-specific code, power supply control unit 408 supplies the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electrically powered vehicle 10 during the time slot from the power supply permission start time to the power supply permission end time stored (set) in time slot storage unit 406. When the battery-specific code does not match the user-specific code, power supply control unit 408 prohibits supply of the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric powered vehicle 10. In this case, even if detachable battery 400 is stolen, detachable battery 400 is in an unusable state. This makes it possible to prevent theft of the detachable battery 400 or to prevent (suppress) theft of the detachable battery 400.

As described above, the battery-specific code may include information of the usage start time and the usage end time requested by the user U. In this case, as described above, detachable battery 400 can supply the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric vehicle 10 during a time zone from the use start time to the use end time, instead of or in addition to the time zone stored in time zone storage unit 406. The processing of the power supply control unit 408 in this case can be easily understood by considering the same processing as the processing of the power supply control unit 408 for controlling the supply of power to the detachable battery 400 shown in fig. 5. For example, by using the usage start time instead of the power supply permission start time and the usage end time instead of the power supply permission end time after the battery-specific code is acquired from the battery management server 300 in step S110, and performing the process of step S108, the electric power stored in the power storage unit 402 can be supplied to the electric vehicle 10 only during the time period from the usage start time to the usage end time. Therefore, a detailed description of the processing of the power supply control unit 408 in this case is omitted.

It is also considered that detachable battery 400 learns the current travel of electric vehicle 10 and updates (including adding) the time slots (power supply permission start time and power supply permission end time) stored in time slot storage unit 406. It is also considered that detachable storage battery 400 updates the time slots (power supply permission start time and power supply permission end time) stored in time slot storage unit 406 to the time slot input by user U (including addition).

[ update control of time zone of detachable battery 400 ]

Next, a process of updating the time zone of the supplied electric power in detachable battery 400 constituting antitheft system 200 will be described. Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing executed by the vehicle removable storage battery 400 when an instruction to end the operation of the electric vehicle 10 is given. Fig. 6 shows an example of a process in which detachable battery 400 updates the time slot stored in time slot storage unit 406 when electric vehicle 10 finishes traveling in a state of being mounted on electric vehicle 10.

In the following description, the time zone in which removable battery 400 is updated is a time zone that has already been learned during the current travel of electric vehicle 10. Here, the time zone learned by removable battery 400 includes information of the power supply start time at which the current travel of electrically powered vehicle 10 is started and the power supply end time at which the current travel of electrically powered vehicle 10 is ended. The power supply start time corresponds to the power supply permission start time, and the power supply end time corresponds to the power supply permission end time.

In the state of being mounted on electric vehicle 10, power supply control unit 408 of removable battery 400 determines whether or not the ignition key is turned off by user U (an instruction to end the operation of electric vehicle 10 is given) (step S200). If it is determined in step S200 that the ignition key is not turned off, the power supply control unit 408 repeats step S200 and waits for the ignition key to be turned off.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S200 that the ignition key is in the off state, the power supply control unit 408 presents the power supply start time and the power supply end time at which the current travel of the electric vehicle 10 is learned to the user U (step S202). At this time, the power supply control unit 408 displays the power supply start time and the power supply end time on, for example, a display device of the HMI 60.

Next, the power supply control unit 408 checks whether or not the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit 406 is updated (step S204). Here, as a method for the power supply control unit 408 to check whether or not the time zone stored in the time zone storage unit 406 is updated, for example, a method may be considered in which a display device of the HMI60 is caused to display an input prompting an instruction whether or not the time zone is updated, and an instruction input by the user U to an input device of the HMI60 is acquired. In step S204, when it is confirmed that the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit 406 is not to be updated, the power supply control unit 408 ends the processing of the present flowchart.

On the other hand, when it is confirmed in step S204 that the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit 406 is updated, the power supply control unit 408 confirms whether or not the user U inputs the time slot (step S206). Here, as a method for the power supply control unit 408 to check whether or not the user U has input to the time zone, for example, a method may be considered in which a display device of the HMI60 is caused to display a message prompting the input of the time zone, and the user U checks whether or not the input operation of the time zone has been performed to the input device of the HMI 60.

If it is confirmed in step S206 that the user U does not input the time zone, the power supply control unit 408 sets the presented power supply start time and power supply end time to the updated new power supply permission start time and power supply permission end time (step S208).

On the other hand, if it is confirmed in step S206 that the user U has input the time slot, the power supply control unit 408 acquires the time slot input by the user U (step S210). Here, as a method for acquiring the time slot input by the user U, the power supply control unit 408 may acquire the time slot input by the user U to the input device of the HMI60, for example.

Next, the power supply control unit 408 sets new power supply permission start time and new power supply permission end time to be updated based on the acquired time slot (step S212). At this time, the power supply control unit 408 sets the power supply start time input to the input device such as the HMI60 by the user U as the new power supply permission start time, and sets the power supply end time as the new power supply permission end time.

Next, the power supply control unit 408 updates the new power supply permission start time and the new power supply permission end time set in step S208 or step S212, respectively (step S214). At this time, the power supply control unit 408 may output the new power supply permission start time and the new power supply permission end time to the time band storage unit 406, and overwrite the current power supply permission start time and the current power supply permission end time stored in the time band storage unit 406, or may additionally store the new power supply permission start time and the new power supply permission end time in addition to the current power supply permission start time and the current power supply permission end time. Then, the power supply control unit 408 ends the processing of this flowchart.

After the new power supply permission start time and the new power supply permission end time are updated, the power supply control unit 408 may generate a user-specific code based on the updated power supply permission start time and power supply permission end time, and may display the user-specific code on a display device of the HMI60, for example, to present the user U.

Through the flow of such processing, the power supply control unit 408 updates the time slot stored in the time slot storage unit 406 to the time slot in which the current travel of the electric vehicle 10 is learned or the time slot input by the user U. Thus, detachable battery 400 can learn that the time zone in which electric power stored in power storage unit 402 is supplied to electric vehicle 10 matches the time zone in which user U uses electric vehicle 10. In other words, detachable battery 400 can match the time zone of use to the rhythm of life of user U.

As described above, the detachable battery 400 may be provided with a short-range wireless communication module such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) to perform wireless communication with a battery-use application executed by the user terminal T. In this case, detachable battery 400 can directly perform wireless communication with user terminal T, and update (including addition) the time slot stored in time slot storage unit 406. The processing of the power supply control unit 408 in this case can be easily understood by considering the display on the display device of the HMI60, the instruction input to the input device of the HMI60, the acquisition of the time zone as the display on the user terminal T, and the acquisition from the user terminal T in the processing of the time zone update control of the detachable storage battery 400 shown in fig. 6, similarly to the processing shown in fig. 6. Therefore, detailed description of the processing of the power supply control unit 408 in this case is omitted.

[ study of time zone of detachable storage battery 400 ]

In the process of the time zone update control of the detachable storage battery 400 shown in fig. 6, the case where the time zone of update has already been learned is described, but an example of the process of learning the time zone of update in the detachable storage battery 400 will be described below. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow executed when learning an updated time zone in the detachable storage battery 400 for a vehicle. Fig. 7 shows an example of the process of learning the updated time zone during one travel of the electric vehicle 10.

The process of learning the time zone of the detachable storage battery 400 shown in fig. 7 is performed in parallel with a part of the processes of the control of the supply of electric power to the detachable storage battery 400 shown in fig. 5 and the process of the update control of the time zone of the detachable storage battery 400 shown in fig. 6. Therefore, the processing of the flowchart shown in fig. 7 includes the same processing as the processing of the flowcharts shown in fig. 5 and 6. Therefore, in the following description, the same steps are assigned to the same processes as those in the flowcharts shown in fig. 5 and 6, and detailed description thereof will be omitted, and processes different from those in the flowcharts shown in fig. 5 and 6 will be described.

When it is determined in step S100 that the ignition key is turned on in a state mounted on the electric vehicle 10 and the time acquisition unit 404 acquires and outputs the current time in step S102, the power supply control unit 408 temporarily stores the current time output by the time acquisition unit 404 as the power supply start time during the current traveling (step S300). The power supply control unit 408 may temporarily store the power supply start time during the current travel in a storage region in which the time zone storage unit 406 included in the removable storage battery 400 is divided into different storage regions in which the power supply permission start time and the power supply permission end time are stored, or may temporarily store in an EEPROM different from the time zone storage unit 406.

When it is determined in step S200 that the ignition key is off, power supply control unit 408 causes time acquisition unit 404 to acquire the current time from electrically powered vehicle 10 (step S400). The time acquisition unit 404 outputs the acquired current time to the power supply control unit 408.

Next, the power supply control unit 408 temporarily stores the current time output by the time acquisition unit 404 as the power supply end time during the current travel (step S402). The power supply control unit 408 may temporarily store the power supply end time during the current travel in a storage region different from the storage region for storing the power supply permission start time and the power supply permission end time in the storage region for dividing the time slot storage unit 406 included in the removable storage battery 400, or may temporarily store the power supply end time during the current travel in an EEPROM different from the time slot storage unit 406.

Through the flow of such processing, the power supply control unit 408 temporarily stores the power supply start time during the current travel and the power supply end time during the current travel, and learns the updated time zone. Then, in the process of the time-zone update control of the removable storage battery 400 shown in fig. 6, the power supply control unit 408 presents the learned power supply start time and power supply end time to the user U, and updates the learned power supply start time and power supply end time to the new power supply permission start time and power supply permission end time (including addition) in accordance with an instruction from the user.

In the process of learning the time zone of removable battery 400 shown in fig. 7, the case of learning the current travel of electric vehicle 10 is described. However, it is also conceivable that the electric vehicle 10 travels a plurality of times on the same day, for example, that the detachable battery 400 is used a plurality of times. In this case, the power supply control unit 408 may learn the travel of the electric vehicle 10 performed a plurality of times on the same day as one travel, and the time zone from the first power supply start time to the last power supply end time on the same day as the updated time zone. The processing of the power supply control unit 408 in this case can be easily understood in view of the same processing as that shown in fig. 7, and therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted.

In the above description, the case where the learned time zone is updated for each travel of the electric vehicle 10 is described. However, the cycle of updating the time period learned by detachable battery 400 is not limited to every travel of electric vehicle 10. In this case, power supply control unit 408 may learn, for example, the travel of electric vehicle 10 during a predetermined period of time in the past, such as every week or every month, that is, the past use of detachable battery 400, and may perform the process of performing the time zone update control of detachable battery 400 shown in fig. 6 at a predetermined timing. The processing of the power supply control unit 408 in this case can be easily understood in view of the same processing as that shown in fig. 6, and therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted.

As described above, according to detachable battery 400 of the embodiment, when the battery unique code transmitted from battery management server 300 matches the user unique code input by user U, the electric power stored in power storage unit 402 is supplied to electric vehicle 10 during the time slot from the start time of power supply permission to the end time of power supply permission stored (set) in time slot storage unit 406. In other words, in detachable battery 400 according to the embodiment, when the battery-specific code does not match the user-specific code or when the time slot is not stored (set) in time slot storage unit 406, the supply of electric power stored in power storage unit 402 to electric vehicle 10 is prohibited. According to antitheft system 200 of the embodiment, user U operates user terminal T to set the time zone for applying for power supply to electric vehicle 10 to detachable battery 400, so that power is supplied from detachable battery 400 to electric vehicle 10 during the set time zone, and power is not supplied from detachable battery 400 to electric vehicle 10 outside the set time zone. Thus, in the antitheft system 200 according to the embodiment and the detachable battery 400 according to the embodiment, the detachable battery 400 can be prevented from being stolen, or the execution of the detachable battery 400 can be prevented (suppressed), and the possibility of the detachable battery 400 being stolen can be reduced.

In addition, in the detachable battery 400 according to the embodiment, the power supply start time and the power supply end time can be learned and updated (including added) as the power supply permission start time and the power supply permission end time in the time zone storage unit 406. Thus, detachable battery 400 can learn that the time zone in which user U is using electric vehicle 10 (the rhythm of life of user U) corresponds to the time zone in which user U is using electric vehicle 10.

According to the vehicle removable storage battery detachably mounted on the electric vehicle according to the embodiment described above, the vehicle removable storage battery includes the time acquisition unit 404 that acquires the current time, the time zone storage unit 406 that stores the time zone in which the electric power is supplied, and the electric power supply control unit 408 that controls the supply of the electric power stored in the power storage unit 402 to the electric vehicle 10, and the electric power supply control unit 408 is configured to be able to supply the electric power stored in the power storage unit 402 to the electric vehicle 10 when the current time acquired by the time acquisition unit 404 is included in the time zone stored in the time zone storage unit 406 after detecting that the start instruction of the electric vehicle 10 is performed, and to prohibit the supply of the electric power to the electric vehicle 10 when the current time is not included in the time zone, thereby making it possible to make the user U not use the removable storage battery 400. This makes it possible to prevent theft of the removable storage battery 400 or to inhibit (suppress) theft of the removable storage battery 400, thereby reducing the possibility of theft of the removable storage battery 400.

While the embodiment for carrying out the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.