Patent ID: 7801651
Filing Date: 2010-09-21
Classification: B63G

Abstract:
1. A method for planning the journey of a battery powered vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining battery characteristics for a battery, said battery characteristics including battery capacity indicating an amount of energy that can be stored in the battery, said battery capacity varying depending on how the battery is charged, said battery characteristics including an initial energy reserve of the battery; receiving a destination for the vehicle; determining a travel profile for the vehicle to reach the destination, the profile having a plurality of discharging cycles which supply energy to operate the vehicle as the vehicle travels to its destination, the discharging cycles decreasing the energy reserve of the battery, the travel profile having a plurality of charging cycles for increasing the energy reserve of the battery; determining how much each of the discharging cycles will reduce the energy reserve of the battery; determining how much each of the charging cycles will increase the energy reserve of the battery, and how each of the charging cycles will affect the battery capacity determining how each change in battery capacity from a previous charging cycle will affect the increasing of the energy reserve of future charging cycles; predicting a future energy reserve of the battery at the destination of the vehicle based on the plurality of discharging cycles, the plurality of charging cycles and the changes in battery capacity.