Patent ID: 7847518
Filing Date: 2010-12-07
Classification: B60L,H02J,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A power system, comprising: a plurality of vehicles each adapted to allow transfer of power to/from the outside of the vehicle; a power line for electrically connecting said plurality of vehicles to each other; and power management means for managing power exchange among said plurality of vehicles; wherein said power management means is adapted to allow transmission/reception of information to/from each of said plurality of vehicle; each of said plurality of vehicles includes; a rechargeable electric storage unit, a power generation mechanism capable of generating power by receiving driving force from an engine operated by fuel combustion, state of charge obtaining means for obtaining state of charge of said electric storage unit, state of charge transmitting means for transmitting the obtained state of charge to said power management means, and power generation control means for controlling power generation by said power generation mechanism, in response to a power generation instruction from said power management means; said power management means includes; necessary power calculating means for calculating, if there is any electric storage unit that is in a low-charge state, based on said state of charge transmitted from each of said plurality of vehicles, power necessary for charging the electric storage unit that is in the low-charge state, generation power determining means for determining at least one power generation mechanism to be operated for generating the power calculated by said necessary power calculating means, such that amount of fuel consumption by the power generation mechanism as a whole is minimized, and power generation instruction transmitting means for applying said power generation instruction to the vehicle that corresponds to each of the determined power generation mechanisms.