Patent ID: 8037954

Claim:
An electric vehicle on which a power storage device configured to be rechargeable is mounted and that is configured such that said power storage device can be charged by an external power supply, said electric vehicle being configured to be able to be coupled, during charging, to a connector portion for supplying said external power supply, and in addition, being configured to be able to receive an external heat medium having certain thermal energy from outside the vehicle, said electric vehicle comprising: a heat capacity element configured to be able to store thermal energy; a heat storage mechanism for having the thermal energy stored in said heat capacity element during charging; and an air-conditioning mechanism for air-conditioning a vehicle compartment space by using the thermal energy stored in said heat capacity element, in response to an air-conditioning request, said power storage device being used as said heat capacity element, said heat capacity element being used for both heating and cooling in response to the air-conditioning request, said heat storage mechanism including a charging current controller for controlling a charging current of said power storage device, a heat medium path configured to cause heat exchange between said external heat medium and said power storage device, and a fan for taking said external heat medium into said electric vehicle, upon receipt of a heating request, said charging current controller controls the charging current to increase resistive heat generation in said power storage device, and upon receipt of a cooling request, said charging current controller controls the charging current to reduce the magnitude of the current as much as possible, and in addition, said fan increases an amount of contact between said power storage device and said external heat medium.