An apparatus for guiding an autonomous vehicle towards a docking station including an autonomous vehicle with a camera-based sensing system, a drive system for driving the autonomous vehicle, and a control system for controlling the drive system. The apparatus includes a docking station including a first fiducial marker and a second fiducial marker, wherein the second fiducial marker is positioned on the docking station to define a predetermined relative spacing with the first fiducial marker, wherein the control system is operable to receive an image provided by the camera-based sensing system, the image including a representation of the first and second fiducial markers, and to control the drive system so as to guide the autonomous vehicle towards the base station based on a difference between the representation of the first and second fiducial markers in the received image and the predetermined relative spacing between the first and second fiducial markers.

A vehicle control system for moving a vehicle to a target location is disclosed. According to examples of the disclosure, a camera captures one or more images of a known object corresponding to the target location. An on-board computer having stored thereon information about the known object can process the one or more images to determine vehicle location with respect to the known object. The system can use the vehicle's determined location and a feedback controller to move the vehicle to the target location.

An electric vehicle thermal management system and method utilizing power demand models for both propulsion and auxiliary systems, and an intelligent thermal load management module. A navigation unit formulates potential routes to a destination that is either set by a driver or predicted by a drive cycle prediction module. The routes are used to inform the propulsion power demand model, while historical driving patterns based on GPS data and time-dependent climate inputs inform the auxiliary power demand model. The expected power demands for the individual systems and overall combined system are accounted for in calculations performed by optimization algorithms in an intelligent thermal load management module. The calculations produce desired temperature setpoints which send heating and cooling requests to refrigerant and coolant fluid handlers and subsequent actuators that control the refrigerant and coolant fluid loops.

A battery pack for efficiently supplying a power to a vehicle and including a battery assembly, a power supply terminal connectable to a connection terminal of the vehicle that is connected to a vehicle control unit and a vehicle motor, a power supply path located between the power supply terminal and the battery cell and supplying a power from the battery cell to the power supply terminal, a switching unit provided on the power supply path electrically turn on/off the power supply path, a mounting recognition unit recognizing whether the battery pack is mounted to the vehicle, and a processor controlling the switching unit so that a power is supplied from the battery cell to the vehicle control unit, when receiving a signal from the mounting recognition unit that the battery pack is recognized as being mounted to the vehicle.

A deployable charging point assembly for a vehicle includes a connecting part for connecting to a supply of electrical power separate from the vehicle. The connecting part is mountable on the vehicle, such that the connecting part is movable relative to a body of the vehicle between a first position and a second position. The charging point assembly is configured to establish an electrical connection between the supply of electrical power and an electrical system of the vehicle when the connecting part is in one or more predetermined positions between the first and second positions.

Systems and methods for selecting a charging entity based on occupancy status are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes determining a current geo-location and state of charge of a requesting vehicle and a plurality of charging entities that are within a remaining distance of the requesting vehicle. Occupancy statuses for one or more charging entities of the plurality of charging entities are determined based on a number charging vehicles and a charging parameter. The method includes estimating charging speeds for the one or more charging entities based on the occupancy statuses. A charging station map user interface that pin points the current geo-location of the requesting vehicle and the one or more charging entities is presented. The one or more charging entities are presented with labels. The method further includes reserving a charging station of a selected charging entity of the plurality of charging entities by selecting a label.

A control device is provided, which includes: a destination determining unit configured to determine a destination of a hybrid vehicle that includes an engine, a motor and a battery and is able to supply waste heat from the engine to the battery; a arrival judging unit configured to judge whether the hybrid vehicle can arrive at the destination with a remaining capacity of the battery based on the remaining capacity and a temperature of the battery; and a vehicle control unit configured to control the hybrid vehicle to start the engine and supply the waste heat from the engine to the battery when the arrival judging unit judges that the hybrid vehicle cannot arrive at the destination.

An autonomous electric vehicle comprises a battery electrically connected to the electric motor for powering the electric motor and a battery status prediction module to predict, based on event data from a mobile device of a user of the vehicle, whether the vehicle will be parked at a destination and a time period when the vehicle will be parked. The battery status prediction module predicts a predicted battery status at the end of the time period based on a temperature profile for the time period obtained from a remote weather server. The battery status prediction module determines if the predicted battery status at the end of the time period will have at least a minimum battery capacity to travel a distance to a charging station determined by the battery status prediction module from the destination and a location of the charging station.

Systems and methods are provided for estimating charge time for an electric vehicle. A current vehicle range of the electric vehicle may be determined, and a range selection of the electric vehicle may be determined. Based on the current vehicle range and a charging range associated with the range selection, an intermediate charging range between the current vehicle range and the charging range associated with the range selection is determined. An estimated charge time to charge the electric vehicle to the intermediate charging range may be determined, and an indication of the intermediate charging range and the estimated charge time to reach the intermediate charging range may be generated for presentation.

Various disclosed embodiments include illustrative controller units, systems, vehicles, and methods. In an illustrative embodiment, a controller unit includes a communication component, a controller and a memory. The communication component is configured to communicate with a direct current charging device. The controller is configured to communicate with the communication component and the memory. The memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions configured to cause the controller to determine a target location, receive location information of a vehicle, receive state of charge information, determine a charging request in response to the target location, the location information of the vehicle, and the state of charge information, and send, via the communication component, the determined charging request to the direct current charging device connectable to the vehicle.