A vehicle includes: an on-board inverter that adjusts the voltage of an electric power; and a vehicle inlet. The vehicle inlet has a CS terminal through which a proximity detection signal for identifying the connection state between a discharge connector and the vehicle inlet is transmitted. An electronic control unit (ECU) includes a processor that selects the voltage of an electric power output from the on-board inverter. When the proximity detection signal is in a first bound (a fourth range or a fifth range), the processor selects AC 100V, and when the proximity detection signal is in a second bound (a fifth range or a sixth range) at least partially different from the first bound, the processor selects AC 200V higher than AC 100V.

Vehicles can employ onboard telematic monitoring devices to collect vehicle and operation data, such as for improved vehicle fleet management. Such telematic monitoring devices are dependent on power from a vehicle, such that data collection and communication can be interrupted if a telematic monitoring device is disconnected or has a poor connection. The present disclosure relates to battery devices, which provide power to telematic monitoring devices as needed in order to maintain data collection and communication, or other more limited functionality. The present disclosure also relates to systems including battery devices, and methods for operating battery devices. The present disclosure also relates to detecting temperature of batteries, as well as emergency input and messages for telematic monitoring systems.

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 method for operating an electrically operated or also electrically operable motor vehicle provided with a rechargeable electric energy storage device associated with the drive motor of the motor vehicle. A target charging state is determined for the energy storage device and an operating strategy is determined for a route that is calculated, entered or predicted for the next trip, by which recuperative deceleration is enabled with a specifiable minimum amount for deceleration processes occurring along the route. A total mass of the motor vehicle, including optionally a trailer connected to the motor vehicle, deviating from an input normal value and an air resistance of the motor vehicle deviating from a predetermined normal value are taken into account.

In an electric vehicle, a power supplier includes a software type condenser charging circuit and a hardware type condenser charging circuit. The software capacitor charging circuit operates when a controller controls the software type condenser charging circuit while monitoring a voltage between opposite ends at an initial charging stage. The hardware type condenser charging circuit is operated when the controller controls the hardware type condenser charging circuit without monitoring the voltage between the opposite ends of the DC-link condenser or by direct switching manipulation of a user.

The disclosure relates to an eco-friendly vehicle and a method of controlling the eco-friendly vehicle, and optimizing the temperature of the battery of the eco-friendly vehicle towing the vehicle to be towed. The method of controlling the eco-friendly vehicle includes measuring, by a controller, a temperature of a battery during towing driving while a vehicle to be towed is connected, applying, by the controller, the measured battery temperature to a predetermined function to obtain a trend of battery temperature change, predicting, by the controller, a point in time when the temperature of the battery exceeds a predetermined reference temperature based on the trend of battery temperature change, and starting, by the controller, cooling the battery before reaching the predicted excess point.

An energy transportation and grid support system utilizes at least one transportable containment module capable of storing thermal or chemical energy typically produced from renewable or geothermal sources and providing connectivity with energy conversion equipment typically located in a land or sea-based operating facility. The system includes circuitry to hookup to an adjacent electricity grid for the provision of grid support and/or piping to move thermal energy typically used to drive steam turbines generating electricity. The operating facility also includes a communication arrangement to link with and exchange operations control data with a grid or heating operator and the energy transportation operator. The invention is directed to both apparatus and method for the energy transportation and grid support system.

An apparatus including a first electrical connector; and a second electrical connector. The first and second electrical connectors have magnets to provide a magnetic holding force with each other and provide alignment of the electrical connectors to hold the second electrical connector against the first electrical connector at a predetermined position. Magnetic poles of the magnets are configured to limit orientation of the second electrical connector on the first electrical connector. The second electrical connector includes two power contacts and an interruption detector contact, where the power contacts are movably mounted on the second housing and configured to disconnect from electrical contacts of the first electrical connector, when the second electrical connector is being disconnected from the first electrical connector, only after the interruption detector contact of the second plurality of electrical contacts disconnects from an electrical contact of the first electrical connector.

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 computer implemented method for managing charge availability of a charge unit (CU) to obtain charge for a battery of an electric vehicle (EV) is provided. The CU includes a computer for processing at least part of the method and for communicating with a server over a network. The method includes receiving, by the server, status information from the computer of the CU. The method includes sending to the computer of the CU instructions to make a reservation for the CU. The reservation is for a user account that has requested a desire to charge the battery of the electric vehicle of the user at the CU or another CU. The method includes sending, by the server, a confirmation for the reservation to the user account. The confirmation is viewable via a device having access to the server via the user account. The method includes sending, by the server, a data regarding a time of availability of the CU to the user account for the reservation. The computer of the CU is configured to display a visual indicator regarding the reservation of the CU.