Granted Patent B2

US 12,643,547 · App. 18/657,627 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Inventors: Robert Willison (Lebanon, OH); Donald L. Wires (Loveland, OH); Richard E. Bastien (Oxford, MI)

Assignee: Workhorse Group Inc.

B60W30/18163B60L58/12B60W10/08B60W50/14G08G1/167B60W2050/146B60W2300/12B60W2420/403B60W2520/105B60W2552/20B60W2552/35

Abstract

Claims (59)

1 . An electric delivery truck control system to automatically manage a plurality of operation parameters of an electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates, comprising:

a plurality of sensors associated with the electric delivery truck that is configured to detect the operation parameters associated with the electric delivery truck, wherein the operation parameters are indicative to an operation of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers on a roadway;

an electric vehicle electronic control unit (EV-ECU) associated with the electric delivery truck and comprising a first processor and a first memory having a first plurality of instructions stored therein that, in response to execution by the first processor, cause the EV-ECU to detect a plurality of electric delivery truck control inputs generated from the operation of the electric delivery truck; and

an operation parameter controller associated with the electric delivery truck and comprising a second processor and a second memory having a second plurality of instructions stored therein that, in response to execution by the second processor, causes the operation parameter controller to:

monitor a plurality of battery management inputs associated with the overall efficiency of the electric delivery truck in response to the operation parameters deviating as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the deviation of the operation parameters triggers the battery management inputs that are generated from a consumption of power from the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates based on the deviation of the operation parameters, and

automatically adjust an acceleration of the electric delivery truck to maintain the battery management inputs within an operation threshold based on the detected operation parameters and electric delivery truck control inputs as the detected operation parameters and the detected electric delivery truck control inputs deviate thereby preventing the acceleration of the electric delivery truck to trigger a decrease in a Miles Per Gallon Gasoline Equivalent (MPGe) of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold to maintain the power consumption of the electric delivery truck within the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck and enabling the electric delivery truck to complete a route, wherein the operation threshold is the operation of the electric delivery truck that prevents power consumed by the operation of the electric delivery truck from exceeding power that is stored within the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck thereby enabling the electric delivery truck to complete the route by consuming power that does not exceed the power stored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck based on preventing the MPGe from decreasing beyond the operation threshold and enabling the electric delivery truck to complete the route.

2 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 1 , wherein the first memory having the first plurality of instructions that causes the EV-ECU to detect the acceleration of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates.

3 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 2 , wherein second memory having the second plurality of instructions that causes the operation parameter controller to:

determine whether a first electric motor is deactivated and a second electric motor is activated based on whether the acceleration of the electric delivery truck decreases below an acceleration threshold;

automatically activate the first electric motor and maintain the activation of the second electric motor when operating below the acceleration threshold to convert energy converted from kinetic energy generated from the operation of the electric delivery truck; and

store the energy converted by the first electric motor and the second electric motor from the kinetic energy in a battery management unit associated with the electric delivery truck.

4 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 1 , wherein the operation parameter controller is further configured to:

identify a topographical location of the electric delivery truck based on a current topography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating on the roadway;

determine whether the current topography associated with the topography location of the electric delivery truck exceeds a topography threshold, wherein the topography threshold when exceeded is indicative that the current topography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating is increased thereby requiring increased power to be provided by the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck to assist the electric delivery truck in operating the increased current topography; and

automatically adjust power provided to the electric motor from the overall power storage to increase the power provided to the electric motor to accommodate for the increased current topography that exceeds the topography threshold.

5 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 4 , wherein the operation parameter controller is further configured to:

determine whether the current topography associated with the topography location of the electric delivery truck deviates below the topographical threshold, wherein the topography threshold when deviated below is indicative that the current topography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating is decreased thereby requiring decreased power to be provided by the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck;

automatically adjust the power provided to the electric motor from the overall power storage to decrease the power provided to the electric motor to enable additional power to be stored by the overall power storage thereby enabling an increase in duration that the electric delivery truck operates due to the additional power stored in the overall power storage.

6 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors further comprise:

a battery management unit associated with the electric delivery truck that is configured to detect a plurality of battery management inputs associated with an overall battery efficiency of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the battery management inputs are generated from a consumption of power from the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates.

7 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 6 , wherein the operation parameter controller is further configured to:

automatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck control inputs as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of the electric delivery truck within the operation threshold based on the detected battery management inputs and the electric delivery truck control inputs and thereby increase the overall battery efficiency of the electric delivery truck when executing the route by consuming power stored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck.

8 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 1 , wherein the second memory having the second plurality of instructions that causes the operation parameter controller to:

automatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck to map a sloped acceleration that transitions an increase in a current acceleration to a sloped increase in the current acceleration over an increased duration of time that maintains the battery management inputs associated with the overall efficiency of the electric delivery truck within the operation threshold thereby preventing the decrease in the MPGe of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold.

9 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 1 , wherein the second memory having the second plurality of instructions that causes the operation parameter controller to:

monitor a state of charge associated a drive battery of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the state of charge is generated from the consumption of power from the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates; and

automatically adjust the acceleration of the electric delivery truck to maintain the state of charge associated with the drive battery of the electric delivery truck within the operation threshold thereby preventing the decrease in the MPGe of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold.

10 . The electric delivery truck control system of claim 9 , wherein the second memory having the second plurality of instructions that causes the operation parameter controller to:

identify when the state of charge associated with the drive battery of the electric delivery truck decreases below a threshold, wherein the state of charge when deviated below the threshold is indicative that the MPGe of the electric delivery truck is decreasing beyond the operation threshold; and

automatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck to map the sloped acceleration that transitions the increase in the current acceleration to the sloped increase in the current acceleration over the increased duration of time that maintains the state of charge associated with the drive battery within the threshold thereby preventing the decrease in the MPGe of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold.

11 . A method for automatically managing a plurality of operation parameters of an electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates, comprising:

detecting the operation parameters associated with the electric delivery truck, wherein the operation parameters are indicative to an operation of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers on a roadway;

detecting a plurality of electric delivery truck control inputs generated from the operation of the electric delivery truck; and

monitoring a plurality of battery management inputs associated with the overall efficiency of the electric delivery truck in response to the operation parameters deviating as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the deviation of the operation parameters triggers the battery management inputs that are generated from a consumption of power from the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates based on the deviation of the operation parameters, and

automatically adjusting an acceleration of the electric delivery truck to maintain the battery management inputs within an operation threshold based on the detected operation parameters and electric delivery truck control inputs as the detected operation parameters and the detected electric delivery truck control inputs deviate thereby preventing the acceleration of the electric delivery truck to trigger a decrease in a Miles Per Gallon Gasoline Equivalent (MPGe) of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold to maintain the power consumption of the electric delivery truck within the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck and enabling the electric delivery truck to complete a route, wherein the operation threshold is the operation of the electric delivery truck that prevents power consumed by the operation of the electric delivery truck from exceeding power that is stored within the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck thereby enabling the electric delivery truck to complete the route by consuming power that does not exceed the power stored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck based on preventing the MPGe from decreasing beyond the operation threshold and enabling the electric delivery truck to complete the route.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the detecting of the plurality of operation parameters further comprises:

detecting the acceleration of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the automatic adjusting of the operation of the electric delivery truck further comprises:

determining whether a first electric motor is deactivated and a second electric motor is activated based on whether the acceleration of the electric delivery truck decreases below an acceleration threshold;

automatically activating the first electric motor and maintaining the activation of the second electric motor when operating below the acceleration threshold to convert energy from kinetic energy generated from the operation of the electric delivery truck; and

storing the energy converted by the first electric motor and the second electric motor that is converted from the kinetic energy in a battery management unit associated with the electric delivery truck.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: identifying a topographical location of the electric delivery truck based on a current topography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating on the roadway;

determining whether the current topography associated with the topography location of the electric delivery truck exceeds a topography threshold, wherein the topography threshold when exceeded is indicative that the current topography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating is increased thereby requiring increased power to be provided by the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck to assist the electric delivery truck in operating the increased current topography; and

automatically adjusting power provided to the electric motor from the overall power storage to increase the power provided to the electric motor to accommodate for the increased current topography that exceeds the topography threshold.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

determining whether the current topography associated with the topography location of the electric delivery truck deviates below the topographical threshold, wherein the topography threshold when deviated below is indicative that the current topography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating is decreased thereby requiring decreased power to be provided by the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck; and

automatically adjusting the power provided to the electric motor from the overall current power storage to decrease the power provided to the electric motor to enable additional power to be stored by the overall power storage thereby enabling an increase in duration that the electric delivery truck operates due to the additional power stored in the overall power storage.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

detecting a plurality of battery management inputs associated with an overall battery efficiency of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the battery management inputs are generated from a consumption of power from the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

automatically adjusting the operation of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck control inputs as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of the electric delivery truck within the operation threshold based on the detected battery management inputs and the electric delivery truck control inputs and thereby increase the overall battery efficiency of the electric delivery truck when executing the route by consuming power stored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck.

18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the adjusting comprises:

automatically adjusting the operation of the electric delivery truck to map a sloped acceleration that transitions an increase in a current acceleration to a sloped increase in the current acceleration over an increased duration of time that maintains the battery management inputs associated with the overall efficiency of the electric delivery truck within the operation threshold thereby preventing the decrease in the MPGe of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold.

19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

monitoring a state of charge associated a drive battery of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the state of charge is generated from the consumption of power from the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates; and

automatically adjusting the acceleration of the electric delivery truck to maintain the state of charge associated with the drive battery of the electric delivery truck within the operation threshold thereby preventing the decrease in the MPGe of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

identifying when the state of charge associated with the drive battery of the electric delivery truck decreases below a threshold, wherein the state of charge when deviated below the threshold is indicative that the MPGe of the electric delivery truck is decreasing beyond the operation threshold; and

automatically adjusting the operation of the electric delivery truck to map the sloped acceleration that transitions the increase in the current acceleration to the sloped increase in the current acceleration over the increased duration of time that maintains the state of charge associated with the drive battery within the threshold thereby preventing the decrease in the MPGe of the electric delivery truck beyond the operation threshold.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (30)