Indicating driving battery charger related information inside an electric vehicle to a user of the electric vehicle
View Patent ↗A plug-in electric vehicle comprises means for indicating driving battery charger related information inside the plug-in electric vehicle to a user of the plug-in electric vehicle. The plug-in electric vehicle comprises a battery pack for solely propelling the electrical vehicle, a dashboard configured for displaying various information about vehicle metrics and a user interface located in the dashboard of the electric vehicle. The user interface is configured for indicating information in the electric vehicle to a user of the vehicle and the user interface including an indicator having a symbol that displays a charge port pin format associated with a charge port of the electric vehicle that is used for externally charging the electric vehicle. The indicator further includes a pointer that points to a physical location of the charge port being external to the electric vehicle in terms of an orientation of the charge port relative to a driver seat.
1. An apparatus for indicating information in a plug-in electric vehicle, having a battery pack for solely propelling the electrical vehicle, to a user of the electric vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a dashboard configured for displaying various information about vehicle metrics; and
a user interface located in the dashboard of the electric vehicle, wherein the user interface including an indicator having:
a symbol that displays a charge port pin format associated with a charge port of the electric vehicle that is used for externally charging the electric vehicle.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indicator further including:
a pointer that points to a physical location of the charge port being external to the electric vehicle in terms of an orientation of the charge port relative to a driver seat.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the pointer is an arrow pointing to a specific direction next to the symbol.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the arrow is not filled but is a line shaped as the arrow such that the arrow having an unfilled area in which a marker is disposed to indicate a type of a plug to be used in the charge port for charging the electric vehicle.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the type of the plug is either a type 1, a type 2, a combined charging system (CSS) type, a CHAdeMO type, or a Tesla supercharger type.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indicator further including:
a pointer integrated with the symbol such that the pointer points to a physical location of the charge port being external to the electric vehicle in terms of an orientation of the charge port relative to a driver seat.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the symbol instead of displaying the charge port pin format displays a marker that is disposed to indicate a type of a plug to be used in the charge port for charging the electric vehicle.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the type of the plug is either a type 1, a type 2, a combined charging system (CSS) type, a CHAdeMO type, or a Tesla supercharger type.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indicator is an electronic display or a permanently printed sign.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indicator includes an audio clip and/or a video clip.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indicator is an electronic button display which interactively provides more information about charging the electric vehicle.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indicator is disposed next to an odometer and a reserve charge scale in the dashboard.
13. A plug-in electric vehicle, comprising:
a battery pack for solely propelling the electrical vehicle;
a dashboard configured for displaying various information about vehicle metrics; and
a user interface located in the dashboard of the electric vehicle, wherein the user interface is configured for indicating information in the electric vehicle to a user of the vehicle and the user interface including an indicator having:
a symbol that displays a charge port pin format associated with a charge port of the electric vehicle that is used for externally charging the electric vehicle.
14. The electric vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the indicator further including:
a pointer that points to a physical location of the charge port being external to the electric vehicle in terms of an orientation of the charge port relative to a driver seat.
15. The electric vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the pointer is an arrow pointing to a specific direction next to the symbol.
16. The electric vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the arrow is not filled but is a line shaped as the arrow such that the arrow having an unfilled area in which a marker is disposed to indicate a type of a plug to be used in the charge port for charging the electric vehicle.
17. The electric vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the type of the plug is either a type 1, a type 2, a combined charging system (CSS) type, a CHAdeMO type, or a Tesla supercharger type.
18. A method of communicating information to a user of an electric vehicle, the method comprising:
providing a battery pack for solely propelling the electrical vehicle;
providing a dashboard configured for displaying various information about vehicle metrics; and
providing a user interface located in the dashboard of the electric vehicle, wherein the user interface is configured for indicating information in the electric vehicle to a user of the vehicle and the user interface including an indicator having:
a symbol that displays a charge port pin format associated with a charge port of the electric vehicle that is used for externally charging the electric vehicle.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the indicator further including:
a pointer that points to a physical location of the charge port being external to the electric vehicle in terms of an orientation of the charge port relative to a driver seat.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the pointer is an arrow pointing to a specific direction next to the symbol.