The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 21, 2002
Filed:
May. 29, 1999
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An electric vehicle includes a main battery mounted on a vehicle body and a sub-battery detachably connected to the vehicle body. The electric vehicle travels with the electric power of the main battery in the case where the traveling distance is not long. In the case where the traveling distance is long, a trailer with the sub-battery is coupled to the rear of the electric vehicle, so that both the electric powers of the two batteries are used to drive an electric motor to allow the electric vehicle to travel. At the time of driving of the motor, the electric power of the sub-battery is preferentially used. When the sub-battery becomes completely discharged, the trailer is disconnected from the electric vehicle. In this case, with the vehicle body weight reduced, the traveling of the electric vehicle with the electric power of the main battery can be continued, and therefore the total traveling distance is further increased. At the time of regeneration of electrical energy by the motor during braking operations, the main battery is preferentially charged with the regenerative power, so that the electric power of the main battery is maintained as long as possible.