Abstract: A vehicle includes an occupant zone, a battery, a battery heating and cooling system, sensors, and a battery management system. The battery heating and cooling system includes a refrigeration circuit and a fluid battery circuit, the fluid battery circuit including a battery heating/cooling loop and a hydronic system heating/cooling loop. The sensors include at least one occupant sensor that senses the presence of an occupant in an occupant zone. The battery management system operates the refrigeration circuit to heat or cool coolant circulating through the battery heating/cooling loop. When conditions are met for providing ancillary heating or cooling, the battery management system directs the coolant circulating though the battery heating/cooling loop to the hydronic system heating/cooling loop to heat or cool the occupant zone.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to systems and methods of dynamically modulating use of various motor control strategies (MCSs) to optimize powertrain efficiency. One or a combination of MCSs are strategically and dynamically implemented to regulate torque to drive axle motors based on vehicle operating conditions. In normal acceleration conditions, Field-Oriented Control (FOC) may regulate torque applied to a first drive axle motor and Direct Torque Control (DTC) may regulate torque applied to a second drive axle motor, where the first drive axle motor may operate at peak efficiency and the second drive axle motor may compensate for fluctuating torque demand. In cruising speed conditions, FOC may regulate torque applied to both the first and second drive axle motors to operate with high steady-state efficiency.

Abstract: A method and system for providing electric vehicle drive range optimization. Various vehicle data is collected from various sources and analyzed to derive vehicle parameters related to estimating a driving range of an electric vehicle, such as battery state of charge, an energy consumption rate, an efficiency factor, historical driving patterns, climate control usage, auxiliary accessory usage, etc. The vehicle parameters are analyzed to determine a vehicle driving state adjustment that changes a vehicle parameter that causes the estimated driving range to increase. Some example vehicle drive state adjustments may correspond to adjusting vehicle speed, adjusting a throttle map, reducing the auxiliary electrical load, and/or other adjustments to lower the energy consumption rate and/or increase one or more efficiency factors to extend the estimated driving range. The vehicle driving state adjustment may be implemented automatically or manually based on a determined implementation method.

Abstract: Systems and methods of providing intelligent energy-efficiency performance coaching. Energy efficiency performance is measured by a performance score calculated in association with various efficiency metrics. The performance score may be provided as feedback to the operator and may further be used by an operator reward system and/or gamification system. An intelligent energy-efficiency coach responds to variability in operator behaviors by using tunable variables to bias weighting constants assigned to the efficiency metrics to normalize calculations of performance scores. The intelligent energy-efficiency coach may use reinforcement machine learning techniques to calculate tunable variables and adjust performance scores on an ad hoc basis.

Abstract: A heavy-duty truck includes a cabin, a window having an upper edge region and a lower edge region, a hinge that rotatably couples the upper edge region of the window to the cabin, and a motor-driven actuator coupled to the lower edge region of the window such that actuation of the motor-driven actuator in a first direction moves the lower edge region of the window away from the cabin, thereby opening the window to an open position, and actuation of the motor-driven actuator in a second direction opposite to the first direction moves the lower edge region of the window toward the cabin, thereby closing the window to a closed position.

Abstract: In some embodiments, techniques for initiating over-the-air software updates for a vehicle using a mobile computing device are provided. In some embodiments, the vehicle and the mobile computing device each communicate with a server computing system, but do not communicate directly with each other for software update functionality. The vehicle transmits messages indicating one or more vehicle state conditions to the server computing system. The mobile computing device receives messages indicating one or more vehicle state conditions from the server computing system, and presents an interface for initiating the software update in response to determining that the vehicle state conditions indicate that the vehicle is ready for a software update. The mobile computing device transmits a command to the server computing system to cause the software update to be initiated on the vehicle, and the server computing system transmits the command to the vehicle.

Abstract: A thermoacoustic generator includes an enclosure having a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is filled with a first working fluid and the second portion is filled with a second working fluid. The first working fluid may be a gas and the second working fluid may be a liquid. The first portion encloses a heat transfer system configured to generate a pressure wave in the first working fluid, and the second portion encloses a bidirectional turbine. The first portion and the second portion are separated by a flexible barrier that is fixedly attached to an interior surface of the enclosure, thereby preventing the second working fluid from entering the first portion of the enclosure or flowing in a direction of gravity.

Abstract: Aspects of systems, method, and computer-readable storage media are provided that determine a vehicle configuration based on operator use case-specific performance impacts. A fleet analytics system is deployed as a lightweight, easy-to-use cloud-based service to a non-technical audience.