The present invention relates to an electrically driven motorised vehicle with rechargeable battery and trolley provided therewith.

Electrically driven motorised vehicles such as hybrid cars and electric cars with rechargeable battery are already known.

A disadvantage is that for recharging the battery an electric charging point is needed, which is an expensive investment .

Another disadvantage is that few charging points are available in a city or village, particularly compared to the number of electric and/or hybrid cars.

Another additional disadvantage is the duration for recharging the battery, a duration during which the vehicle is unavailable for use considering that the vehicle must be connected to an electric power supply.

This is a problem, especially for long journeys, as the necessary stops for recharging have to be made en route, making the journey more time-consuming than with a conventional car where refuelling can be done relatively quickly, much quicker than the time it takes to recharge the vehicle. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a solution to one or more of the aforementioned or other disadvantages .

To this end, the invention relates to an electrically driven motorised vehicle with rechargeable battery, typically a high voltage battery, and a compartment for the battery, whereby the battery is removable from the compartment and the compartment and the battery are provided with complementary electric contacts and which are such that when placing the battery in the compartment the contacts of the battery make contact with the contacts of the compartment for the electric power supply for driving the vehicle, whereby for recharging the removed batteries a trolley is provided, said trolley being provided with a charging platform on which the batteries can be placed and which is provided with one or more contacts which are complementary to the contacts of the batteries placed on it and whereby the trolley is provided with a battery charger or an external contact for connecting the charging platform to an external battery charger and whereby the trolley is foldable such that the trolley in folded condition fits in the boot or in a storage compartment of the vehicle specifically provided to that end.

An advantage of the invention is that the batteries can be removed relatively simply from the electrically driven vehicle, such that it is not necessary to look for an electrical charging point for recharging the batteries of the vehicle. Another advantage of this is that the batteries can be easily transported without too much trouble.

Another additional advantage of this is that the batteries in the trolley can be connected everywhere and easily to a suitable power supply in the form of an external charging station, such as a conventional plug, such that the batteries can be recharged everywhere.

Due to the characteristic that the trolley is foldable, the trolley can be transported relatively easily and safely in the vehicle.

Another advantage of this is that no extra space needs to be provided for transporting the trolley in the vehicle.

The batteries can simply be removed from the vehicle and recharged at home or another suitable location.

Preferably, the batteries are interchangeable with a set of spare batteries which can then be recharged separately and which allow a relatively quick replacement of the discharged batteries by a set of charged batteries, such that the time needed for recharging the vehicle practically corresponds with the time needed to refuel.

For long journeys, a system could be devised whereby service stations are provided with a supply of charged replacement batteries and a charging station for charging the returned empty batteries.

Preferably, the one or more batteries are provided with a handle, which makes removing, placing and/or carrying the batteries relatively simple.

The vehicle can also be provided with a plug for connecting the vehicle to a charging point, said plug being connected with the contacts of the compartment, such that different recharging possibilities are available, depending on the circumstances when recharging is necessary.

In a preferred embodiment, the trolley is provided with wheels, in particular climbing wheels if desired.

Another advantage consists in that the climbing wheels allow going up and down stairs relatively easily.

With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, a preferred embodiment of an electrically driven motorised vehicle according to the invention and a rechargeable battery and trolley applied thereby is described hereinafter, by way of an example without any limiting nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: figure 1 schematically shows a perspective view of an electrically driven motorised vehicle according to the invention with rechargeable battery; figure 2 shows a cross-section of figure 1 according to line II-II; figure 3 shows a trolley according to the invention, but in unused condition; figure 4 shows a trolley according to figure 3, but in used condition; figure 5 shows the part indicated in figure 3 with F5 on a larger scale; figure 6 shows a trolley according to the invention, but in folded condition.

The electrically driven motorised vehicle 1 shown in figure 1 contains a rechargeable battery 2 and a compartment 3 for the rechargeable battery 2.

The battery 2, typically a high voltage battery, is removable from the compartment 3 in which one or more batteries 2 can be fitted, in the case of figure 1 four batteries 2.

Preferably the batteries 2 are equipped at one end 4 with a handle 5 to facilitate removing and placing the batteries 2 and with contacts 7 at the other end 6 which can make contact with the contacts 8 of the vehicle 1. The compartment 3 can be provided with guides 9 guiding the batteries 2 upon insertion to the contact 7 of the compartment 3. In the example the guides 9 are oriented horizontally and fitted to the floor of the compartment 3.

On its open side the compartment 3 can be provided with a sealable boot lid 10 such that after inserting or removing the battery 2 the compartment 3 can be shut by the boot lid 10.

Both the compartment 3 and the battery 2 are provided with complementary electric contacts 7 and 8, as shown on figure 2, which are such that when placing the battery 2 in the compartment 3 the contacts 7 of the battery 2 make contact with the contacts 8 of the compartment 3 for the electric power supply for driving the vehicle 1.

For charging and/or transporting the removed batteries 2 a trolley 11 can be provided, as shown in figure 3, whereby the trolley 11 in this case, but not necessarily, is provided with climbing wheels 12 to facilitate transporting the trolley 11 with or without batteries 2.

The trolley 11 can be motorised because the wheels are provided with an electric or another drive, whereby the trolley 11 is then provided with its own battery.

The trolley 11 is preferably provided with a charging platform 13 on which every battery 2 can be placed with at least the end 6 with the contact 7 pointing downward in a recess 14 in the charging platform 13, said charging platform 13 being provided with electric contacts 15 for recharging the batteries 2 which are placed on it and are analogous to the contacts 8 in the compartment 3 in the vehicle 1.

In the case of figures 3 and 4 the charging platform 13 is provided with four recesses 14 for transporting a maximum of four batteries 2.

For charging the batteries 2 in the trolley 11, the trolley 11 is provided with an external connection 16, as shown in figure 5, for connecting the charging platform 13 to an external battery charger or other power supply.

However, it is also possible to provide the trolley 11 with a battery charger as power supply for recharging the batteries 2 in the trolley 11.

Preferably, the trolley 11 can be folded compactly, as shown in figure 6, such that the trolley 11, in folded condition, can be transported in the boot 17 or in a storage compartment provided specifically to that end of the electrically driven motorised vehicle 1, as shown in figure 2.

The vehicle 1 can also be provided with a connection for connecting the vehicle to a charging point or the like, said connection being connected to the batteries via the contacts 8 of the vehicle 1 and the contacts 7 of the batteries 2 when they are located in the compartment 3. Thus the batteries 2 can be charged by connecting to an external charging point or the batteries 2 can be removed from the vehicle 1 to charge at home or other places or to swap them for other batteries 2.

The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiments described as an example and shown in the figures, but an electrically driven motorised vehicle according to the invention can be realised in all kinds of forms and dimensions without departing from the scope of the invention.