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System and method for electric vehicle charging and billing using a wireless vehicle communication service

  • US 10,486,541 B2
  • Filed: 10/25/2016
  • Issued: 11/26/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A vehicle charging station for use in delivering electrical charging power to an electric vehicle that includes a unique identifier associated therewith, said vehicle charging station comprising:

  • a connector configured to electrically couple the vehicle charging station to the electric vehicle;

    a station meter configured to track a quantity of electrical charging power delivered to the electric vehicle via the connector; and

    a processor, wherein the processor upon execution of a module, is configured to;

    communicatively couple, over a network and via a network connection to a wireless network provider, the vehicle charging station to the electric vehicle;

    communicatively couple, over the network, the vehicle charging station to a server system;

    receive the unique identifier from the electric vehicle;

    transmit the unique identifier to the server system;

    wherein the server system determines an account associated with the unique identifier, determines a present balance of the account and generate a charging approval or a charging denial based on the balance;

    wherein a charging denial denies access to electrical charging power at the vehicle charging station when the present balance of the account is less than a predetermined amount; and

    wherein a charging approval provides access to electrical charging power at the vehicle charging station when the present balance of the account is greater than the predetermined amount;

    wherein the processor, upon execution of a module, is further configured to;

    receive an input from the server system comprising one of a charging approval and a charging denial;

    when the input is a charging denial, prevent a charging output for charging the electric vehicle and display a message indicating a reason for the prevention of the charging output; and

    when the input is a charging approval deliver a quantity of electrical charging power to the electric vehicle via the connector and meter the quantity of electrical charging power delivered to the electric vehicle via the station meter.

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