Method and apparatus of stored energy management in battery powered vehicles

• US 20110084665A1
• Filed: 10/09/2009
• Published: 04/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: White, Christopher, Lee, Wonsuck
• Application Number:
  US12/587,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20110084665A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/134
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/63 in response to network capacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/10 for monitoring or controlling batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/441 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/322 the battery being on-board an electric or hybrid vehicle, e.g. vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G], power aggregation, use of the battery for network load balancing, coordinated or cooperative battery charging
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/126 the energy generation units being or involving electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV], i.e. power aggregation of EV or HEV, vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/12 Remote or cooperative charging

Abstract

A secondary battery and charging system are provided within an electric car or other electric drive vehicle. The secondary battery may, e.g., be owned by the electric utility. The battery is removeable and can be charged and discharged independently of the primary car battery system. The utility can use the secondary battery to implement vehicle-to-grid functionality.

Claims

1. Apparatus, comprising:

a primary battery unit;

a secondary battery unit that has no more than 20% the total discharge capacity of the primary battery unit and is removeable from the primary unit;

a switching circuit configured to selectively permit charging and to selectively permit discharging of one or the other of the primary and secondary battery units at a given time;

a battery management system (BMS); and

a controller configured to receive battery charge state information from the BMS, and to control the charging and discharging of the battery units, wherein;

the controller is configured to respond to local and remote commands for charging the battery units;

the controller is configured to respond to at least local commands for discharging the primary battery unit; and

for discharging the secondary battery unit, the controller is configured to respond to remote commands from a remote entity, subject to authentication of the remote entity and subject to local permission to discharge the secondary battery unit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a local memory for policy information, and wherein the controller is configured to control the charging or discharging of at least the secondary battery unit subject to a policy stored in the memory.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a control panel for user configuration of the locally stored policy information.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a communication unit configured to communicate the state of charge of the secondary battery unit to a remote location.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a location sensor cooperative with the communication unit to communicate the location of the secondary battery unit to the remote location.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising an electric drive vehicle in which motive energy is provided by the primary and secondary battery units.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the primary and secondary battery units are configured to provide motive energy to an electric drive vehicle.

8. A method, comprising:

detecting that an electric drive vehicle having a primary battery unit and a secondary battery unit is situated at a location where at least the secondary battery unit can be discharged into an electric power grid;

detecting a state of charge of the secondary battery unit;

transmitting one or more messages to a local controller on the vehicle, said messages containing authentication information and a request to initiate a battery discharge, said request being conditional on sufficient charge having been detected;

receiving one or more reply messages from the local controller;

conditionally on the reply messages indicating that authentication is successful and permission is granted to initiate a battery discharge, causing the vehicle to enter a switching state in which only the secondary battery unit can be discharged; and

initiating a discharge of the secondary battery unit into the power grid.