ELECTRIC VEHICLE FLEET CHARGING SYSTEM

• US 20120330494A1
• Filed: 05/25/2012
• Published: 12/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sierra Smart Systems, Llc
• Original Assignee: Sierra Smart Systems, Llc
• Inventors: Hendrix, Walter M., Hendrix, Scott B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,505,318 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.3
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/12 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/20 by driver identification
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/31 Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/60 Monitoring or controlling charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/62 in response to charging parameters, e.g. current, voltage or electrical charge
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/66 Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/665 Methods related to measuring, billing or payment
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/10 for monitoring or controlling batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• 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 30/14 Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

An electric vehicle charging system comprises one or more system power and control modules (SPCM) and vehicle charging stations (VCS); wherein the SPCM distributes power from a power source to the VCS, and the VCS distributes power to one or more electric vehicles. Another electric vehicle charging system comprises an SPCM, VCS, a fleet management system (FMS) for monitoring and controlling the charging system, and a communications network for sharing information. A system for managing a plurality of electric vehicles comprises a plug-in module configured to collect and store information from an on-board diagnostics system of at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles, management software, a communications network, and a smart device software application for displaying system information. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for supporting a management system for a plurality of electric vehicles to extract, organize, and display information from the management system.

Claims

1. A system for managing a plurality of electric vehicles, comprising:

a plug-in module for connecting to an on-board diagnostics system of at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles, the plug-in module configured to collect and store data about the at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles;

management software configured to monitor and control charging of two or more of the plurality of electric vehicles;

a software application for execution on a smart device, the software application comprising a user interface for displaying system information; and

a communications network for sharing information across the system, the communications network having a first communications link between the plug-in module and the management software, a second communications link between the management software and the smart device, and a third communications link between the smart device and the plug-in module.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first, second and third communications links communicate wirelessly.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the plug-in module transmits the data about the at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles to the smart device via the third communications link.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the third communications link comprises a WiFi connection.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the plug-in module transmits the data to the management software via the first communications link.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the first communications link comprises a 3G/4G connection.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the first communications link comprises a WiFi connection segment between the plug-in module and a local wireless network, and an Internet connection segment between the local wireless network and the management software.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein the management software transmits charging information to the smart device via the second communications link.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the second communications link comprises a 3G/4G connection.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the data collected and stored by the plug-in module is selected from a group consisting of:

vehicle odometer reading, vehicle speed, battery charge level, and driver handling data.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plug-in module collects and stores data about the at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles according to a selected schedule.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system information displayed by the software application is selected from a group consisting of:

availability of one or more electric vehicles;

location of one or more available electric vehicles in proximity to the smart device;

distance to one or more electric vehicles;

charge status of one or more electric vehicles;

energy cost of one or more proximate electric vehicles;

scheduled maintenance for one or more electric vehicles; and

usage and handling metrics for a driver of one or more electric vehicles.

13. A computer-readable medium adapted to store computer-executable instructions for supporting a management system for a plurality of electric vehicles, wherein the computer-executable instructions comprise computer code to:

extract information from the management system about at least one characteristic of one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles;

organize the information into a desired format; and

display the information via a user interface.

14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the computer-executable instructions are executable on a smart device.

15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the instructions to display the information are configured to display a summary of availability and charge status of the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the instructions to display the information are configured to create a scrollable display of objects, each object identifying location and charge status of the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

17. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, the computer-executable instructions further comprising computer code to calculate performance, mileage, and maintenance data for the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

18. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, the computer-executable instructions further comprising computer code to display administrative and driver history data for a driver of the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

19. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the information to be extracted from the management system is collected and stored by a plug-in module connected to an on-board diagnostics system of the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

20. The computer-readable medium according to claim 19, wherein the information to be extracted from the management system is selected from the group consisting of:

odometer reading, battery charge level, alarm status, maintenance alerts, and driver handling data.

21. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the information to be extracted from the management system comprises electricity usage and rate data for the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

22. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, the computer-executable instructions further comprising code to calculate energy usage metrics for the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

23. The computer-readable medium according to claim 22, wherein the energy usage metrics are selected from the group consisting of:

energy cost per mile, carbon emission reductions, and average miles driven between charges.

24. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, the computer-executable instructions further comprising computer code to calculate carbon emission reductions associated with at least one driver of the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

25. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13, the computer-executable instructions further comprising computer code to calculate carbon emission reductions and percent of charging energy used at peak time energy cost by the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.

26. The computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-executable instructions further comprising computer code to receive physical location data made available by the smart device.

27. The computer-readable medium according to claim 26, the computer-executable instructions further comprising computer code to calculate distance and direction from the smart device to the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles.