VEHICLE CHARGING CONTROL APPARATUS, VEHICLE CHARGING CONTROL METHOD, AND INFORMATION TERMINAL

• US 20130346308A1
• Filed: 08/23/2013
• Published: 12/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: NAKATA, Mikiya, NAITO, Eiichi, KIYONO, Masaki
• Granted Patent: US 9,881,286 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/41
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/70 Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/80 Time limits
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/64 Optimising energy costs, e.g. responding to electricity rates
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/68 Off-site monitoring or control, e.g. remote control
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 15/005 dispensed for the electrical charging of vehicles electrical charging as such, B60L50/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 15/12 in which metering is on a time basis
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/20 Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/40 The network being an on-board power network, i.e. within a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• 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 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• 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

A vehicle charging control apparatus includes: a unit which presents unit prices of charging power; a unit which issues an instruction for preferentially charging a vehicle for which allowable time is short in proportion to request amount; and a unit which determines whether there is another allowable time which is associated with the request amount and meets a condition that the other allowable time is longer than the allowable time and the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time. The unit prices are set lower when associated with a longer allowable time and also set lower when associated with a smaller request amount. When the other allowable time meets the condition, the other allowable time and the unit price associated with the other allowable time are presented.

Claims

1. A vehicle charging control apparatus which controls charging of vehicles parked at a charging station, the apparatus comprising:

a power charging information presentation unit configured to present, to a user of each of the vehicles, unit prices of charging power each of which is associated with a request amount of the charging power and an allowable time which is an amount of time that the user allows for the charging, the unit prices associated with equal ones of the request amounts being set lower when associated with a longer one of the allowable times, and the unit prices associated with equal ones of the allowable times being set lower when associated with a smaller one of the request amounts;

a power charging request receiving unit configured to receive power charging requests from the users, each of the power charging requests specifying a request amount of the charging power and an allowable time for the charging;

a power charging control unit configured to issue an instruction for preferentially charging a vehicle among the vehicles for which the specified allowable time is short in proportion to the request amount, based on the power charging requests received by the power charging request receiving unit; and

a determination unit configured to determine, with reference to the set unit prices, whether or not there is another allowable time which is associated with the request amount specified in the power charging request and meets a first condition that (i) the other allowable time is longer than the allowable time specified in the power charging request and (ii) the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time specified in the power charging request, wherein when the determination unit determines that there is the other allowable time which meets the first condition, the power charging information presentation unit is further configured to present, to the user, the other allowable time which meets the first condition and the unit price associated with the other allowable time which meets the first condition.

2. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the unit prices associated with equal ones of the request amounts are set lower when associated with a longer surplus time, the surplus time being calculated by subtracting an amount of time necessary for charging of the request amount from the allowable time.

3. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the unit prices associated with equal ones of the request amounts and equal ones of the allowable times are set lower when a combined charging power for the charging according to the power charging requests received by the power charging request receiving unit is smaller.

4. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the unit prices associated with equal ones of the request amounts and equal ones of the allowable times are set lower when a remaining power is larger, the remaining power being calculated by subtracting the combined charging power from a maximum power which can be concurrently supplied to the vehicles parked at the charging station.

5. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 1

wherein the power charging information presentation unit is configured to further present, to the user, incentive information which indicates an incentive for the user to extend the allowable time.

6. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the determination unit is further configured to determine, with reference to the set unit prices, whether or not there is another request amount which is associated with the allowable time specified in the power charging request and meets a second condition that (i) the other request amount is smaller than the request amount specified in the power charging request and (ii) the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time specified in the power charging request, and

when the determination unit determines that there is the other request amount which meets the second condition, the power charging information presentation unit is further configured to present the amount of charging power which meets the second condition and the unit price associated with the other allowable time which meets the second condition.

7. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a calculation unit configured to calculate, for each combination of the request amount and the allowable time, a total amount of a power price and a parking fee, the power price being a product of the set unit price and the request amount, the parking fee being a fee for parking of a vehicle at the charging station for the allowable time,

wherein the power charging information presentation unit is configured to present, to the user, information indicating the total amounts calculated by the calculation unit,

8. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the calculation unit is further configured to calculate a minimum of the total amount for each of the request amounts, and the power charging information presentation unit is configured to present, to the user, the minimum of the total amount calculated for each of the request amounts by the calculation unit instead of the unit price.

9. The vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a communication unit configured to transmit and receive information,

wherein when a remaining power decreases below a predetermined value while the vehicles parked at the charging station are being charged, the power charging information presentation unit is configured to transmit, via the communication unit, information to ask the users for extension of the allowable times or information to ask the users for reduction of the request amounts to information terminals each associated with a corresponding one of the vehicles being charged, the remaining power being calculated by subtracting, from a maximum power which can be concurrently supplied to the vehicles, a combined charging power for the charging according to the power charging requests received by the power charging request receiving unit, and

the power charging request receiving unit is configured to receive the power charging request from the information terminals via the communication unit.

10. An information terminal for use in connection with the vehicle charging control apparatus according to claim 9 and configured to receive, from the vehicle charging control apparatus, the information to ask the users for extension of the allowable times or information to ask the users for reduction of the request amounts.

11. A vehicle charging control method of controls charging of a plurality of vehicles parked at a charging station, comprising:

presenting, to a user of each of the vehicles, unit prices of charging power each of which is associated with a request amount of the charging power and an allowable time which is an amount of time that the user allows for the charging, the unit prices associated with equal ones of the request amounts being set lower when associated with a longer one of the allowable times, and the unit prices associated with equal ones of the allowable times being set lower when associated with a smaller one of the request amounts;

receiving power charging requests from the users, each of the power charging requests specifying a request;

amount of the charging power and an allowable time for the charging;

issuing an instruction for preferentially, charging a vehicle among the vehicles for which the specified allowable time is short in proportion to the request amount, based on the power charging requests received in the receiving; and

determining, with reference to the set unit prices, whether or not there is another allowable time which is associated with the request amount specified in the power charging request and meets a first condition that (i) the other allowable time is longer than the allowable time specified in the power charging request and (ii) the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time specified in the power charging request,

wherein when it is determined in the determining that there is the other allowable time which meets the first condition, in the presenting, the user is further presented with the other allowable time which meets the first condition and the unit price associated with the other allowable time which meets the first condition.