POWER CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
First Claim
1. An apparatus for charging electric vehicles, comprising:
- a charging station configured for connecting multiple electric vehicles (EVs) to a single charging station for receiving and sharing current from a power grid;
a coordinator system coupled to each said charging station for generating multiple pilot control signals, one for each EV being charged, for communicating information with each of said multiple EVs and specifying maximum charge current available to each of said multiple EVs;
a gateway device configured for communicating with and controlling said coordinator system;
said gateway device sends commands to said coordinator system to set said maximum charge current for each EV in response to distributing an amount of charge current available at the charging station toward dividing it up across the number of EVs coupled to the charging station.
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Abstract
Electric vehicle (EV) charging apparatus and methods are described which allow the sharing of charge current between multiple vehicles connected to a single source of charging energy. In addition, this charge sharing can be performed in a grid-friendly manner by lowering current supplied to EVs when necessary in order to satisfy the needs of the grid, or building operator. The apparatus and methods can be integrated into charging stations or can be implemented with a middle-man approach in which a multiple EV charging box, which includes an EV emulator and multiple pilot signal generation circuits, is coupled to a single EV charge station.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. An apparatus for charging electric vehicles, comprising:
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a charging station configured for connecting multiple electric vehicles (EVs) to a single charging station for receiving and sharing current from a power grid; a coordinator system coupled to each said charging station for generating multiple pilot control signals, one for each EV being charged, for communicating information with each of said multiple EVs and specifying maximum charge current available to each of said multiple EVs; a gateway device configured for communicating with and controlling said coordinator system; said gateway device sends commands to said coordinator system to set said maximum charge current for each EV in response to distributing an amount of charge current available at the charging station toward dividing it up across the number of EVs coupled to the charging station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for controlling charging of electric vehicles at a charging station, comprising:
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a coordinator system configured for integration onto a single charging station that is configured for connecting multiple electric vehicles (EVs) to share current from the power grid connection of the single charging station; said coordinator system is configured for generating multiple pilot control signals, one to each EV being charged, for communicating information with each of said multiple EVs and specifying maximum charge current available to each of said multiple EVs; said coordinator system is also configured with an EV emulator which controls operation of the single charging station by imitating an EV, making the single charging station believe an EV is present so that it still generates EV charging power which now is being split between the multiple EVs; a gateway device configured for communicating with and controlling said coordinator system; said gateway device sends commands to said coordinator system to set said maximum charge current for each EV in response to distributing an amount charge current available from the single charging station toward dividing it up across the number of EVs coupled to the charging station.
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21. A method of charging electric vehicles (EVs), comprising:
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(a) inserting a middle-man layer between an internet and a single EV charging station connected to a power grid having a given state in relation to present power availability; (b) communicating EV charging commands from a server to a gateway device in the middle-man layer; and (c) communicating charging commands from the gateway device to a power coordinator in the middle-man layer, said power coordinator generating multiple pilot signals to multiple EVs coupled to the middle-man layer which shares the charging current available from the single EV charging station; (d) modulating pulse widths in each of the multiple pilot signal configured for connection to multiple EVs for specifying maximum charge current available to each of these multiple EVs which are sharing charge current from said single EV charging station; (e) emulating a single EV to the single EV charging station so that its control circuits still generate EV charging power which is now being split between the multiple EVs by the middle-man layer; and (f) distributing an amount of charge current available at the charging station by dividing it up across the number of EVs coupled to the given charging station, and varying the current allocations to each EV based on user specified charge parameters, EV current use, as well as the state of the power grid or power allocations.
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22. An electric vehicle charging apparatus, comprising:
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a power input; a plurality of power outputs; a programmable processor; and programming executable on the processor for multiplexing delivery of charging current from said power input to each said power output. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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- 30. A method for charging electric vehicles, comprising multiplexing delivery of charging current from a power input to a plurality of power outputs.
Specification