RESERVATION SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
First Claim
1. A method of controlling access to an electric vehicle charging station (“
- EVCS”
) or electric vehicle supply equipment (“
EVSE”
), comprising;
establishing a queue for the EVCS or EVSE at a remote server or other queue management device, the queue being an ordered list of users that desire to use the EVCS or EVSE for charging;
notifying a next user in the queue to use the EVCS or EVSE when the EVCS or EVSE becomes available; and
allowing the next user in the queue to specify whether or not the next user would still like to use the EVCS or EVSE at the time it becomes available and, if the next user indicates that they would still like to use the EVCS or EVSE at the time it becomes available, allowing the next user to place a hold on the EVCS or EVSE for a time period.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems relating to reservation systems to allow for the efficient use of electric vehicle charging stations (“EVCSs”) and electric vehicle supply equipment (“EVSE”) for the purpose of charging electric vehicles. For example, embodiments of the disclosed technology can be used to improve the basic process of charging an electric vehicle by more efficiently using all of the charging time that the electric vehicle charging station has available. In certain embodiments, the system is a reservation system that establishes a queue for use of the stations, allows users to enter the queue, notifies users when it is their turn to use the station, and only allows the next user in the queue to access the station.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of controlling access to an electric vehicle charging station (“
- EVCS”
) or electric vehicle supply equipment (“
EVSE”
), comprising;establishing a queue for the EVCS or EVSE at a remote server or other queue management device, the queue being an ordered list of users that desire to use the EVCS or EVSE for charging; notifying a next user in the queue to use the EVCS or EVSE when the EVCS or EVSE becomes available; and allowing the next user in the queue to specify whether or not the next user would still like to use the EVCS or EVSE at the time it becomes available and, if the next user indicates that they would still like to use the EVCS or EVSE at the time it becomes available, allowing the next user to place a hold on the EVCS or EVSE for a time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- EVCS”
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15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions which when executed by the computer processor cause the computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
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establishing a queue for the EVCS or EVSE at a remote server or other queue management device, the queue being an ordered list of users that desire to use the EVCS or EVSE for charging; notifying a next user in the queue to use the EVCS or EVSE when the EVCS or EVSE becomes available; and allowing the next user in the queue to specify whether or not the next user would still like to use the EVCS or EVSE at the time it becomes available and, if the next user indicates that they would still like to use the EVCS or EVSE at the time it becomes available, allowing the next user to place a hold on the EVCS or EVSE for a time period.
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16. An electric vehicle charging station (“
- EVCS”
) or electric vehicle supply equipment (“
EVSE”
) comprising;one or more charging ports configured to be coupled to an electric vehicle and to charge one or more batteries of the electric vehicle; a display device; a computer processor, the computer processor being programmed to; cause the display device to display a message indicating that the EVCS or EVSE is reserved, allow a user to select to place themselves in a queue to use the EVCS or EVSE, and receive an indication of a hold period for which the EVCS or EVSE should hold the EVCS or EVSE for a user that has reserved the EVCS or EVSE. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
- EVCS”
Specification