SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRANSFERRING ELECTRICAL ENERGY BETWEEN VEHICLES

• US 20140089064A1
• Filed: 09/24/2012
• Published: 03/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Tegreene, Clarence T., Whitmer, Charles, Wood, Lowell L. Jr., Wood, Victoria Y.H.
• Application Number:
  US13/625,713
• Publication Number:
  US 20140089064A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.4
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/15 with additional electric power supply with capacitors charged by engine-driven generators B60L50/40; with batteries charged by engine-driven generators B60L50/61
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/62 in response to charging parameters, e.g. current, voltage or electrical charge
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/665 Methods related to measuring, billing or payment
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 15/005 dispensed for the electrical charging of vehicles electrical charging as such, B60L50/00
• 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

Motor vehicles may need to exchange electrical energy. The vehicles may negotiate a quantity to be transferred, a price for the transferred energy, transfer parameters for the exchange, and/or the like. A bidding process may be used to set the price. The bidding process may also be used to identify a vehicle with which to exchange energy. A vehicle may perform a credit check on another vehicle, and payment information may be exchanged. The transfer may be monitored and may be controlled based on monitoring data collected. The transfer may be wired or wireless, and the vehicles may be stationary or in motion during the transfer. The vehicles may be, among others, pure electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and/or fuel cell vehicles.

Claims

1. A system within a first vehicle for transferring electrical energy to or from a second vehicle in accordance with a negotiated agreement, the system comprising:

a negotiation subsystem configured to determine a quantity of electrical energy to be transferred;

a transfer subsystem configured to transfer the quantity of electrical energy to or from the second vehicle; and

a monitoring subsystem configured to monitor how much electrical energy is transferred.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to determine an amount of energy to remain in the first vehicle after the transfer.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to determine a price for the quantity of electrical energy.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to determine a price by:

receiving one or more bids from one or more other vehicles to buy electrical energy, each bid comprising a bid price; and

selecting a winning bid based on predetermined criteria.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to select a winning bid by selecting a bid with a highest bid price.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to select a winning bid by selecting a bid with a highest bid price above a predetermined threshold.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one bid further comprises an indication of a distance or driving time to reach the first vehicle.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to select a winning bid by selecting a bid comprising a least total time, wherein a total time includes a driving time and a transfer time.

24. The system of claim 9, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to determine a price by:

receiving one or more bids from one or more other vehicles to sell electrical energy, each bid comprising a bid price; and

selecting a winning bid based on predetermined criteria.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to select a winning bid by selecting a bid with a lowest bid price.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein the negotiation subsystem is further configured to send or receive payment information.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to send or receive credit card information.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to send or receive electronic transfer information.

40. The system of claim 1, wherein the negotiation subsystem is further configured to perform an initial step of soliciting offers to exchange electrical energy.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to send an urgency indicator.

43. The system of claim 1, wherein the negotiation subsystem is further configured to perform an initial step of receiving a plurality of indications from other vehicles of a willingness to exchange electrical energy.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the negotiation subsystem is further configured to display the plurality of indications to a user on a display.

45. The system of claim 1, wherein the negotiation subsystem is further configured to determine a trustworthiness level of the second vehicle.

48. The system of claim 45, wherein the negotiation subsystem is configured to determine a trustworthiness level by contacting a third party.

2-6. -6. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

13-16. -16. (canceled)

18-19. -19. (canceled)

21-23. -23. (canceled)

26-31. -31. (canceled)

35-39. -39. (canceled)

42. (canceled)

46-47. -47. (canceled)

49-132. -132. (canceled)

133. A system for transferring excess electrical energy between two motorized vehicles, the system comprising:

a negotiation subsystem configured to;

receive an offer comprising one or more proposed quantities of electrical energy to be transferred and one or more corresponding prices;

determine whether the offer meets predetermined criteria; and

send a response to the offer.

134. A method for transferring electrical energy between motor vehicles in accordance with a negotiated agreement, the method comprising:

determining at a first vehicle a quantity of electrical energy to be transferred to or from a second vehicle;

transferring the quantity of electrical energy; and

while transferring the quantity of electrical energy, monitoring at the first vehicle how much electrical energy is transferred.

185. The method of claim 134, further comprising determining electrical characteristics of the second vehicle.

186. The method of claim 185, wherein determining electrical characteristics comprises receiving an indication of the electrical characteristics from the second vehicle.

188. The method of claim 185, wherein determining electrical characteristics comprises determining electrical characteristics selected from the group consisting of transfer mechanisms, peak power limit, on-time average power limit, peak efficiency transfer power, voltage level, transfer time limit, and amount of transferable electrical energy.

189. The method of claim 185, further comprising selecting transfer parameters.

190. The method of claim 189, wherein selecting transfer parameters comprises:

comparing electrical characteristics of each vehicle; and

selecting transfer parameters compatible with the electrical characteristics of each vehicle.

191. The method of claim 190, wherein selecting transfer parameters comprises selecting a maximum transfer rate compatible with the electrical characteristics of each vehicle.

192. The method of claim 190, wherein selecting transfer parameters comprises selecting a transfer rate configured to minimize loss of electrical energy during transfer based on the electrical characteristics of each vehicle.

193. The method of claim 189, wherein monitoring comprises comparing the transfer to the selected transfer parameters.

198. The method of claim 134, further comprising monitoring a temperature of a transfer mechanism.

199. The method of claim 198, further comprising:

determining that transfer parameters should be changed based on the temperature; and

updating the transfer parameters.

204. The method of claim 134, further comprising comparing monitoring data collected by the first vehicle with monitoring data collected by the second vehicle.

205. The method of claim 204, further comprising alerting a user to discrepancies in the compared monitoring data.

135-184. -184. (canceled)

187. (canceled)

194-197. -197. (canceled)

200-203. -203. (canceled)

206-231. -231. (canceled)

232. A method for transferring electrical energy between two motorized vehicles, the method comprising:

receiving at a seller vehicle a request from a buyer vehicle to purchase excess electrical energy;

determining a quantity of electrical energy to be transferred from the seller vehicle to the buyer vehicle; and

transferring the quantity of electrical energy from the seller vehicle to the buyer vehicle.

245. The method of claim 232, wherein the seller vehicle is a pure-electric vehicle.

246. The method of claim 232, wherein the seller vehicle is a hybrid.

247. The method of claim 232, wherein the seller vehicle is a fuel cell vehicle.

248. The method of claim 232, wherein the seller vehicle is a dedicated source vehicle.

233-244. -244. (canceled)

249-266. -266. (canceled)