Methods and Systems for Electric Vehicle (EV) Charge Units and Systems for Processing Connections to Charge units after Charging is Complete

• US 20170101025A1
• Filed: 12/19/2016
• Published: 04/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emerging Automotive, LLC
• Original Assignee: Emerging Automotive, LLC
• Inventors: Penilla, Angel A., Penilla, Albert S.
• Granted Patent: US 10,411,487 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 1/003 to auxiliary motors, e.g. for pumps, compressors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 1/06 using only one supply
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/12 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/34 Cabin temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/547 Voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/622 by satellite navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/72 Charging station selection relying on external data
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/80 Time limits
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/10 by alarm
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/12 by confirmation, e.g. of the input
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/20 by driver identification
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/52 characterised by DC-motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/53 in combination with an external power supply, e.g. from overhead contact lines
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/30 Constructional details of charging stations
• 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 53/65 : involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• 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 53/67 : Controlling two or more charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/68 : Off-site monitoring or control, e.g. remote control
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 : Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 55/00 : Arrangements for supplying energy stored within a vehicle to a power network, i.e. vehicle-to-grid [V2G] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/13 : Maintaining the SoC within a determined range
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/21 : having the same nominal voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 : Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 : Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 : Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 : Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 : Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 : Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/127 : Shopping or accessing services according to a time-limitation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 : Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 : involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/308 : using the Internet of Things
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2240/00 : Transportation facility access, e.g. fares, tolls or parking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 : Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 : Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 : at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 : based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 : Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 : Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 : Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 15/005 : dispensed for the electrical charging of vehicles electrical charging as such, B60L50/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4257 : Smart batteries, e.g. electronic circuits inside the housing of the cells or batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 : for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 5/00 : Circuit arrangements for transfer of electric power between ac networks and dc networks H02J3/36 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 : using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/90 : involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 : Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 : Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00045 : Authentication, i.e. circuits for checking compatibility between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 : acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 : concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0047 : with monitoring or indicating devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 : Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0049 : Detection of fully charged condition
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 : for charging batteries from ac mains by converters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 : specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 : involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 : User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 : specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 : Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 : using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 : User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 : Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• 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 10/126 : the energy generation units being or involving electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV], i.e. power aggregation of EV or HEV, vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 : Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 : Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/12 : Billing, invoicing, buying or selling transactions or other related activities, e.g. cost or usage evaluation

Abstract

Methods, systems, charge units, computer readable media, and combinations thereof are provided. One example method includes receiving data, at a server, indicative that a user account has accessed a charging unit for charging an electric vehicle. The charging unit has an indicator that identifies an active charging status while the electric vehicle is connected to the charging unit for charging a battery of the electric vehicle using the charging unit. The charging unit is configured to identify a complete charging status when the electric vehicle is finished charging said battery using the charging unit. The method includes receiving data, at the server, indicative of a status of charge of the electric vehicle during the charging. Sending a notification to a device having access to the user account, regarding said status of charge during the charging of the electric vehicle. The notification identifies a current level of charge of the battery of the electric vehicle and optionally an estimate of a time remaining to finish charging the battery of the electric vehicle. The method includes receiving an instruction, from the device, to maintain the electric vehicle connected to the charging unit for a set period of time after the battery of the electric vehicle is finished charging. The server is configured to sends data to the charge unit to allow the electric vehicle to maintain connected to the charging unit even when the battery of electric vehicle has reached the complete charging status.

Claims

1. A method, comprising,

receiving data, at a server, indicative that a user account has accessed a charging unit for charging an electric vehicle, the charging unit having an indicator that identifies an active charging status while the electric vehicle is connected to the charging unit for charging a battery of the electric vehicle using the charging unit, the charging unit is configured to identify a complete charging status when the electric vehicle is finished charging said battery using the charging unit;

receiving data, at the server, indicative of a status of charge of the electric vehicle during the charging;

sending a notification to a device having access to the user account regarding said status of charge during the charging of the electric vehicle, the notification identifying a current level of charge of the battery of the electric vehicle and an estimate of a time remaining to finish charging the battery of the electric vehicle; and

receiving an instruction, from the device, to maintain the vehicle connected to the charging unit for a set period of time after the battery of the electric vehicle is finished charging;

wherein the instruction is received at the server, the server then sends data to the charging unit to allow the electric vehicle to maintain connected to the charging unit even when the battery of electric vehicle has reached the complete charging status, the method being executed by a processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification is saved to the user account for access from an application or a website via the device, the device being one of a mobile device, vehicle electronics of the electric vehicle, or a computer,

wherein the user account is accessible via the internet that provides communication to the server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the access of the charging unit for charging the battery of the electric vehicle includes receiving payment via the user account, the user account having access to a history of charge activity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a user interface of the device or a user interface of the electric vehicle receives data from the server to surface an application or interface when the electric vehicle is determined to have arrived at the charge unit, the application being configured to provide options to login or accept to proceed with an automatic payment for charging the battery of the electric vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the current level of charge sent to the device is sent so that a user interface of the device shows a graphic or indicator of the current level of charge as the current level of charge changes to become more charged or finishes charging.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimate of the time to charge is dynamically calculated based on a current charge level of the battery of the electric vehicle and a charging rate of the charge unit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction from the device includes data enabling payment of a fee to maintain the electric vehicle connected to the charging unit after the battery of the vehicle has reached the complete charging status.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set period of time is based on a fee paid via the user account or paid by a sponsoring merchant that is local or proximate to the charge unit.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the charge unit includes a message function to enable users proximate to the charge unit to send a message to the user account requesting that the electric vehicle be moved when the battery of the electric vehicle has reached the complete charging status.

10. A computer readable media having program instructions for managing communication between a charge unit and a user device, comprising,

program instructions for receiving data indicative that a user account has accessed the charging unit for charging an electric vehicle, the charging unit having an indicator that identifies an active charging status while the electric vehicle is connected to the charging unit for charging a battery of the electric vehicle using the charging unit, the charging unit is configured to identify a complete charging status when the electric vehicle is finished charging said battery using the charging unit;

program instructions for receiving data indicative of a status of charge of the electric vehicle during the charging;

program instructions for sending a notification to a device having access to the user account regarding said status of charge during the charging of the electric vehicle, the notification identifying a current level of charge of the battery of the electric vehicle and an estimate of a time remaining to finish charging the battery of the electric vehicle; and

program instructions for receiving an instruction, from the device, to maintain the vehicle connected to the charging unit for a set period of time after the battery of the electric vehicle is finished charging;

program instructions for sending data to the charge unit to allow the electric vehicle to maintain connected to the charging unit even when the battery of the electric vehicle has reached the complete charging status.

11. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein the notification is saved to the user account for access from an application or a website via the device, the device being one of a mobile device, vehicle electronics of the electric vehicle, or a computer, and the user account is accessible via the internet that provides communication to a server.

12. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein the access of the charging unit for charging the battery of the electric vehicle includes receiving payment via the user account, the user account having access to a history of charge activity.

13. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein a user interface of the device or a user interface of the electric vehicle receives data from a server to surface an application or interface when the electric vehicle is determined to have arrived at the charge unit, the application being configured to provide options to login or accept to proceed with an automatic payment for charging the battery of the electric vehicle.

14. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein the current level of charge sent to the device is sent so that a user interface of the device shows a graphic or indicator of the current level of charge as the current level of charge changes to become more charged or finishes charging.

15. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein the estimate of the time to charge is dynamically calculated based on a current charge level of the battery of the electric vehicle and a charging rate of the charge unit.

16. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein the instruction from the device includes data enabling payment of a fee to enable the maintaining of the electric vehicle connected to the charging unit after the battery of the electric vehicle has reached the complete charging status.

17. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein the set period of time is based on a fee paid via the user account or paid by a sponsoring merchant that is local or proximate to the charge unit.

18. The computer readable media of claim 10, wherein the charge unit includes a message function to enable users proximate to the charge unit to send a message to the user account requesting that the electric vehicle be moved when the battery of the electric vehicle has reached the complete charging status.

19. A charging unit for providing charge to an electric vehicle, comprising,

electronics of the charge unit configured to send data to a server indicative that a user account has accessed the charging unit for charging the electric vehicle, the charging unit having an indicator that identifies an active charging status while the electric vehicle is connected to the charging unit for charging a battery of the electric vehicle using the charging unit, the electronics of the charging unit is configured to identify a complete charging status when the electric vehicle is finished charging said battery using the charging unit;

the data sent by electronics of the charge unit being indicative of a status of charge of the electric vehicle during the charging that includes a current level of charge of the battery to enable the server to send a notification to a device having access to the user account regarding said status of charge during the charging of the electric vehicle, the notification identifying the current level of charge of the battery of the electric vehicle; and

the electronics of the charge unit is configured to receive instructions to enable the electric vehicle to remain connected to the charging unit for a set period of time after the battery of the electric vehicle is finished charging.

20. The charging unit of claim 19, wherein the charging unit enables the electric vehicle to remain in a parking spot that is proximate to the charging unit and remain connected to the charging unit, which such enablement is subsequent to a payment received to remain in the parking spot after the battery of the electric vehicle has finished charging;

wherein the payment is made via said user account or by a merchant that is proximate to the charging unit.