Method and System for Monitoring Charging Stations

• US 20180086221A1
• Filed: 12/01/2017
• Published: 03/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Inventors: BOUARD, Alexandre, Ember Mork, Roland, KRAEMER, Nicolai
• Granted Patent: US 11,027,620 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/60 Monitoring or controlling charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/66 Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• 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 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

Abstract

A method is provided for determining a property of a charging station, wherein the charging station is designed to provide electrical energy for charging a vehicle. The method determines vehicle data, wherein the vehicle data were created by a first vehicle with respect to a charging operation of the first vehicle at the charging station. In addition, the method determines a property of the charging station on the basis of the vehicle data. Furthermore, the method provides data that indicate the determined property of the charging station.

Claims

1. A method for determining a property of a charging station designed to provide electrical energy for charging a vehicle, the method comprising the acts of:

determining vehicle data, wherein the vehicle data were created by a first vehicle with respect to a charging operation of the first vehicle at the charging station;

determining a property of the charging station on the basis of the vehicle data; and

providing data, which indicate the determined property of the charging station.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the acts of:

providing a data record for the charging station, wherein the data record indicates one or more properties of the charging station; and

updating the data record with the identified property.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the data record for the charging station is provided by an operator of the charging station;

and

the method further comprises the act of;

aligning one or more properties of the charging station, which are indicated by the data record, with data from a publicly accessible database.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data, which indicate the determined property of the charging station, comprise information which enable a navigation device of a second vehicle to:

determine whether the charging station is suitable for charging the second vehicle; and

determine a driving distance to the charging station.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the vehicle data with respect to the charging operation are contained in a vehicle data record;

and

the method further comprises the act of;

sending the vehicle data record from the first vehicle to a system, which is designed to receive vehicle records from a plurality of vehicles.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising the acts of:

determining a plurality of vehicle data records with respect to a plurality of charging operations at the charging station; and

determining the property of the charging station on the basis of the plurality of vehicle data records.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the data, which indicate the determined property of the charging station, indicate a plurality of properties of the charging station;

only a subset of the plurality of properties of the charging station is determined on the basis of the vehicle data; and

the method further comprises the act of;

providing an index into the data provided indicating which of the plurality of properties of the charging station was determined on the basis of the vehicle data.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the property of the charging station comprises one or more of:

a position of the charging station,

an available charging power and/or charging voltage of the charging station,

an available charging mode of the charging station,

an available charging connector type of the charging station,

an interoperability of the charging station, and

an operating status of the charging station.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein

the position of the charging station is an address and/or GPS coordinates,

the available charging mode is an AC charging, a DC charging, a conductive charging via a charging cable, and/or an inductive charging, and

the interoperability of the charging station is based on a vehicle type.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the vehicle data indicate one or more of the following properties of the charging operation:

a position at which the charging operation was carried out;

a charging power and/or a charging voltage, with which the charging operation was carried out;

a charging mode, with which the charging operation was carried out;

a charging connector, by which the charging operation was carried out; and

a point in time and/or a period of time in which the charging operation was carried out.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein

the position is an address and/or GPS coordinates,

the charging mode is an AC charging, a DC charging, a conductive charging via a charging cable, and an inductive charging.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the act of:

determining station data, wherein the station data were created by the charging station with respect to the charging operation of the first vehicle at the charging station, and wherein

the property of the charging station is also determined on the basis of the station data.