System and method for recharging electric vehicle batteries

• US 8,174,235 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2011
• Issued: 05/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lightening Energy
• Original Assignee: Lightening Energy
• Inventors: Dyer, Christopher K., Epstein, Michael L., Culver, Duncan
• Primary Examiner(s): DIAO, M BAYE
• Application Number:
  US13/190,197
• Publication Number:
  US 20120043943A1
• Time in Patent Office: 288 Days
• Field of Search: 320/109
• US Class Current: 320/109
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/00 Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/302 Cooling of charging equipment
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/26 by cooling
• 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 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

A method for recharging an electric vehicle having an electric battery for powering a vehicle drive system is provided. The method includes recharging the electric vehicle during a first period at a first electrical power and recharging the electric vehicle during a second period shorter than the first period at a second electrical power higher than the first electrical power. The recharging includes delivering coolant to the electric vehicle to cool the electric battery during the second period. Other methods of recharging an electric vehicle are also provided.

Claims

1. A method for recharging an electric vehicle having an electric battery for powering a vehicle drive system, the method comprising:

recharging the electric battery of the electric vehicle during a first period at a first electrical power; and

recharging the electric battery of the electric vehicle during a second period shorter than the first period at a second electrical power higher than the first electrical power, the recharging including delivering coolant to the electric vehicle to cool the electric battery during the second period.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first recharging period occurs without any external coolant being delivered to the vehicle.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first recharging period is an overnight recharging period.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first recharging period uses a standard 120 or 240 volt electrical connection to recharge the vehicle battery.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the electric vehicle is a pure electric vehicle.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first electrical power is less than 10 kW.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the second electrical power is more than 100 kW.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein first period is at least 8 hours.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the second period is less than an hour.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the second period is less than 10 minutes.

11. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the second period charges the battery to at least 50% capacity.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the coolant utilizes an existing electric vehicle coolant system.

13. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the coolant is gas supplied at 100 cubic ft/min or greater.

14. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the coolant is liquid supplied at 0.1 liters/sec or greater.

15. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the coolant is cooled by a refrigerating unit before being supplied to the battery.

16. A vehicle recharged according to the method as recited in claim 1.

17. A roadside recharging station capable of recharging the electric vehicle recited in claim 16 during the second recharging period.