Electric vehicle profiles for power grid operation

• US 8,232,763 B1
• Filed: 05/20/2011
• Issued: 07/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Boot, John Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): DIAO, M BAYE
• Application Number:
  US13/112,121
• Time in Patent Office: 438 Days
• Field of Search: 320/107, 320/137, 320/104
• US Class Current: 320/107
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/66 Arrangements of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00016 using a wired telecommunication network or a data transmission bus
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00022 using wireless data transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00028 involving the use of Internet protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2203/20 Simulating, e g planning, reliability check, modelling or computer assisted design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/60 Limiting power consumption in the network or in one section of the network, e.g. load shedding or peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/003 Load forecast, e.g. methods or systems for forecasting future load demand
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/322 the battery being on-board an electric or hybrid vehicle, e.g. vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G], power aggregation, use of the battery for network load balancing, coordinated or cooperative battery charging
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0071 with a programmable schedule
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• 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
• 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 20/222 : Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/12 : Remote or cooperative charging
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/124 : using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 : using wireless data transmission
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 : Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security

Abstract

Electrical vehicle profiles for power grid operation. Embodiments of the invention can provide systems and methods for collecting and storing electrical vehicle usage and charging information, which may enable the generation of usage and charging profiles. Additionally, these usage and charging profiles may be usable to operate electricity grids in areas where electrical vehicles are prevalent. Grid maintenance, as well as power allocation, may be controlled based at least in part on the usage and charging profiles.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

receive vehicle information based at least in part on at least one vehicle;

receive other information based at least in part on a charging station for the at least one vehicle; and

transmit the vehicle information and the other information to a data receiving device, wherein the vehicle information and the other information are utilized for planning power allocation on a grid, predicting power usage on the grid, and/or staggering vehicle charging.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle information comprises a time when the at least one vehicle was charging, a length of time the at least one vehicle was charging, and/or a distance the at least one vehicle traveled during a predefined time period.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the other information comprises a location of the charging station, climate data during a predefined time period at or near the location of the charging station, socio-economic information based at least in part on the location of the charging station, socio-economic information based at least in part on an owner or operator of the vehicle and/or a location of the owner or operator of the vehicle, and/or a grid topology at or near the location of the charging station, wherein climate data comprises temperature, wind speed, and/or humidity.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor are coupled with the charging station, and wherein a transmission device of the charging station transmits the vehicle information and the other information to the data receiving device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor are coupled with the vehicle, and wherein a transmission device of the vehicle transmits the vehicle information and the other information to the data receiving device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data receiving device is operated by a utility service provider.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle information and/or the other information is transmitted substantially immediately after its reception.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle information and/or the other information is stored in the at least one memory prior to transmission to the data receiving device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to determine a charging profile for the at least one vehicle based at least in part on the vehicle information and/or the other information.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to display information to indicate a recommended time to charge the at least one vehicle, a recommended charging duration of the at least one vehicle, and/or a recommended charging location of the at least one vehicle based at least in part on the charging profile.

11. A method, comprising:

receiving at a predefined time interval, by an input device of a vehicle controller, vehicle information based at least in part on at least one vehicle and storing the vehicle information in at least one memory;

receiving at the predefined time interval, by the input device of the vehicle controller, other information based at least in part on a location of a charging station associated with the at least one vehicle and storing the other information in the at least one memory, wherein the other information comprises location, climate, socio-economic, demographic, and/or grid topology information; and

transmitting, by the vehicle controller to a utility provider, the vehicle information and the other information, wherein the vehicle information and the other information are utilized for planning power allocation on a grid, predicting power usage on the grid, and/or staggering vehicle charging.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle information comprises a time of day associated with the predefined time interval, an amount of the predefined time interval that the at least one vehicle was charging, and/or a distance the at least one vehicle traveled during the predefined time interval.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle controller is located on the at least one vehicle or on the charging station of the at least one vehicle.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a charging profile for the at least one vehicle based at least in part on the stored vehicle information and the stored other information.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting, by the vehicle controller to the utility provider, the charging profile at each predefined time interval or at a second predefined time interval greater than the predefined time interval.

16. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a data receiving device from a vehicle or a vehicle charging station, vehicle information, wherein the vehicle information comprises a time of day when the vehicle was charged, a length of time the vehicle was charged, and/or a distance the vehicle traveled;

receiving, at the data receiving device from the vehicle or the vehicle charging station, other information based at least in part on the vehicle charging station, wherein the other information comprises a location of the vehicle charging station, climate data of the location of the vehicle charging station, socio-economic information based at least in part on the location of the vehicle charging station, and/or socio-economic information based upon an owner or operator of the vehicle or a location of the owner or operator of the vehicle;

predicting power usage on a grid based at least in part on the received vehicle information and the received other information; and

planning at least one change and/or upgrade to the grid based at least in part on the received vehicle information and the received other information.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 16, further storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising determining a charging profile for the vehicle based at least in part on the received vehicle information and the received other information;

and determining a recommendation of when, where, and/or for how long to charge the vehicle based at least in part on the determined charging profile and current climate conditions.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17, further storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising transmitting, to the vehicle or the vehicle charging station, the recommendation of when, where, and/or for how long to charge the vehicle.