Kiosk vehicle charging and selecting systems
First Claim
1. A charging system for kiosk operated electric vehicles, the charging system comprising:
- an AC charging source connected to a utility grid system;
a battery-to-battery DC charging source;
a local power bus connected to both the AC and DC charging sources;
a plurality of charging stations, each being connected to the local power bus such that power can be received from or transmitted to the local power bus, each charging station having means for connecting to a vehicle battery of one of the kiosk operated electric vehicles; and
a system controller being connected to each of the plurality of charging stations, wherein the system controller periodically monitors the condition of the vehicle batteries of all kiosk operated electric vehicles connected to the charging stations and further monitors selected external sources, and, using the monitored information, the system controller determines a priority for charging the vehicle batteries and the AC or DC charging source to be used for charging the vehicle batteries.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle charging and selection system for kiosk operated electrical vehicles. The system includes a utility connected AC charging source, a battery-to-battery DC charging source, a number of vehicle charging stations, a local power bus connectable to both charging sources and each of the charging stations and a system controller connected to each of the charging stations. The system controller evaluates the vehicle battery condition of each electric vehicle connected to one of the charging stations and determines the most efficient method for charging the largest number of vehicle batteries based on current condition of the individual batteries, weather conditions, time of day, status of the utility electrical grid, etc. The system controller also selects one of the connected electric vehicles for customer use by using the battery charging information and additional information about the desired trip provided by the customer and other external data sources monitored by the system controller.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A charging system for kiosk operated electric vehicles, the charging system comprising:
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an AC charging source connected to a utility grid system; a battery-to-battery DC charging source; a local power bus connected to both the AC and DC charging sources; a plurality of charging stations, each being connected to the local power bus such that power can be received from or transmitted to the local power bus, each charging station having means for connecting to a vehicle battery of one of the kiosk operated electric vehicles; and a system controller being connected to each of the plurality of charging stations, wherein the system controller periodically monitors the condition of the vehicle batteries of all kiosk operated electric vehicles connected to the charging stations and further monitors selected external sources, and, using the monitored information, the system controller determines a priority for charging the vehicle batteries and the AC or DC charging source to be used for charging the vehicle batteries. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A vehicle charging and selecting system for kiosk operated electric vehicles, the charging and selecting system comprising:
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an AC charging source connected to a utility grid system; a battery-to-battery DC charging source; a local power bus connected to both the AC and DC charging sources; a plurality of charging stations, each being connected to the local power bus such that power can be received from or transmitted to the local power bus and each charging station having means for connecting to a vehicle battery of one of the kiosk vehicles for monitoring, charging, or discharging, or a combination thereof, the vehicle battery and means for receiving vehicle user input related to a trip to a desired destination kiosk; and a system controller being connected to each of the plurality of charging stations, wherein the system controller periodically monitors the condition of the vehicle batteries of all kiosk operated electric vehicles connected to the charging stations and further monitors selected external sources, and, using the monitored information, the system controller determines a priority for charging the vehicle batteries and the AC or DC charging source to be used for charging the vehicle batteries, the system controller further uses the monitored information and the vehicle user input to select one of the kiosk vehicles having sufficient battery charge for the trip to the desired destination kiosk. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for charging a vehicle battery of a kiosk operated electric vehicle, the method comprising:
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monitoring a vehicle battery condition of all of the electric vehicles connected to a kiosk charging system; monitoring external conditions including current time, utility grid status and current weather conditions; selecting one of an AC charging source or a DC charging source based on the utility grid status; and selecting one or more vehicle batteries to be charged based on the monitored conditions of all vehicle batteries connected to the kiosk charging system or the location of the kiosk vehicles in a kiosk queue.
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26. A method for charging and selecting a kiosk operated electric vehicle, the method comprising:
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monitoring a vehicle battery condition of all of the electric vehicles connected to a kiosk charging system; monitoring external conditions relative to the charging and discharging of the vehicle batteries; selecting one of an AC charging source or a DC charging source based on a utility grid status; selecting one or more vehicle batteries to be charged based on the monitored conditions of all vehicle batteries connected to the kiosk charging system or the location of the kiosk vehicles in a kiosk queue, or both; monitoring vehicle user information concerning a selected destination kiosk; and selecting one of the kiosk vehicles with sufficient charge for the vehicle user'"'"'s trip to the selected destination kiosk. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification