Method for charging a plug-in electric vehicle

• US 9,299,093 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2010
• Issued: 03/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Kidston, Kevin S., Wu, Emily R., Datta, Reena L., Johnson, Carol L., Marsh, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayles, Ashford S
• Application Number:
  US12/696,373
• Publication Number:
  US 20110191220A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,251 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2210/30 AC to DC converters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/36 Temperature of vehicle components or parts
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/525 Temperature of converter or components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/545 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/547 Voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/549 Current
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/622 by satellite navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/70 Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/80 Time limits
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/12 by confirmation, e.g. of the input
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/58 Departure time prediction
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/003 relating to inverters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/04 Cutting off the power supply under fault conditions protective devices and circuit arrangements in general H01H; H02H
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/12 Recording operating variables ; Monitoring of operating variables
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/63 in response to network capacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/665 Methods related to measuring, billing or payment
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/16 : responding to battery ageing, e.g. to the number of charging cycles or the state of health [SoH]
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/21 : having the same nominal voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 : Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 : Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 : Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00036 : Charger exchanging data with battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00047 : with provisions for charging different types of 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 7/0071 : with a programmable schedule
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 : for charging batteries from ac mains by converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 : Regulation of charging current or voltage
• 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 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

Abstract

A method for charging a plug-in electric vehicle with an external power source. In an exemplary embodiment, the method receives one or more utility rate preferences from a user, determines the utility rates of a local utility company, determines the total charging time needed to charge the plug-in electric vehicle, uses the utility rate preferences, the utility rates and the total charging time to develop several charging options that are presented to a user, and charges the plug-in electric vehicle according to the charging option selection made by the user.

Claims

1. A method for charging a plug-in electric vehicle with an external power source, comprising the steps of:

a) receiving a utility rate preference from a vehicle user, the utility rate preference establishes a maximum utility rate that the vehicle user is willing to pay;

b) determining utility rates;

c) determining a total charging time needed to charge the plug-in electric vehicle;

d) using the utility rates and the total charging time to develop one or more charging options and presenting the charging options to the user for selection, wherein at least one of the charging options includes a plurality of discontinuous charging segments that together fully charge the plug-in electric vehicle and at least one of the charging options is presented to the user with an estimated cost; and

e) charging the plug-in electric vehicle with the external power source according to the charging option selected by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

determining when it is time to start charging the plug-in electric vehicle, wherein a current time is compared to a charging start time before step (e).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the current time is determined using at least one of the following time readings:

cellular time, GPS time, or internal clock time.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein when cellular time is available then the current time is determined using cellular time, when cellular time is not available but GPS time is available then the current time is determined using GPS time and a stored offset value, and when cellular time and GPS time are not available but internal clock time is available then the current time is determined using internal clock time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving the utility rate preference from a user via an in-vehicle user interface.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving the utility rate preference from a user via a wireless communication through a communications module.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises determining utility rates by wirelessly receiving utility rate information from a utility company.

5. A method for charging a plug-in electric vehicle with an external power source, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a utility rate preference from a vehicle user, the utility rate preference establishes a maximum utility rate that the vehicle user is willing to pay;

(b) determining utility rates;

(c) determining a total charging time needed to charge the plug-in electric vehicle, the total charging time is based on current charging conditions pertaining to the external power source, to the plug-in electric vehicle, or to both the external power source and the plug-in electric vehicle;

(d) developing a charging strategy that takes into account the utility rate preference, the utility rates, and the total charging time needed to charge the plug-in electric vehicle; and

(e) charging the plug-in electric vehicle with the external power source according to the charging strategy, wherein the charging strategy implements a charging process that includes a plurality of discontinuous charging segments that together form a single charge cycle based on the total charging time for charging the vehicle before the vehicle user wishes to use the vehicle next, each of the discontinuous charging segments charges the vehicle when the current utility rates are less than or equal to the maximum utility rate that the vehicle user is willing to pay, and each of the discontinuous charging segments is separated from another discontinuous charging segment by a break during which the current utility rates are more than the maximum utility rate that the vehicle user is willing to pay.