Methods and apparatuses for charging of electric vehicles

• US 9,348,381 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2012
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zeco Systems Pte Ltd. (Shell Plc)
• Original Assignee: Zeco Systems Pte Ltd. (Shell Plc)
• Inventors: Khoo, Lin-Zhuang, Mahabir, Ron, Siew, Terence, Noma, Renaldo, Jhanji, Neeraj
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Azad, Md
• Application Number:
  US13/655,397
• Publication Number:
  US 20130110296A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,314 Days
• Field of Search: 700/286, 701/22, 701/29, 701/43, 705/5, 705/39, 705/41, 705/65, 709/20, 307/9, 307/14, 235/28, 235/38, 381/86, 414/80, 320/10, 320/101
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/12 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/545 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/622 by satellite navigation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/72 Charging station selection relying on external data
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/52 drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/54 Energy consumption estimation
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/58 Departure time prediction
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2270/32 of electricity
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/31 Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/63 in response to network capacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/64 Optimising energy costs, e.g. responding to electricity rates
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/66 Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/665 Methods related to measuring, billing or payment
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/67 Controlling two or more charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/68 Off-site monitoring or control, e.g. remote control
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3476 using point of interest [POI] information, e.g. a route passing visible POIs
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 : Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 : Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 : Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 : Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 : Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/409 : Device specific authentication in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 : Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 : Price estimation or determination
• 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: G08G 1/144 : on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 : Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/20 : Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 : for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• 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 7/00034 : Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 : acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/20 : Repeater circuits; Relay circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 : for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 : using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 : Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• 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 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 managing the charging of an electric vehicle. The method includes receiving a request for a charge transfer for an electric vehicle over a network link between an electric vehicle charging station and a cloud server. The network link has a mobile device disposed between the electrical vehicle charging station and the cloud server for facilitating communication between the charging station and the cloud server.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a charging of an electric vehicle using an electric vehicle charging station, a mobile device, and a cloud server, wherein the electric vehicle charging station is configured to receive and manage reservations for the charging slots at the electric vehicle charging station, the method comprising:

transmitting, from the electric vehicle charging station, a charge transfer request for an electric vehicle directly to the mobile device, wherein the electric vehicle charging station does not transmit a charge transfer request for an electric vehicle to the cloud server without relaying through the mobile device;

receiving, at the mobile device, the charge transfer request for the electric vehicle of a first user over a network link directly from the electric vehicle charging station, wherein the first user of the mobile device is associated with the electric vehicle to be charged;

sending, from the mobile device, the charge transfer request for the electric vehicle directly to the cloud server, wherein the charge transfer request relayed from the mobile device includes identification information and funding credit account information;

authorizing the charge transfer request received at the cloud server using the identification information and credit account information received from the mobile device;

sending, from the cloud server, a response enabling the charge transfer from the electric vehicle charging station to the electric vehicle;

charging the electric vehicle of the first user in a first charging slot at the electric vehicle charging station for a first charging session, the charging session having a scheduled end time;

reserving a second charging session for an electric vehicle of a second user, the second charging session being scheduled to begin after the scheduled end time of the first charging session;

enabling communication between the first user and the second user via the cloud server, and facilitating a request from the first user to the second user to extend the scheduled end time of the first charging session an amount of time of the first user into the second charging session of the second user; and

facilitating a response from the second user, and if the second user agrees to a modified second charging session, reimbursing the second user, from the first user, for any inconvenience, reduced charging time, or both.

2. A method for controlling a charging of an electric vehicle using an electric vehicle charging station, a mobile device, and a cloud server, wherein the electric vehicle charging station is configured to receive and manage reservations for the charging slots at the electric vehicle charging station, the method comprising:

sending, from the mobile device, a charge transfer request for the electric vehicle of a first user over a network link directly to the cloud server, wherein the first user of the mobile device is associated with the electric vehicle to be charged, wherein the charge transfer request from the mobile device includes identification information and credit account information;

authorizing the charge transfer request received at the cloud server using the identification information and credit account information received from the mobile device;

receiving, from the cloud server, a response enabling the charge transfer from the electric vehicle charging station to the electric vehicle;

charging the electric vehicle of the first user in a first charging slot at the electric vehicle charging station for a first charging session, the charging session having a scheduled end time;

reserving a second charging session for an electric vehicle of a second user, the second charging session being scheduled to begin after the scheduled end time of the first charging session;

enabling communication between the first user and the second user via the cloud server, and facilitating a request from the first user to the second user to extend the scheduled end time of the first charging session an amount of time of the first user into the second charging session of the second user; and

facilitating a response from the second user, and if the second user agrees to a modified second charging session, reimbursing the second user, from the first user, for any inconvenience, reduced charging time, or both.

3. A method for controlling a charging of an electric vehicle using an electric vehicle charging station, a mobile device, and a cloud server, wherein the electric vehicle charging station is configured to receive and manage reservations for the charging slots at the electric vehicle charging station, the method comprising:

receiving a charge transfer request, at a mobile device, for an electric vehicle, wherein the mobile device is a component of the electric vehicle and communicates using Bluetooth, near-field communication, Wi-Fi, or combinations thereof;

sending, from the mobile device, a charge transfer request for the electric vehicle of a first user over a network link directly to the cloud server, wherein the first user of the mobile device is associated with the electric vehicle to be charged, wherein the charge transfer request from the mobile device includes identification information and credit account information;

receiving the charge transfer request from the mobile device at the cloud server;

authorizing the charge transfer request received at the cloud server using the identification information and credit account information received from the mobile device;

receiving, from the cloud server, a response enabling the charge transfer from the electric vehicle charging station to the electric vehicle;

charging the electric vehicle of the first user in a first charging slot at the electric vehicle charging station for a first charging session, the charging session having a scheduled end time;

reserving a second charging session for an electric vehicle of a second user, the second charging session being scheduled to begin after the scheduled end time of the first charging session;

enabling communication between the first user and the second user via the cloud server, and facilitating a request from the first user to the second user to extend the scheduled end time of the first charging session an amount of time of the first user into the second charging session of the second user; and

facilitating a response from the second user, and if the second user agrees to a modified second charging session, reimbursing the second user, from the first user, for any inconvenience, reduced charging time, or both.

4. A system for controlling a charging of an electric vehicle, the system comprising:

a cloud server;

an electric vehicle charging station, wherein the electric vehicle charging station has one or more charging slots and is configured to receive and manage reservations for the charging slots at the electric vehicle charging station; and

a mobile device disposed between the electric vehicle charging station and the cloud server, wherein the mobile device of a first user relays communication directly from the electric vehicle charging station directly to the cloud server, and wherein the electric vehicle charging station is unable to transmit a charge transfer request for an electric vehicle to the cloud server without relaying through the mobile device, wherein the charge transfer request relayed from the mobile device includes identification information and credit account information;

wherein the charge transfer request received at the cloud server is authorized using the identification information and credit account information received from the mobile device;

wherein the cloud server sends a response enabling the charge transfer from the electric vehicle charging station to the electric vehicle,

wherein the electric vehicle of the first user is charged in a first charging slot at the electric vehicle charging station for a first charging session, the charging session having a scheduled end time;

wherein a second charging session is reserved for an electric vehicle of a second user, the second charging session being scheduled to begin after the scheduled end time of the first charging session;

wherein communication is enabled between the first user and the second user via the cloud server, and wherein a request is facilitated from the first user to the second user to extend the scheduled end time of the first charging session an amount of time of the first user into the second charging session of the second user; and

wherein a response is facilitated from the second user, and if the second user agrees to a modified second charging session, reimbursing the second user, from the first user, for any inconvenience, reduced charging time, or both.

5. A method for controlling a charge transfer of an electric vehicle using an electric vehicle charging station, a mobile device, and a cloud server, wherein the electric vehicle charging station is configured to receive and manage reservations for the charging slots at the electric vehicle charging station, the method comprising:

transmitting, from the electric vehicle charging station, a message regarding an electric vehicle directly to the mobile device, wherein the electric vehicle charging station is unable to transmit a message to the cloud server without relaying through the mobile device;

sending, from the mobile device, the message regarding the electric vehicle of a first user over a network directly to the cloud server, wherein the message relayed from the mobile device includes identification information and credit account information;

authorizing a charging control signal using the identification information and credit account information received from the mobile device;

receiving the charging control signal from the cloud server via the mobile device over a single networked link at the electric vehicle charging station, wherein the charging control signal is configured to enable or disable the charge transfer;

enabling or disabling the charge transfer based on the charging control signal;

charging the electric vehicle of the first user in a first charging slot at the electric vehicle charging station for a first charging session, the charging session having a scheduled end time;

reserving a second charging session for an electric vehicle of a second user, the second charging session being scheduled to begin after the scheduled end time of the first charging session;

enabling communication between the first user and the second user via the cloud server, and facilitating a request from the first user to the second user to extend the scheduled end time of the first charging session an amount of time of the first user into the second charging session of the second user; and

facilitating a response from the second user, and if the second user agrees to a modified second charging session, reimbursing the second user, from the first user, for any inconvenience, reduced charging time, or both.

6. A method for controlling a charge transfer of an electric vehicle using an electric vehicle charging station, a mobile device, and a cloud server, wherein the electric vehicle charging station is configured to receive and manage reservations for the charging slots at the electric vehicle charging station, the method comprising:

transmitting, from the electric vehicle charging station, a message regarding an electric vehicle directly to the mobile device, wherein the electric vehicle charging station is unable to transmit a message to the cloud server without relaying through the mobile device;

sending, from the mobile device, the message regarding the electric vehicle of a first user over a network directly to the cloud server, wherein the message relayed from the mobile device includes identification information and credit account information;

authorizing a charging control signal at an electricity metering network using the identification information and credit account information received from the mobile device;

receiving the charging control signal from the cloud server at the mobile device;

sending the charging control signal from the mobile device to the electric vehicle charging station over a single networked link between the electric vehicle charging station and the mobile device, wherein the charging control signal is configured to enable or disable the charge transfer;

receiving a response from the electric vehicle charging station that the charge transfer has been enabled or disabled;

charging the electric vehicle of the first user in a first charging slot at the electric vehicle charging station for a first charging session, the charging session having a scheduled end time;

reserving a second charging session for an electric vehicle of a second user, the second charging session being scheduled to begin after the scheduled end time of the first charging session;

enabling communication between the first user and the second user via the cloud server, and facilitating a request from the first user to the second user to extend the scheduled end time of the first charging session an amount of time of the first user into the second charging session of the second user; and

facilitating a response from the second user, and if the second user agrees to a modified second charging session, reimbursing the second user, from the first user, for any inconvenience, reduced charging time, or both.