Electric vehicle fleet charging system
First Claim
1. A system for managing a plurality of electric vehicles, the system comprising:
- a plug-in module that connects to an on-board computer system of at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles, the plug-in module configured to collect and store data collected from the at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles in real-time while the at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles is in operation;
a first software application that manages, monitors, and controls electric vehicle driver registrations, rental checkouts, rental returns, billing, costs, carbon emissions, and additional parameters associated with the plurality of electric vehicles;
a second software application that executes on a smart device, the second software application comprising a user interface for displaying electric vehicle driver registrations, rental checkouts, rental returns, billing, costs, carbon emissions, and additional parameters associated with the plurality of electric vehicles;
a communications network to communicate among the plug-in module, the first software application, the smart device executing the second software application and a utility providing electric vehicle charging energy, the communications network having a first communications link between the plug-in module and the first software application, a second communications link between the first software application and the smart device executing the second software application, a third communications link between the smart device executing the second software application and the plug-in module, and a fourth communications link between the first software application and the utility providing electric vehicle charging energy; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium residing in the plug-in module that stores computer executable instructions supporting the system, the computer-executable instructions comprising computer code that extracts information items from the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles in real-time, wirelessly transmits the information items to the first software application, and wirelessly transmits the information items to the smart device executing the second software application.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electric vehicle charging system comprises one or more system power and control modules (SPCM) and vehicle charging stations (VCS); wherein the SPCM distributes power from a power source to the VCS, and the VCS distributes power to one or more electric vehicles. Another electric vehicle charging system comprises an SPCM, VCS, a fleet management system (FMS) for monitoring and controlling the charging system, and a communications network for sharing information. A system for managing a plurality of electric vehicles comprises a plug-in module configured to collect and store information from an on-board diagnostics system of at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles, management software, a communications network, and a smart device software application for displaying system information. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for supporting a management system for a plurality of electric vehicles to extract, organize, and display information from the management system.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for managing a plurality of electric vehicles, the system comprising:
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a plug-in module that connects to an on-board computer system of at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles, the plug-in module configured to collect and store data collected from the at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles in real-time while the at least one of the plurality of electric vehicles is in operation; a first software application that manages, monitors, and controls electric vehicle driver registrations, rental checkouts, rental returns, billing, costs, carbon emissions, and additional parameters associated with the plurality of electric vehicles; a second software application that executes on a smart device, the second software application comprising a user interface for displaying electric vehicle driver registrations, rental checkouts, rental returns, billing, costs, carbon emissions, and additional parameters associated with the plurality of electric vehicles; a communications network to communicate among the plug-in module, the first software application, the smart device executing the second software application and a utility providing electric vehicle charging energy, the communications network having a first communications link between the plug-in module and the first software application, a second communications link between the first software application and the smart device executing the second software application, a third communications link between the smart device executing the second software application and the plug-in module, and a fourth communications link between the first software application and the utility providing electric vehicle charging energy; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium residing in the plug-in module that stores computer executable instructions supporting the system, the computer-executable instructions comprising computer code that extracts information items from the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles in real-time, wirelessly transmits the information items to the first software application, and wirelessly transmits the information items to the smart device executing the second software application. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium residing in a software system, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that support a management system for a plurality of electric vehicles, the computer-executable instructions comprising computer code performing steps of:
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extracting information in real-time, while the plurality of electric vehicles are in operation, from the management system about at least one characteristic of one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles, the at least one characteristic selected from a group consisting of;
odometer reading, battery charge level, alarm status, maintenance alerts, driver handling data, energy cost per mile, carbon emission reductions, and average miles driven between charges;extracting information from a providing electric utility about; (1) a total amount of energy provided to charge the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles, (2) a type of energy being provided by a supplemental power source to charge the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles, the supplemental power source selected from a group comprising;
solar power, wind power, and other renewable energy power types,(3) a percent of each type of energy being provided by the supplemental power source to comprise the total amount of energy provided for charging the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles, and (4) a tariffed rate of the total amount of energy provided to charge the one or more of the plurality of electric vehicles; organizing the information into a desired format; and displaying the information via a user interface. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification