Identification of acceptable vehicle charge stations

• US 9,610,853 B1
• Filed: 09/24/2015
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Miller, Kenneth James, Kapadia, Jimmy
• Primary Examiner(s): Dager, Jonathan M
• Application Number:
  US14/863,568
• Publication Number:
  US 20170087999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 558 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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 2240/80 Time limits
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/52 drive range estimation, e.g. of estimation of available travel distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/60 Monitoring or controlling charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• 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 30/14 Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

A vehicle may require an electric recharge. A request may be sent to obtain identification of charge locations along a route. Along with the request, data may be sent identifying vehicle location, route, and desired safety rating. A response may be obtained from a remote server, and the results may be displayed, which include the safety rating of the charge station. The desired safety rating may be adjusted based on the battery'"'"'s state of charge (SOC). The desired safety rating, for example, may be decreased as the battery state of charge decreases.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

a processor programmed to,

responsive to a request to identify charge locations along a route, send data off-board defining a desired safety rating,

responsive to receipt of data from a remote server identifying charge stations each having a safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating, display indicators for the identified charge stations accessible from the route; and

decrease the desired safety rating as battery state of charge decreases.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to send data off-board identifying a desired activity rating, and in response to receipt of data from a remote server identifying charge stations each having a safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating and an activity rating that exceeds the desired activity rating, display indicators for the identified charge stations having the safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating and the activity rating that exceeds the desired activity rating accessible from the route.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to send data off-board identifying a desired utility rating, and in response to receipt of data from a remote server identifying charge stations each having a safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating and a utility rating that exceeds the desired utility rating, display indicators for the identified charge stations having the safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating and the utility rating that exceeds the desired utility rating accessible from the route.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the indicators identify an activity rating or utility rating for at least some of the identified charge stations.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the safety rating includes categorized crime data, a statistical crime value, or an aggregated user safety rating.

6. A vehicle comprising:

a processor programmed to,

responsive to a request to identify charge locations along a predefined route, send data off-board defining a desired activity rating,

responsive to receipt of data from a remote server identifying charge stations each having an activity rating that exceeds the desired activity rating, display indicators for the identified charge stations accessible from the route; and

decrease the desired activity rating as battery state of charge decrease.

7. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein the processor is further programmed to send data off-board identifying a desired safety rating, and in response to receipt of data from a remote server identifying charge stations each having a safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating and an activity rating that exceeds the desired activity rating, display indicators for the identified charge stations having the safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating and the activity rating that exceeds the desired activity rating accessible from the route.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the safety rating includes categorized crime data, a statistical crime value, or an aggregated user safety rating.

9. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein the processor is further programmed to send data off-board identifying a desired utility rating, and in response to receipt of data from a remote server identifying charge stations each having an activity rating that exceeds the desired activity rating and a utility rating that exceeds the desired utility rating, display indicators for the identified charge stations having the safety rating that exceeds the desired safety rating and the utility rating that exceeds the desired utility rating accessible from the route.

10. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein the indicators identify a safety rating or utility rating for at least some of the identified charge stations.

11. A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle comprising:

sending data off-board identifying vehicle location and route;

receiving data from a remote server identifying charge stations accessible from the route and, for each of the charge stations, a safety rating;

decreasing a desired safety rating as battery state of charge decreases; and

directing the vehicle to one of the charge stations having a safety rating exceeding the desired safety rating.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one of the charge stations further has an activity rating exceeding a desired activity rating.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the safety rating includes categorized crime data, a statistical crime value, or an aggregated user safety rating.