Vehicle charging control apparatus, vehicle charging control method, and information terminal

• US 9,881,286 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2013
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Naito, Eiichi, Kiyono, Masaki, Nakata, Mikiya
• Primary Examiner(s): Ebersman, Bruce I
• Application Number:
  US13/974,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20130346308A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,621 Days
• 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 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/64 Optimising energy costs, e.g. responding to electricity rates
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/68 Off-site monitoring or control, e.g. remote control
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 15/005 dispensed for the electrical charging of vehicles electrical charging as such, B60L50/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 15/12 in which metering is on a time basis
• 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 2310/40 The network being an on-board power network, i.e. within a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• 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 30/14 : Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

A vehicle charging control apparatus includes: a unit which presents unit prices of charging power; a unit which issues an instruction for preferentially charging a vehicle for which allowable time is short in proportion to request amount; and a unit which determines whether there is another allowable time which is associated with the request amount and meets a condition that the other allowable time is longer than the allowable time and the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time. The unit prices are set lower when associated with a longer allowable time and also set lower when associated with a smaller request amount. When the other allowable time meets the condition, the other allowable time and the unit price associated with the other allowable time are presented.

Claims

1. A vehicle charger which charges vehicles parked at a charging station, the vehicle charger comprising:

a processor, and a non-transitory computer-readable memory having stored therein a program to be executed by the processor causing the vehicle charger, including the processor and memory, to function as;

a calculation unit configured to calculate, for each combination of a request amount and an allowable time, a total amount of a power price and a parking fee, the power price being a product of a set unit price and the request amount, the parking fee being a fee for parking of a vehicle, of the vehicles, at the charging station for the allowable time;

a power charging information presentation unit configured to display, to respective users of each of the vehicles, a first screen showing information indicating the total amounts calculated by the calculation unit and a unit price table in which (i) unit prices of charging power, (ii) request amounts of the charging power, and (iii) allowable times are arranged in a matrix, wherein each combination of the request amounts and allowable times is associated with a corresponding one of the unit prices, wherein each allowable time is an amount of time that a user, of the users, agrees to allow for charging to be completed, and wherein for each request amount in the unit price table, the unit price is lower the longer the associated allowable time is, and for each allowable time in the unit price table, the unit price is lower the smaller the associated requested amount is;

a power charging request receiving unit configured to receive power charging requests from the users, each of the power charging requests specifying a request amount of the charging power and an allowable time for charging;

a determination unit configured to determine, with reference to the unit price table, whether or not there is another allowable time which is associated with the request amount specified in the power charging request and meets a first condition that (i) the other allowable time is longer than the allowable time specified in the power charging request and (ii) the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time specified in the power charging request,

wherein when the determination unit determines that there is the other allowable time which meets the first condition, the power charging information presentation unit is further configured to change the first screen showing the unit price table into a second screen including the other allowable time which meets the first condition and the unit price associated with the other allowable time which meets the first condition;

a priority calculation unit configured to determine a priority order of charging of the vehicles by prioritizing the charging requests associated with the vehicles according to a proportion of allowable time per requested amount;

a power receiving unit, connected to a power source, configured to selectively draw power from the power source; and

a power charging control unit configured to;

control the power receiving unit to cause the power receiving unit to draw power from the power source; and

direct the power to the vehicles in order according to the calculated priority order.

2. The vehicle charger according to claim 1, wherein the program causes the vehicle charger, including the processor and memory, to further function as:

a charging power unit price setting unit configured to determine a surplus time by subtracting an amount of time necessary for charging of the request amount from the allowable time,

wherein the unit prices associated with the same request amount are lower when also associated with a longer surplus time.

3. The vehicle charger according to claim 1,

wherein the unit prices associated with the same request amount and the same allowable time are lower when a combined charging power for the charging according to the power charging requests received by the power charging request receiving unit is smaller.

4. The vehicle charger according to claim 3,

wherein the unit prices associated with the same request amount and the same allowable time are lower when a remaining power is larger, the remaining power being calculated by subtracting the combined charging power from a power that can be concurrently supplied to the vehicles parked at the charging station.

5. The vehicle charger according to claim 1,

wherein the power charging information presentation unit is configured to further display incentive information which indicates an incentive for the user to extend the allowable time.

6. The vehicle charger according to claim 1,

wherein the determination unit is further configured to determine, with reference to the set unit prices, whether or not there is another request amount which is associated with the allowable time specified in the power charging request and meets a second condition that (i) the other request amount is smaller than the request amount specified in the power charging request and (ii) the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time specified in the power charging request, and

when the determination unit determines that there is the other request amount which meets the second condition, the power charging information presentation unit is further configured to display the amount of charging power which meets the second condition and the unit price associated with the other allowable time which meets the second condition.

7. The vehicle charger according to claim 1,

wherein the calculation unit is further configured to calculate, for each of the request amounts, a minimum total amount from among the total amounts for the combinations including the request amount, and

the power charging information presentation unit is configured to present, to the user, the minimum of the total amount calculated for each of the request amounts by the calculation unit instead of the unit price.

8. The vehicle charger according to claim 1, wherein the program causes the vehicle charger, including the processor and memory, to further function as:

a communication unit configured to transmit and receive information,

wherein when a remaining power decreases below a predetermined value while the vehicles parked at the charging station are being charged, the power charging information presentation unit is configured to transmit, via the communication unit, information to ask the users for extension of the allowable times or information to ask the users for reduction of the request amounts to information terminals each associated with a corresponding one of the vehicles being charged, the remaining power being calculated by subtracting, from a power that can be concurrently supplied to the vehicles, a combined charging power for the charging according to the power charging requests received by the power charging request receiving unit, and

the power charging request receiving unit is configured to receive the power charging request from the information terminals via the communication unit.

9. An information terminal for use in connection with the vehicle charger according to claim 8 and configured to receive, from a vehicle charging control apparatus, the information to ask the users for extension of the allowable times or information to ask the users for reduction of the request amounts.

10. A vehicle charging method of charging a plurality of vehicles parked at a charging station, comprising:

calculating, for each combination of a request amount and an allowable time, a total amount of a power price and a parking fee, the power price being a product of a set unit price and the request amount, the parking fee being a fee for parking of a vehicle, of the plurality of vehicles, at the charging station for the allowable time;

displaying, to respective users of each of the plurality of vehicles, a first screen showing information indicating the total amounts calculated in the calculating and a unit price table in which (i) unit prices of charging power, (ii) request amounts of the charging power, and (iii) allowable times are arranged in a matrix, wherein each combination of the request amounts and allowable times is associated with a corresponding one of the unit prices, wherein each allowable time is an amount of time that a user, of the users, agrees to allow for charging to be completed, and wherein for each request amount in the unit price table, the unit price is lower the longer the associated allowable time is, and for each allowable time in the unit price table, the unit price is lower the smaller the associated requested amount is;

receiving power charging requests from the users, each of the power charging requests specifying a request amount of the charging power and an allowable time for the charging;

determining, with reference to the unit price table, whether or not there is another allowable time which is associated with the request amount specified in the power charging request and meets a first condition that (i) the other allowable time is longer than the allowable time specified in the power charging request and (ii) the unit price associated with the other allowable time is lower than the unit price associated with the request amount and the allowable time specified in the power charging request,

wherein when it is determined in the determining that there is the other allowable time which meets the first condition, in the displaying, changing the first screen showing the unit price table into a second screen including the other allowable time which meets the first condition;

determining a priority order of charging of the plurality of vehicles by prioritizing the charging requests associated with the plurality of vehicles according to a proportion of allowable time per requested amount; and

automatically controlling a power receiving unit to cause the power receiving unit to draw power from a power source, and directing the power to the plurality of vehicles in order according to the calculated priority order.