Methods and apparatuses for charging of electric vehicles

• US 10,210,552 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2016
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• 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:
  US15/158,373
• Publication Number:
  US 20160362016A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,007 Days
• Field of Search: 700286
• 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 system for controlling a charging of an electric vehicle, wherein a charging at one electric vehicle charging station affect a charging at another electric vehicle charging station is disclosed. The system includes: an electric power grid, a first electric vehicle charging station connected to the electric power grid, and a second electric vehicle charging station connected to the electric power grid, wherein the first electric vehicle charging station facilitates a charge transfer for an electric vehicle at the second electric vehicle charging station using a mobile device. The mobile device relays communication from the electric vehicle charging stations to the cloud server. The charge transfer request received at the cloud server is authorized using identification information and credit account information received from the mobile device. The cloud server sends a response enabling the charge transfer from the second electric vehicle charging station to the electric vehicle.

Claims

1. A system for controlling multiple electric vehicle chargings, wherein a first charging at one electric vehicle charging station affect a second charging at another electric vehicle charging station, the system comprising:

an electric power grid;

a first electric vehicle charging station connected to the electric power grid; and

a second electric vehicle charging station connected to the electric power grid, wherein the first electric vehicle charging station facilitates a charge transfer for an electric vehicle at the second electric vehicle charging station using a mobile device,

the mobile device disposed between the electric vehicle charging stations and a cloud server, wherein the mobile device relays communication from the electric vehicle charging stations to the cloud server, and wherein the electric vehicle charging stations are unable to transmit a charge transfer request for the 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 directly from the mobile device is authorized using the identification information and credit account information; and

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

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first charging station facilitates a charge transfer for a plurality of electric vehicles at a plurality of electric vehicle charging stations.

3. A method for controlling multiple electric vehicle chargings, wherein a first charging at one electric vehicle charging station affect a second charging at another electric vehicle charging station, the method comprising:

sending, from a mobile device, a charge transfer request for the electric vehicle over a network link to the cloud server, wherein a 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, wherein the mobile device in a component of the electric vehicle that utilizes a telematics service to communicate directly with the electric vehicle charging station and 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;

sending a charging control signal from a first electric vehicle charging station to a second electric vehicle charging station, the charging control signal being configured to adjust a charge transfer for an electric vehicle connected to the second electric vehicle charging station, wherein the electric vehicle charging station uses a smart charging option that staggers a charging rate, a charging period, or both depending at least in part on a specific time for completing a charging of the electric vehicle and how many other electric vehicles are being charged; and

receiving a response from the second electric vehicle charging station.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the charging control signal enables or disables the charge transfer at the second charging station.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the charging control signal is sent to a plurality of electric vehicle charging stations.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the charging control signal determines a plurality of charging currents for the plurality of charging stations.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the charging control signal is based on a communication with a grid utility.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the charging control signal is determined based on at least one of the following:

a battery temperature of an electric vehicle, a charging current, a current battery charge of an electric vehicle, a length of time since an electric vehicle began charging, a price of electricity, a time of day, a time until an electric vehicle'"'"'s next use, a weather reading; and

an option for econocharging.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the charging control signal is determined based on at least one of the following:

a charging cable rating, a circuit protection rating, a duty cycle for a charging current, a future power draw from an electric vehicle, a threshold level for aggregate electrical consumption, a threshold level for instantaneous electrical consumption, a local aggregate energy consumption, a maximum allowable charge rate, a maximum allowable charge rate, a microgrid rating, a present power draw from an electric vehicle, a protection fuse rating, a quantity of electricity stored within a microgrid, a total maximum allowable load on a microgrid, an operational limit set by a grid utility; and

an option for using green energy.

10. A method for controlling multiple electric vehicle chargings, wherein a first charging at one electric vehicle charging station affect a second charging at another electric vehicle charging station, the method comprising:

sending, from a mobile device, a charge transfer request for the electric vehicle over a network link to the cloud server, wherein a 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 a charging control signal at a first electric vehicle charging station from a second electric vehicle charging station, the charging control signal being configured to adjust a charge transfer for an electric vehicle connected to the first electric vehicle charging station, wherein the electric vehicle charging station uses a smart charging option that staggers a charging rate, a charging period, or both depending at least in part on a specific time for completing a charging of the electric vehicle and how many other electric vehicles are being charged; and

adjusting the charge transfer of the electric vehicle according to the charging control signal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the charging control signal enables or disables the charge transfer at the first charging station.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first charging station receives a plurality of charging control signals from a plurality of electric vehicle charging stations.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a current for charging the electric vehicle is determined from the plurality of charging control signals from the plurality of charging stations.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the charging control signal is based on a communication with a grid utility.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the charging control signal is determined based on at least one of the following:

a battery temperature of an electric vehicle, a charging current, a current battery charge of an electric vehicle, a length of time since an electric vehicle began charging, a price of electricity, a time of day, a time until an electric vehicle'"'"'s next use, a weather reading; and

an option for econocharging.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the charging control signal is determined based on at least one of the following:

a charging cable rating, a circuit protection rating, a duty cycle for a charging current, a future power draw from an electric vehicle, a threshold level for aggregate electrical consumption, a threshold level for instantaneous electrical consumption, a local aggregate energy consumption, a maximum allowable charge rate, a maximum allowable charge rate, a microgrid rating, a present power draw from an electric vehicle, a protection fuse rating, a quantity of electricity stored within a microgrid, a total maximum allowable load on a microgrid, an operational limit set by a grid utility, and an option for using green energy.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the system, which includes a cloud server, a mobile device, and charging stations, aggregates data from an in-vehicle telematics platform to forecast an energy load or reserve a charging space for use by an electric vehicle.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the system includes a mesh network of charging stations or other charging agents that use logic to communicate, self-regulate, and optimize the local load on a microgrid.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the system includes charging stations in the network that adjust electrical loads to address a new electric vehicle connecting to and charging in the network.

20. The method of claim 10, wherein the system includes charging stations in the network that adjust electrical loads to take into account one fewer load on the network when an electric vehicle disconnects from the network.

21. The method of claim 10, wherein the system includes charging stations in the network that adjust electrical loads based on a forecasted demand of electricity use locally and at the grid level.