Electric Vehicle Network

• US 20090082957A1
• Filed: 09/19/2008
• Published: 03/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Better Place GmbH
• Original Assignee: Better Place GmbH
• Inventors: Zarur, Andrey J., Agassi, Shai
• Application Number:
  US12/234,591
• Publication Number:
  US 20090082957A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/208
• 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 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 3/12 Recording operating variables ; Monitoring of operating variables
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/11 DC charging controlled by the charging station, e.g. mode 4
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/305 Communication interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/67 Controlling two or more charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• 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

An electric vehicle that includes an electric motor that drives one or more wheels of the vehicle and is powered by a battery. The electric vehicle determines a status of a battery of the vehicle and a geographic location of the vehicle. The electric vehicle then identifies at least one battery service station that the vehicle can reach based on the charge status of the battery of the vehicle and the geographic location of the vehicle. The electric vehicle displays the at least one battery service station to a user of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for providing information about battery service stations to an electric vehicle that includes an electric motor that drives one or more wheels of the vehicle and is powered by a battery, the method comprising:

at a vehicle,

determining a status of a battery of the vehicle;

determining a geographic location of the vehicle;

identifying at least one battery service station that the vehicle can reach based on the charge status of the battery of the vehicle and the geographic location of the vehicle; and

notifying the user of the at least one battery service station to a user of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising at the vehicle, displaying the geographic location of the vehicle relative to at least one battery service station on a map in a user interface of a positioning system of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising at the vehicle, marking the battery service stations that the vehicle can reach on the map.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one battery service station is a charge stations that recharges the battery of the vehicle or a battery exchange station that replaces an at least partially spent battery of the vehicle with a charged battery.

5. The method of claim 1,

wherein the battery is not owned by the user, and

wherein the user of the vehicle is a user that has legal title to the vehicle, or a user that has legal possession of the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a battery service station from a user of the vehicle; and

making a reservation at the battery service station for the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the status of the battery of the vehicle includes one selected from the group consisting of:

determining a charge level of the battery;

determining an age of the battery;

determining the number of charge/discharge cycles of the battery; and

any combination of the aforementioned operations.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the battery service stations that the vehicle can reach based on the status of the battery of the vehicle includes:

determining a maximum distance that the vehicle can travel before the battery can no longer power the electric motor of the vehicle; and

determining the battery service stations that are within the maximum distance from the geographic location of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the maximum distance includes a specified safety factor.

10. The method of claim 1, including:

determining a maximum distance that the vehicle can travel before the battery can no longer power the electric motor of the vehicle; and

marking in a user interface of a positioning system of the vehicle an area of a map that is within the maximum distance of the geographic location of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1, including periodically transmitting the status of the battery of the vehicle to a service provider over a data network.

12. The method of claim 1, including periodically transmitting the geographic location of the vehicle to a service provider over a data network.

13. The method of claim 1, including periodically receiving a status of the battery service stations from a service provider over a data network.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the status of a respective battery service station is selected from the group consisting of:

a number of charge stations of the respective battery service station that are occupied;

a number of charge stations of the respective battery service station that are free;

a number of battery exchange bays of the respective battery service station that are occupied;

a number of battery exchange bays of the respective battery service station that are free;

a location of the battery service station; and

and any combination of the aforementioned statuses.

15. A vehicle that includes an electric motor that drives one or more wheels of the vehicle and is powered by a battery, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs stored in the memory, the one or more programs comprising instructions to;

determine a status of a battery of the vehicle;

determine a geographic location of the vehicle;

identify at least one battery service station that the vehicle can reach based on the charge status of the battery of the vehicle and the geographic location of the vehicle; and

notify the user of the at least one battery service station to a user of the vehicle.

16. The vehicle of claim 15, further comprising instructions to display the geographic location of the vehicle relative to at least one battery service station on a map in a user interface of a positioning system of the vehicle.

17. The vehicle of claim 15, further comprising instructions to mark the battery service stations that the vehicle can reach on the map.

18. The vehicle of claim 15, wherein the at least one battery service station is a charge station that recharge the battery of the vehicle, or a battery exchange station that replaces an at least partially spent battery of the vehicle with a charged battery.

19. The vehicle of claim 15,

wherein the battery is not owned by user, and

wherein the user of the vehicle a user that has legal title to the vehicle, or a user that has legal possession of the vehicle.

20. The vehicle of claim 15, further comprising instructions to:

receive a selection of a battery service station from a user of the vehicle; and

making a reservation at the battery service station for the vehicle.

21. The vehicle of claim 15, wherein the instruction to determine the status of the battery of the vehicle includes one selected from the group consisting of:

instructions to determine a charge level of the battery;

instructions to determine an age of the battery;

instructions to determine the number of charge/discharge cycles of the battery; and

any combination of the aforementioned instructions.

22. The vehicle of claim 15, wherein the instructions to identify the battery service stations that the vehicle can reach based on the status of the battery of the vehicle includes instruction to:

determine a maximum distance that the vehicle can travel before the battery can no longer power the electric motor of the vehicle; and

determine the battery service stations that are within the maximum distance from the geographic location of the vehicle.

23. The vehicle of claim 22, wherein the maximum distance includes a specified safety factor.

24. The vehicle of claim 15, further comprising instructions to:

determine a maximum distance that the vehicle can travel before the battery can no longer power the electric motor of the vehicle; and

mark in a user interface of a positioning system of the vehicle an area of a map that is within the maximum distance of the geographic location of the vehicle.

25. The vehicle of claim 15, including instruction to periodically transmit the status of the battery of the vehicle to a service provider over a data network.

26. The vehicle of claim 15, including instruction to periodically transmit the geographic location of the vehicle to a service provider over a data network.

27. The vehicle of claim 15, including instructions to periodically receive a status of the battery service stations from a service provider over a data network.

28. The vehicle of claim 27, wherein the status of a respective battery service station is selected from the group consisting of:

a number of charge stations of the respective battery service station that are occupied;

a number of charge stations of the respective battery service station that are free;

a number of battery exchange bays of the respective battery service station that are occupied;

a number of battery exchange bays of the respective battery service station that are free;

a location of the battery service station; and

and any combination of the aforementioned statuses.

29. A computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a computer, the one or more programs comprising instructions to:

determine a status of a battery of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle includes an electric motor that drives one or more wheels of the vehicle, wherein the electric motor receives energy from the battery;

determine a geographic location of the vehicle;

identify at least one battery service station that the vehicle can reach based on the charge status of the battery of the vehicle and the geographic location of the vehicle; and

notify the user of the at least one battery service station to a user of the vehicle.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, further comprising instructions to display the geographic location of the vehicle relative to at least one battery service station on a map in a user interface of a positioning system of the vehicle.

31. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, further comprising instructions to mark the battery service stations that the vehicle can reach on the map.

32. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the at least one battery service station is a charge station that recharge the battery of the vehicle or a battery exchange station that replaces an at least partially spent battery of the vehicle with a charged battery.

33. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29,

wherein the battery is not owned by the user, and

wherein the user of the vehicle is a user that has legal title to the vehicle, or a user that has legal possession of the vehicle.

34. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, further comprising instructions to:

receive a selection of a battery service station from a user of the vehicle; and

making a reservation at the battery service station for the vehicle.

35. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the instructions to determine the status of the battery of the vehicle includes one selected from the group consisting of:

instructions to determine a charge level of the battery;

instructions to determine an age of the battery;

instructions to determine the number of charge/discharge cycles of the battery; and

any combination of the aforementioned instructions.

36. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the instructions to identify the battery service stations that the vehicle can reach based on the status of the battery of the vehicle includes instructions to:

determine a maximum distance that the vehicle can travel before the battery can no longer power the electric motor of the vehicle; and

determine the battery service stations that are within the maximum distance from the geographic location of the vehicle.

37. The computer readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein the maximum distance includes a specified safety factor.

38. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, including instructions to:

determine a maximum distance that the vehicle can travel before the battery can no longer power the electric motor of the vehicle; and

mark in a user interface of a positioning system of the vehicle an area of a map that is within the maximum distance of the geographic location of the vehicle.

39. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, including instructions to periodically transmit the status of the battery of the vehicle to a service provider over a data network.

40. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, including instructions to periodically transmit the geographic location of the vehicle to a service provider over a data network.

41. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, including instructions to periodically receive a status of the battery service stations from a service provider over a data network.

42. The computer readable storage medium of claim 41, wherein the status of a respective battery service station is selected from the group consisting of:

a number of charge stations of the respective battery service station that are occupied;

a number of charge stations of the respective battery service station that are free;

a number of battery exchange bays of the respective battery service station that are occupied;

a number of battery exchange bays of the respective battery service station that are free;

a location of the battery service station; and

and any combination of the aforementioned statuses.