ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING NETWORK SERVICES

• Main Authors: ZHADE, BHEEMRAO, FISHER, SHELDON
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 19.11.2014
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; CONTROLLING; COUNTING; DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FORADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORYOR FORECASTING PURPOSES; ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT OR PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLEDVEHICLES; ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES, IN GENERAL; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MEASURING; MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; NAVIGATION; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY; PHYSICS; REGULATING; SURVEYING; SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE,COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTINGPURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL

To provide remote services, including dynamic, interactive assistance to electric vehicle (EV) users, a central server is arranged for electronic communications with EVs (15) and with client devices (11). The server also communicates with at least one EV charging station network, which in turn communicate with individual charging stations (30). Remote services may include trip planning, locating charging stations, checking availability and suitability of charging stations, making reservations at charging stations, and updating plans en route. The server collects data from the EV and analyzes the data to determine various statistics. The system advises a user on readiness of the EV to complete a proposed trip before recharging the EV batteries. Client devices may include smart phones, computers, or a head unit in the EV. Application software programs are executable on the client devices to provide user interfaces for accessing the remote services and for communicating with the central server.