# US 12,594,850 B2 · Systems and methods for prioritizing vehicle charging using energy from renewable or low carbon emission sources > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,594,850 B2 - Document ID: US12594850B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/936,891 - Filed: 2022-09-30 - Published: 2024-04-04 - Granted: 2026-04-07 - Earliest claimed: 2022-09-30 - Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC - Applicants: Ford Global Technologies, LLC - Inventors: Jonathan Hair; Michael Alan McNees; Brendan Diamond; Andrew Denis Lewandowski; Lars Niklas Pettersson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12594850B2 ## CPC - B60L 53/63: in response to network capacity - B60L 53/00: Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles - B60L 53/51: Photovoltaic means - B60L 53/64: Optimising energy costs, e.g. responding to electricity rates - B60L 53/68: Off-site monitoring or control, e.g. remote control - B60L 55/00: Arrangements for supplying energy stored within a vehicle to a power network, i.e. vehicle-to-grid [V2G] arrangements - G06Q 10/0631: Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations - H02J 7/92: with prioritisation of loads or sources - B60L 50/60: using power supplied by batteries (in combination with fuel cells B60L50/75) - B60L 53/50: Charging stations characterised by energy-storage or power-generation means - B60L 53/52: Wind-driven generators - H02J 2105/37: exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] - Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries - Y02T 10/7072: Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors - Y02T 90/12: Electric charging stations - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract Systems and methods are disclosed for prioritizing vehicle charging using energy from renewable/low carbon emission energy sources over non-renewable/high carbon emission energy sources. The proposed systems and methods allow users to identify when to charge their vehicles and/or when to provide energy from their vehicles to other structures based on a currently available energy source mixture and in a manner that minimizes the impact to the environment. In-vehicle connectivity may be utilized to obtain real-time grid information, and a charging schedule may then be created that intelligently prioritizes charging during times when an energy mixture percentage available from renewable/low carbon emission sources exceeds a predefine threshold or when a real-time emissions level is below a predefined threshold. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle charging system, comprising: a traction battery pack; and a control module programmed to prepare an ECO charging schedule for charging the traction battery pack, wherein the ECO charging schedule prioritizes using energy from renewable/low carbon emission energy sources over non-renewable/high carbon emission energy sources for charging the traction battery pack, wherein the ECO charging schedule is generated based on a user-selected ECO charging mode setting that includes a user selection of at least one of a predefined renewable energy threshold or a predefined maximum acceptable emission rate threshold. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the ECO charging schedule identifies a time when a real-time energy mixture from the renewable/low carbon emission energy sources exceeds the predefined renewable energy threshold for charging the traction battery pack. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 2, wherein the real-time energy mixture is derived from grid data received from a cloud-based server system. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the ECO charging schedule identifies a time when a real-time emission rate of a grid power source is less than the predefined maximum acceptable emission rate threshold for charging the traction battery pack. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 4, wherein the predefined maximum acceptable emission rate threshold is derived from the user-selected ECO charging mode setting. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 4, wherein the real-time emission rate is derived from grid data received from a cloud-based server system. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the control module is further programmed to determine a real-time emission rate and a long term average emission rate of a grid power source as part of preparing the ECO charging schedule. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 7, wherein the real-time emission rate and the long term average emission rate are derived from grid data obtained from a cloud-based server system. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the control module is a component of a motor vehicle that is powered by the traction battery pack. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the ECO charging schedule identifies when the traction battery pack cannot be charged to a predefined vehicle range threshold before a desired departure time. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 10, wherein the control module is further programmed to control charging of the traction battery pack without prioritizing energy from the renewable/low carbon emission energy sources when the traction battery pack cannot be charged to the predefined vehicle range threshold before the desired departure time. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 11, wherein the predefined vehicle range threshold and the desired departure time are derived from the user-selected ECO charging mode setting. ### Claim 13 (depends on 2) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 2, wherein the control module is further programmed to control the traction battery pack to power a residential structure when the real-time energy mixture is below the predefined renewable energy threshold. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the control module is further programmed to control the traction battery pack to power a residential structure when a real-time emission rate of a grid power source is greater than the predefined maximum acceptable emission rate threshold. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the control module is further programmed to (1) determine both a real-time emission rate and a long-term average emission rate of a grid power source, and (2) optimize the ECO charging schedule based on a comparison between the real-time emission rate and the long-term average emission rate. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, comprising a user interface configured to receive the user-selected ECO charging mode setting. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 16, wherein the user interface includes a first tactile text box for inputting a vehicle range threshold, a second tactile text box for inputting a desired departure time, and a third tactile text box for inputting the predefined renewable energy threshold or the predefined maximum acceptable emission rate threshold. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The vehicle charging system as recited in claim 1, wherein the ECO charging schedule includes instructions for dispatching a vehicle that comprises the traction battery pack to a charging site having a more favorable renewable energy availability. ### Claim 19 A method, comprising: receiving an input of a user-selected ECO charging mode setting that includes a user selection of at least one of a predefined renewable energy threshold or a predefined maximum acceptable emission rate threshold; and controlling charging of a traction battery pack of a vehicle based on an ECO charging schedule created by a control module of a vehicle charging system, wherein the ECO charging schedule prioritizes a use of energy from renewable/low carbon emission energy sources over non-renewable/high carbon emission energy sources and is generated based on the user-selected ECO charging mode setting. ### Claim 20 A vehicle charging system, comprising: a traction battery pack; a user interface configured to receive an input of a user-selected ECO charging mode setting for charging the traction battery pack, wherein the user-selected ECO charging mode setting includes a user selection of a predefined renewable energy threshold, a predefined maximum acceptable emission rate threshold, a predefined vehicle range threshold, and a desired departure time; a control module programmed to prepare an ECO charging schedule for charging the traction battery pack that is generated based on the user-selected ECO charging mode setting, wherein the ECO charging schedule prioritizes using energy from renewable/low carbon emission energy sources over non-renewable/high carbon emission energy sources when charging the traction battery pack; and the control module is further programmed to automatically disable the ECO charging schedule when the traction battery pack cannot be charged to the predefined vehicle range threshold before the desired departure time.