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US 12,711,506 B2Granted
Intelligent cost representation and payment preauthorization for vehicle fueling transactions
AssigneeAmerican Honda Motor Co., Inc.
InventorDavid Wong Cun
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for facilitating and optimizing pre-authorizations for anticipated re-fueling transactions for vehicles. A server may receive information about a vehicle's current location and fuel status along with other telemetry data. The server can predict how much fuel will be dispensed by the vehicle in an fueling event to occur at a target re-fueling station. A cost representation of this fuel can be calculated and used to perform highly accurate pre-authorizations of in anticipation of the upcoming transaction, before the vehicle arrives at the re-fueling station.
Claims20
A method for optimizing payment processing for vehicle fueling transactions, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a remote concierge system, first telemetry data from a vehicle including a current location of the vehicle relative to a re-fueling station, and an indication that a fuel level of the vehicle has fallen below a first threshold;
- predicting, at the remote concierge system, the vehicle has a high likelihood of traveling to the re-fueling station within a first window of time to purchase fuel;
- querying, by the remote concierge system, the re-fueling station to determine current charging activity and an estimated wait time before a charging component becomes available;
- estimating, at the remote concierge system, a first fuel amount that will be required to fully re-fuel the vehicle upon its arrival at the re-fueling station, wherein estimating the first fuel amount comprises:
- determining a predicted state of charge (SoC) of a battery of the vehicle at a time a charging session is estimated to begin, based on a current SoC, a rate of discharge, a distance to the re-fueling station, the estimated wait time, and a predicted energy consumption of one or more auxiliary vehicle systems during the estimated wait time;
- and
- calculating the first fuel amount based on a difference between a full charge capacity of the battery and the predicted SoC at the time the charging session is estimated to begin;
- calculating, at the remote concierge system, a cost representation for purchase of the first fuel amount by applying a price rate corresponding to the estimated arrival time to the first fuel amount, wherein the cost representation is dynamically adjusted based on a predicted energy consumption of one or more auxiliary vehicle systems and a predicted wait time at the re-fueling station;
- transmitting, from the remote concierge system and before the vehicle is physically connected to a component of the re-fueling station, the cost representation and payment details for an account linked to the vehicle to a payment processor for the re-fueling station;
- and
- receiving, from the payment processor and at the remote concierge system, confirmation that the purchase of the first fuel amount based on the cost representation has been pre-authorized.
8 more elements
A method for optimizing payment processing for vehicle fueling transactions, the method comprising:
- determining, by a remote concierge service for a vehicle, a fuel level of the vehicle has fallen below a first threshold;
- presenting, by the remote concierge service and via a display or speaker of the vehicle, a first notification:
- indicating the fuel level has fallen below the first threshold, and offering a selectable option for re-routing the vehicle to a re-fueling station;
- receiving, by the remote concierge service, acceptance of the selectable option;
- responsively causing a navigation application associated with the vehicle to generate and present a route to the re-fueling station;
- transmitting, from the concierge service and to a remote concierge system, a current location of the vehicle relative to the re-fueling station, and a current fuel level of the vehicle;
- and
- wherein the remote concierge system:
- queries the re-fueling station to determine current charging activity and an estimated wait time before a charging component becomes available;
- predicts a state of charge (SoC) of the vehicle at a time a charging session is estimated to begin based on the estimated wait time and a predicted energy consumption of one or more auxiliary vehicle systems during the estimated wait time;
- and
- calculates a cost representation for a first fuel amount based on a difference between a full charge capacity and the predicted SoC at the time the charging session is estimated to begin;
- and
- receiving, from the remote concierge system and at the concierge service, before the vehicle is physically connected to a component of the re-fueling station, a message indicating purchase of the first fuel amount has been pre-authorized.
11 more elements
A system for optimizing payment processing for vehicle fueling transactions, the system comprising a processor and machine-readable media including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
- receive, at a remote concierge system, first telemetry data from a vehicle including a current location of the vehicle relative to a re-fueling station, and an indication that a fuel level of the vehicle has fallen below a first threshold;
- predict, at the remote concierge system, the vehicle has a high likelihood of traveling to the re-fueling station within a first window of time to purchase fuel;
- estimate, at the remote concierge system, a first fuel amount that will be required to fully re-fuel the vehicle upon its arrival at the re-fueling station based on real-time vehicle usage data including at least one of a weight load carried by the vehicle or activity data for a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system of the vehicle, wherein the real-time vehicle usage data is used to calculate a rate of fuel consumption during travel to the re-fueling station and predict a state of charge of the vehicle upon arrival at the re-fueling station;
- calculate, at the remote concierge system, a cost representation for purchase of the first fuel amount;
- transmit, from the remote concierge system and before the vehicle is physically connected to a component of the re-fueling station, the cost representation and payment details for an account linked to the vehicle to a payment processor for the re-fueling station;
- and
- receive, from the payment processor and at the remote concierge system, confirmation that the purchase of the first fuel amount has been pre-authorized.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.