Electrical circuit sharing for electric vehicle charging stations
AssigneeCoulomb Technologies, Inc.
InventorsDavid Baxter, Carl F. Hagenmaier, JR., Milton T. Tormey, Richard Lowenthal
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Electric vehicle charging stations are coupled with a circuit sharing controller. Multiple electric vehicle charging stations are wired on the same electrical circuit. The circuit sharing controller implements a circuit sharing process that dynamically allocates electric current to charging stations on the same electrical circuit such that the capacity of the electrical circuit is not exceeded while permitting each of those charging stations to draw electric current through that electrical circuit for at least some amount of time.
Claims20
A method for a shared electrical circuit infrastructure for charging electric vehicles, comprising:
- determining a maximum amount of electric current supported by an electrical circuit that is shared among a plurality of electric vehicle charging stations, wherein each of the electric vehicle charging stations are coupled with a circuit sharing controller;
- and
- dynamically allocating electric current to at least some of the electric vehicle charging stations based on at least an amount of electric current presently allocated for the electrical circuit such that the maximum amount of electric current supported by the electrical circuit is prevented from being exceeded while permitting each of the least some of the electric vehicle charging stations to draw electric current through the electrical circuit for at least some amount of time.
A method for a shared electrical circuit infrastructure for charging electric vehicles comprising:
- receiving, at a circuit sharing controller, a message from an electric vehicle charging station that indicates a request for an allocation of electric current, wherein the electric vehicle charging station shares an electrical circuit with a set of one or more other electric vehicle charging stations, and wherein at least some of the set of other electric vehicle charging stations are presently allocated electric current;
- determining that granting the request would exceed a maximum amount of electric current supported by the electrical circuit;
- and
- responsive to that determination, adjusting the electric current allocations of at least some of the set of other electric vehicle charging stations such that the requesting electric vehicle charging station can be allocated electric current for at least some amount of time and the maximum amount of electric current supported by the electrical circuit is not exceeded.
An apparatus for a shared electrical circuit infrastructure for charging electric vehicles, comprising:
- a circuit sharing controller to be coupled with a plurality of electric vehicle charging stations that share a same electrical circuit, the circuit sharing controller including a plurality of control modules to perform the following:
- control allocation of electric current to the electric vehicle charging stations through one or more messages, and
- dynamically adjust the electric current allocations based on an amount of electric current presently allocated for the electrical circuit and a maximum amount of electric current supported by the electrical circuit such that the maximum amount of electric current supported by the electrical circuit is not exceeded.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.