Charging Station and Method for Inductively Charging the Traction Battery of an Electronically Driven Vehicle

A method for inductively charging the traction battery of an electrically driven vehicle at a charging station, the charging station including a charging coupler and a motorized positioner configured to move the charging coupler within a range of motion, the charging coupler having a charging station-side transformer part by which electrical energy can be transferred to a vehicle-side transformer part arranged on the vehicle behind a license plate of the vehicle when the charging coupler is in a position relative to the license plate at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate, the method comprising:

• generating positional information indicative of positioning of the charging coupler and the license plate relative to one another using a camera at the charging station;
• generating driving instructions based on the positional information using an approach controller at the charging station, the driving instructions being indicative on how to drive the vehicle to a position in which the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler;
• driving the vehicle according to the driving instructions to drive the vehicle to the position in which the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler;
• and
• when the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler, moving the charging coupler based on the positional information using the positioner to move the charging coupler to the position relative to the license plate at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate.

A charging system for inductively charging the traction battery of an electrically driven vehicle, the charging system comprising:

• a charging coupler;
• a transformer assembly having a charging station-side transformer part and a vehicle-side transformer part, the charging station-side transformer part being part of the charging coupler, the vehicle-side transformer part being part of the vehicle and arranged behind a license plate of the vehicle, wherein electrical energy can be transferred from the charging station-side transformer part to the vehicle-side transformer part when the charging coupler is in a position relative to the license plate at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate;
• a camera configured to generate positional information indicative of positioning of the charging coupler and the license plate relative to one another;
• a motorized positioner configured to move the charging coupler within a range of motion;
• and
• an approach controller configured to generate driving instructions based on the positional information, the driving instructions being indicative on how to drive the vehicle to a position in which the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler;
• wherein when the license plate is within the range of motion of the charging coupler the positioner is further configured to move the charging coupler based on the positional information to move the charging coupler to the position relative to the license plate at which the transformer parts sandwich the license plate.