Unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle and system of recharging electric vehicle

A vehicle recharging system for recharging a partially depleted battery of an electric vehicle while the electric vehicle is driving, the vehicle recharging system comprising:

• a dispatch server having a server processor, a server memory and a server communication port for receiving a projected route from the electric vehicle and a first segment along the route where the partially depleted battery of the electric vehicle is to be recharged a first time and a second segment further along the route where the partially depleted battery of the electric vehicle is to be recharged a second time;
• wherein the dispatch server communicates to a first unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle (UARV) a first rendezvous location along the first segment of the projected route for recharging the electric vehicle the first time;
• wherein the dispatch server communicates to a second unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle (UARV) a second rendezvous location along the second segment of the projected route for recharging the electric vehicle the second time;
• wherein the dispatch server determines an adjusted second rendezvous location for the second UARV in response to determining that the first UARV is delayed and will intercept the electric vehicle at a delayed first rendezvous location;
• wherein the dispatch server determines if the second UARV still has sufficient range to recharge the electric vehicle when commencing at the adjusted second rendezvous location;
• and
• wherein the dispatch server is configured to transmit the adjusted second rendezvous location to the second UARV to instruct the second UARV to intercept the electric vehicle at the adjusted second rendezvous location.

An unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle for recharging a partially depleted battery of a moving electric vehicle, the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle comprising:

• a plurality of sensors for sensing surroundings of the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle to enable road tracking and collision avoidance;
• a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for determining a current location of the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle to enable navigation;
• an autonomous driving processor coupled to the plurality of sensors and to the GNSS receiver for autonomously driving the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle;
• a recharging battery that stores an electric charge for recharging the partially depleted battery of the electric vehicle;
• a radiofrequency transceiver to receive a recharging request, the recharging request comprising a projected route for the electric vehicle and time information indicating when the electric vehicle is traversing the projected route;
• a processor communicatively coupled to the radiofrequency transceiver to receive and process the recharging request data to determine a rendezvous location along the projected route, an estimated recharging time to recharge the electric vehicle, a predicted disconnection point along the projected route where charging is predicted to be complete, and a return path from the predicted disconnection point to an electric charging station where the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle can recharge the recharging battery, and wherein the processor determines that the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle has insufficient energy supply to recharge the electric vehicle and return to the electric charging station;
• wherein the processor is configured to cause the radiofrequency transceiver to transmit a detour proposal as an alternate route to the electric vehicle to minimize energy consumption to enable the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle to return to the electric charging station and to receive a detour confirmation from the electric vehicle that the electric vehicle will take a detour;
• and
• an electric power transfer device connected to the recharging battery to transfer electric power from the recharging battery of the unmanned autonomous recharging vehicle to the partially depleted battery of the electric vehicle.