Universal charging station and method for charging electric vehicle batteries

A charging station for charging a battery for an electric vehicle, where the battery is capable of accepting initial charging current at a rate greater than 1C, and where said charging station is capable of delivering that charging current at a preset voltage which is suitable for the battery being charged, comprising:

• at least two wires capable of carrying the maximum value of charging current to be delivered to said battery, and communication means capable of transferring data concerning the state of charge of said battery being charged between the battery and the charging station;
• means for interrogating the vehicle over said communication means to determine if there is present and associated with said battery in said vehicle a battery specific charging control module, or to determine if there exists in said vehicle a personality module which identifies at least the criteria of maximum charging current and nominal charging voltage under which conditions the battery may be charged in the shortest possible time period;
• or in the absence of a battery specific charging module associated with said battery or a personality module which identifies at least the criteria of maximum charging current and nominal charging voltage under which conditions the battery may by charged in the shortest possible time period, to determine if there exists in said vehicle at least monitoring means to determine the value of terminal voltage of the battery being charged;
• means for charging said battery by delivering charging current thereto under the control of a battery specific charging control module in said vehicle in the event that a battery specific charging control module is present in said vehicle, and means for stopping the delivery of charging current to said battery in keeping with a signal to do so issued by said battery specific charging control module;
• means for charging said battery by delivering charging current thereto, initially at a maximum charging current and a nominal charging voltage in the event that a personality module which at least identifies the maximum charging current and nominal charging voltage is present, means for periodically halting the delivery of charging current and determining the instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage of said battery during each interval of time when delivery of charging current has been halted, means for comparing said instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage to a reference voltage stored in a charge control module which is present in said charging station, means for reducing the charging current under control of said charge control module present in said charging station, and means for stopping the delivery of charging current to said battery in keeping with a signal issued by said charge control module present in said charging station;
• and
• means for presetting the charge station to predetermined allowable values of nominal charging voltage and maximum charging current in the event that there at least exists in said vehicle monitoring means to determine the value of the terminal voltage of the battery being charged, means for presetting a maximum value of charging energy to be permitted to be delivered to said battery, means for periodically halting the delivery of charging current, means for determining the instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage of said battery during each interval of time when delivery of the charging current has been halted, means for comparing said instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage to a reference voltage stored in a charge control module which is present in said charging station, means for reducing the charging current under control of said charge control module present in said charging station, and means for stopping the delivery of charging current to said battery in keeping with a signal issued by said charge control module present in said charging station or when said preset maximum value of charging energy has been delivered to said battery;
• wherein the signal to stop delivery of charging current, and data which is indicative of the instantaneous terminal voltage of said battery, are transferred between said battery and said charging station over said communication means.

A charging station for charging a battery for an electric vehicle, where the battery is capable of accepting initial charging current at a rate greater than 1C, and where said charging station is capable of delivering that charging current at a preset voltage which is suitable for the battery being charged, comprising:

• at least two wires capable of carrying the maximum value of charging current to be delivered to said battery, and communication means capable of transferring data concerning the state of charge of said battery being charged between the battery and the charging station;
• means for interrogating the vehicle over said communication means to determine if there is present and associated with said battery in said vehicle a battery specific charging control module, or to determine if there exists in said vehicle a personality module which identifies at least the criteria of maximum charging current and nominal charging voltage under which conditions the battery may be charged in the shortest possible time period;
• or in the absence of a battery specific charging module associated with said battery or a personality module which identifies at least the criteria of maximum charging current and nominal charging voltage under which conditions the battery may by charged in the shortest possible time period, to determine if there exists in said vehicle at least monitoring means to determine the value of terminal voltage of the battery being charged;
• means for charging said battery by delivering charging current thereto under the control of a battery specific charging control module in said vehicle in the event that a battery specific charging control module is present in said vehicle, and means for stopping the delivery of charging current to said battery in keeping with a signal to do so issued by said battery specific charging control module;
• means for charging said battery by delivering charging current thereto, initially at a maximum charging current and a nominal charging voltage in the event that a personality module which at least identifies the maximum charging current and nominal charging voltage is present, means for periodically halting the delivery of charging current and determining the instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage of said battery during each interval of time when delivery of charging current has been halted, means for comparing said instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage to a reference voltage stored in a charge control module which is present in said charging station, means for reducing the charging current under control of said charge control module present in said charging station, and means for stopping the delivery of charging current to said battery in keeping with a signal issued by said charge control module present in said charging station;
• and
• means for presetting the charge station to predetermined allowable values of nominal charging voltage and maximum charging current in the event that there at least exists in said vehicle monitoring means to determine the value of the terminal voltage of the battery being charged, means for presetting a maximum value of charging energy to be permitted to be delivered to said battery, means for periodically halting the delivery of charging current, means for determining the instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage of said battery during each interval of time when delivery of the charging current has been halted, means for comparing said instantaneous resistance free terminal voltage to a reference voltage stored in a charge control module which is present in said charging station, means for reducing the charging current under control of said charge control module present in said charging station, and means for stopping the delivery of charging current to said battery in keeping with a signal issued by said charge control module present in said charging station or when said preset maximum value of charging energy has been delivered to said battery;
• wherein the signal to stop delivery of charging current, and the data which is indicative of the instantaneous terminal voltage of said battery, are transferred between said battery and said charging station over said communication means;
• said apparatus further comprising means whereby a plurality of vehicle batteries may be charged from a single charging station, means for distributing charging energy to a plurality of switches or contactors, all of which are connected to a common rectifier, means for monitoring the energy output from said common rectifier, means for reducing the energy flow to any one or all of said plurality of switches or contactors, and means for precluding energy flow to any one or more of said plurality of switches or contactors;
• whereby, when said energy output from said rectifier reaches a predetermined maximum energy flow and fewer than all of said plurality of switches or contactors are closed, and a further switch or contactor is closed, either said means for reducing energy flow to any or all of the connected switches or contactors performs its function, or said means to preclude energy flow to any one or more of said plurality of switches or contactors performs its function, so as to reduce said energy output from said rectifier to at least no greater than said predetermined maximum energy flow.