Battery charging and transfer system for electrically powered vehicles

A battery charging and transfer station for replacing a battery of an electrically powered vehicle, the vehicle including a battery compartment which extends within at least a portion of the vehicle, the station comprising:

• a drive-through vehicle bay having an entrance end and an exit end to permit the vehicle to enter the bay, stop within the bay, and exit from the bay along a predetermined path without reversing direction;
• a battery transfer conveyor, the conveyor having a battery receiving end which receives a discharged battery from the battery compartment, and having a battery delivery end which delivers a charged battery to the battery compartment, the conveyor having multiple battery positions for storing multiple batteries between the receiving and delivery ends;
• at least one battery charger positioned along the conveyor;
• a computer coupled to the conveyor such that the computer programmably moves batteries along the conveyor from the receiving end to the delivery end;
• at least one electronic sensing device coupled to the computer, the sensing device positioned along the conveyor to read unique ID codes of batteries on the conveyor;
• and
• a database coupled to the computer, the database storing historical data for a plurality of batteries, said historical data stored in association with the unique ID codes of the batteries.

A battery charging and transfer station for replacing a battery of an electrically powered vehicle, said vehicle including a battery compartment which extends within at least a portion of said vehicle, the station comprising:

• a drive-through vehicle bay having an entrance end and an exit end to permit the vehicle to enter the bay, stop within the bay, and exit from the bay along a predetermined path without reversing direction;
• battery exchange means for removing a discharged battery from the battery compartment and for moving a charged battery into the battery compartment;
• at least one battery charger positioned proximal to the battery exchange means;
• a computer coupled to the battery exchange means such that the computer programmably controls the battery exchange means;
• at least one electronic sensing device coupled to the battery exchange means, the sensing device positioned along the battery exchange means to read unique ID codes of batteries;
• and
• a database coupled to the computer, the database storing historical data for a plurality of batteries, said historical data stored in association with the unique ID codes of the batteries.