Method and apparatus for determining a price of a charging process of a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12162371-B2
Application number	US-202117400281-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 12, 2021
Priority date	Aug 12, 2020
Publication date	Dec 10, 2024
Grant date	Dec 10, 2024

Abstract

A method is provided for carrying out a charging process of a vehicle-external charging apparatus (1) for charging a vehicle (2), in particular an electric or hybrid vehicle. The method includes using a current measuring instrument (3) of the charging apparatus (1) to measure a charging current. The method then includes closing a first contactor (4) of the charging apparatus (1) and a second contactor (5) of the vehicle (2) for a time period that is measured by the current measuring instrument (3). A charging apparatus (1) for performing the method also is provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for determining a price for a charging process of a vehicle-external charging apparatus for charging a vehicle, the method comprising:
providing a charging current from the charging apparatus to the vehicle via a charging cable, the charging current being provided from a first contactor of the charging apparatus to a second contactor of the vehicle;
measuring the charging current by a current measuring instrument of the charging apparatus;
transmitting, via a first sensor line connecting the first contactor to the current measuring instrument, information about whether the first contactor is open or closed to the current measuring instrument:
transmitting, via a second sensor line connecting the second contactor to the current measuring instrument, information about whether the second contactor is open or closed to the current measuring instrument, the second sensor line being at least partially integrated into the charging cable;
measuring a time period by the current measuring instrument in which the first contactor of the charging apparatus and the second contactor of the vehicle are closed, the measured time period including a first period of time where the vehicle requests a charging current greater than zero amperes from the charging apparatus and a second period of time where the vehicle requests a charging current of zero amperes from the charging apparatus, the measured time is indicative of an amount of time of use of a parking area associated to the charging apparatus being occupied by the vehicle; and
determining a price for the charging process, wherein the price is based on an amount for charging the vehicle determined by the measured charging current and an amount for parking of the vehicle determined by the measured time period.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring of the time period is carried out by an evaluation device of the current measuring instrument.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the evaluation device has a display device, and the method comprises separately displaying on the display device the respective amounts for charging and for parking.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein measuring the time period comprises transmitting information about whether the first contactor is open or closed from a first positively driven auxiliary contact of the first contactor via the first sensor line to the evaluation device of the current measuring instrument, and transmitting information about whether the second contactor is open or closed from a second positively driven auxiliary contact of the second contactor via the second sensor line to the evaluation device of the current measuring instrument.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring an electrical voltage between the vehicle and the charging apparatus.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the measuring an electrical voltage between the vehicle and the charging apparatus comprises measuring the electrical voltage between the first contactor and the second contactor.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising measuring a time period in which the electrical voltage is not equal to zero volts and comparing the time period in which the electrical voltage is not equal to zero volts to the time period in which a first contactor of the charging apparatus and a second contactor of the vehicle are closed.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein information about whether the second contactor is open or closed is determined by measuring electrical voltage with the first contactor open.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising terminating the charging process after exceeding of a maximum time duration before the first and second contactors are closed.

10. A charging apparatus for charging a vehicle, the charging apparatus comprising:
a charging cable for providing a charging current to the vehicle;
a current measuring instrument for measuring the charging current, the charging current being provided from a first contactor of the charging apparatus to a second contactor of the vehicle;
a first sensor line connecting the first contactor to the current measuring instrument that transmits information about whether the first contactor is open or closed to the current measuring instrument;
a second sensor line connecting the second contactor to the current measuring instrument that transmits information about whether the second contactor is open or closed to the current measuring instrument, the second sensor line being at least partially integrated into the charging cable;
the current measuring instrument measures a time period in which the first contactor of the charging apparatus and the second contactor of the vehicle are closed, the measured time period including a first period of time where the vehicle requests a charging current greater than zero amperes from the charging apparatus and a second period of time where the vehicle requests a charging current of zero amperes from the charging apparatus, the measured time is indicative of an amount of time of use of a parking area associated to the charging apparatus being occupied by the vehicle; and
an evaluation device for determining a price for charging the vehicle, wherein the price is based on an amount for charging the vehicle determined by the measured charging current and an amount for parking of the vehicle determined by the measured time period.

11. The charging apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the current measuring instrument comprises the evaluation device for measuring the time period.

12. The charging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the evaluation device has a display device that separately displays the respective amounts for charging and for parking.

13. The charging apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a voltmeter for measuring an electrical voltage between the vehicle and the charging apparatus.

14. The charging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the evaluation device and the current measuring instrument are arranged in a common housing.

Assignees

• Porsche Ag

Inventors

• Heyne Raoul
• Massierer Timo

Classifications

• H02J7/971

  the charge cycle being controlled or terminated in response to non-electric parameters · CPC title

• H02J7/80

  including monitoring or indicating arrangements · CPC title

• B60L53/14

  Conductive energy transfer · CPC title

• Y02T90/12

  Electric charging stations · CPC title

• B60Y2200/92

  Hybrid vehicles · CPC title