Method and Apparatus for Recommending a Charging Station

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021310819-A1
Application number	US-201917274011-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 6, 2019
Priority date	Sep 7, 2018
Publication date	Oct 7, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present invention relates to method and apparatus for recommending a charging station, the method includes: determining, based on personal preference information of a user of an electric vehicle, a specific area reachable by the electric vehicle and suitable for charging the electric vehicle, when receiving a request for searching for a charging station for the electric vehicle; recommending a suitable charging station located in the specific area to the electric vehicle for charging. A suitable charging station may be recommended to the electric vehicle for charging with the method and apparatus.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for recommending a charging station, comprising:
determining, based on personal preference information of a user of an electric vehicle, a specific area reachable by the electric vehicle and suitable for charging the electric vehicle, when receiving a request for searching for a charging station for the electric vehicle; recommending a suitable charging station located in the specific area to the electric vehicle for charging; determining a charging intent of the electric vehicle; searching for charging stations located in the specific area to acquire a plurality of candidate charging stations; acquiring charging rounds and current statuses of respective charging piles of each of the plurality of candidate charging stations, wherein the charging round of each charging pile represents a ratio of the charging time to the occupancy time of the charging pile, and the current status of each charging pile represents whether the charging pile is currently idle or not; and recommending a suitable charging station of the plurality of candidate charging stations to the electric vehicle for charging based on the determined charging intent and the acquired charging rounds and current statuses.

2 . (canceled)

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recommending of a suitable charging station of the plurality of candidate charging stations to the electric vehicle for charging comprises:
if the determined charging intent is charge-and-go, checking, based on the acquired current statuses, whether there is at least one charging station in the plurality of candidate charging stations each containing a plurality of charging piles that are currently idle; and if the check result is true, selecting the charging station closest to the electric vehicle from the at least one charging station to recommend to the electric vehicle.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the recommending of a suitable charging station of the plurality of candidate charging stations to the electric vehicle for charging further comprises:
if the check result is false, calculating, based on the acquired charging rounds, a charging round of each of the plurality of candidate charging stations, wherein the charging round of each candidate charging station represents an average of the charging rounds of respective charging piles in the candidate charging station; and selecting, from the plurality of candidate charging stations, the charging station having the largest charging round to recommend to the electric vehicle.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recommending of a suitable charging station of the plurality of candidate charging stations to the electric vehicle for charging comprises:
if the determined charging intent is charge-and-park, calculating, based on the acquired charging rounds, a charging round of each of the plurality of candidate charging stations, wherein the charging round of each candidate charging station represents an average of the charging rounds of respective charging piles in the candidate charging station; finding, from the plurality of candidate charging stations, charging stations having a charging round less than a charging round threshold; detecting, based on the acquired current statuses, whether there are one or more charging stations in the found charging stations each containing a plurality of charging piles that are currently idle; and if the detection result is true, selecting the charging station closest to the electric vehicle from the one or more charging stations to recommend to the electric vehicle.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the recommending of a suitable charging station of the plurality of candidate charging stations to the electric vehicle for charging further comprises:
if the detection result is false, selecting, from the found charging stations, the charging station having the largest charging round to recommend to the electric vehicle.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining of a charging intent of the electric vehicle comprises:
determining a charging intent of the electric vehicle based on one or more of remaining battery power of the electric vehicle, historical travel trajectories of the electric vehicle, and a navigation route of the electric vehicle.

8 . An apparatus for recommending a charging station, comprising:
a first determination circuit for determining, based on personal preference information of a user of an electric vehicle, a specific area reachable by the electric vehicle and suitable for charging the electric vehicle, when receiving a request for searching for a charging station for the electric vehicle; and a first recommendation circuit for recommending a suitable charging station located in the specific area to the electric vehicle for charging, wherein the first recommendation circuit comprises: a second determination circuit for determining a charging intent of the electric vehicle; a searching circuit for searching for charging stations located in the specified area reachable by the electric vehicle to acquire a plurality of candidate charging stations; an acquiring circuit for acquiring charging round and current status of respective charging piles of each of the plurality of candidate charging stations, wherein the charging round of each charging pile represents a ratio of the charging time to the occupancy time of the charging pile, and the current status of each charging pile represents whether the charging pile is currently idle or not; and a second recommendation circuit for recommending a suitable charging station of the plurality of candidate charging stations to the electric vehicle for charging based on the determined charging intent and the acquired charging rounds and current statuses.

9 . (canceled)

10 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the second recommendation circuit comprises:
a first checking circuit for, if the determined charging intent is charge-and-go, checking, based on the acquired current statuses, whether there is at least one charging station in the plurality of candidate charging stations each containing a plurality of charging piles that are currently idle; and a first selecting circuit for, if the check result is true, selecting the charging station closest to the electric vehicle from the at least one charging station to recommend to the electric vehicle.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the second recommendation circuit further comprises:
a first calculating circuit for, if the check result is false, calculating, based on the acquired charging rounds, a charging round of each of the plurality of candidate charging stations, wherein the charging round of each candidate charging station represents an average of the charging rounds of respective charging piles in the candidate charging station; and a second selecting circuit for selecting, from the plurality of candidate charging stations, the charging station having the largest charging round to recommend to the electric vehicle.

12 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the second recommendation circuit comprises:
a second calculating circuit for, if the determined charging intent is charge-and-park, calculating, based on the acquired charging rounds, a charging round of each of the plurality of candidate charging stations, wherein the charging round of each candidate charging station represents an average of the charging rounds of respective charging piles in the candidate charging station; a finding circuit for finding, from the plurality of candidate charging stations, charging stations having a chargi

Assignees

• Volkswagen Ag

Inventors

• Zhang Xin
• Duan Ning
• Sun Wei
• Gao Hang
• Liu Weidong

Classifications

• B60L2240/62

  Vehicle position · CPC title

• G01C21/3476 Primary

  using point of interest [POI] information, e.g. a route passing visible POIs · CPC title

• B60L2240/60

  Navigation input · CPC title

• B60L53/62

  in response to charging parameters, e.g. current, voltage or electrical charge · CPC title

• B60L2240/70

  Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres · CPC title