ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUPPLY EQUIPMENT FOR VEHICLE-TO-VEHICLE BATTERY CHARGING

An electric vehicle supply equipment may include electrical power transfer circuitry having a power input and a power output. An electric vehicle supply equipment may include a recipient connector connected to the power output and configured to interconnect with a recipient charge port of a recipient vehicle. An electric vehicle supply equipment may include a donor connector connected to the power input and configured to interconnect with a donor charge port of a donor vehicle, wherein the donor connector has one or more electrical attributes that distinguish the donor connector from the recipient connector.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent application is directed to electric vehicle supply equipment configured to support transfer of electrical power from the power grid to a recipient electrical vehicle and to support transfer electrical power from a donor electrical vehicle to a recipient electrical vehicle or other devices requiring electrical power.

BACKGROUND

Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) typically have a power input connected to an electrical grid based power source, e.g., connected to a 120V AC source by an electrical cable having a NEMA 5-15 connector or connected to a 240V AC source by an electrical cable having a NEMA 14-50 connector. The EVSE also has a power output that is connected to a charge inlet of an electrical vehicle, e.g., by an electrical cable terminated by a charging connector conforming to a charging standard, such as Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standard J1772_201710 (SAE J1772), and commonly known as the Combined Charging Standard (CCS1), TESLA's North American Charging Standard (NACS), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard 62196 (also known as CCS2), the Japan Automobile Research Institute CHAdeMO standard, or the Goubiao/T (GBT) 20234.1 standard.

SUMMARY

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) configured to provide electrical power from a donor vehicle to a recipient vehicle, the EVSE including: electrical power transfer circuitry having a power input and a power output; a recipient connector connected to the power output and configured to interconnect with a recipient charge port of the recipient vehicle; and a donor connector, connected to the power input and configured to interconnect with a donor charge port of the donor vehicle, wherein the donor connector has one or more electrical attributes that distinguish the donor connector from the recipient connector.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method of charging a battery of a recipient electrical vehicle using electrical power from a battery of a donor electrical vehicle, including: connecting a donor connector of an electric vehicle supply equipment to a donor charge port of a donor vehicle, wherein the donor connector is connected to a power input of the electric vehicle supply equipment; connecting a recipient connector of the electric vehicle supply equipment to a recipient charge port of a recipient vehicle, wherein the recipient connector is connected to a power output of the electric vehicle supply equipment, wherein the donor connector has one or more electrical attributes that distinguish the donor connector from the recipient connector; detecting an electrical attribute of the donor connector via an on-board control module in the donor vehicle; and providing electrical power from a donor battery in the donor vehicle to a recipient battery in the recipient vehicle via the electric vehicle supply equipment.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electric vehicle, including: a battery; a charge port conforming to a charging standard and configured to receive a charging connector; and an on-board control module containing software that, when executed, causes the on-board control module to: transfer electrical power from the charge port to the battery when the on-board control module detects that one or more electrical attributes of the charging connector are within a specified range of values according to the charging standard, and transfer electrical power from the battery to the charge port when the on-board control module detects that one or more electrical attributes are outside the specified range of values according to the charging standard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

When an electrical vehicle is in an extremely low state of charge (SoC) and does not have access to grid powered electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), it may be desirable to provide a charge to the battery of this low SoC vehicle, hereafter referred to as the recipient vehicle, from a portable electrical power source, for example another electrical vehicle having a higher SoC, hereafter referred to as the donor vehicle. For example, this power transfer from the donor vehicle may be used to provide a sufficient charge to the recipient vehicle to allow the recipient vehicle to drive to a grid powered charging station.

Electric vehicle supply equipment, hereafter referred to as EVSE100, that is configured for transferring electrical power from a donor vehicle to a recipient vehicle is presented herein. As shown in the non-limiting example ofFIGS.1and2, EVSE100has one CCS1 standard (SAE J1772) connector, hereafter referred to as recipient connector102, that is used to connect electrical power transfer circuitry104to a recipient charge port106in a recipient vehicle108via electrical cable110. In this example, the EVSE100also has a detachable power cable112that is terminated by a donor connector114that is configured to connect with a donor charge port116in the donor vehicle118. In some embodiments, the donor connector114has a physical interface to the donor charge port116that is identical to the physical interface of the CCS1 type connector. However, in some embodiments the electrical circuitry within the donor connector114is different from the recipient connector102. As described in more detail below, the differences in electrical circuitry associated with the donor connector114(as compared with the recipient connector102) allows an on-board control module120located on the donor vehicle118to detect the connection of the donor connector114and determine that the donor vehicle118should operate in a charging mode to provide power from the donor vehicle118to the recipient vehicle108without requiring communication from the EVSE100. In some embodiments, the donor connector114does not fully conform to the CCS1 standard as a result of these differences in the electrical circuitry.

In some embodiments, the detachable power cable112that is terminated by the donor connector114may be disconnected from the EVSE100and replaced by a grid power cord (not shown) that allows the EVSE100to be powered by the electrical grid rather than the donor vehicle118.

In some embodiments, differences in electrical attributes between the recipient connector102and the donor connector114are a proximity signal provided by the respective connectors to the donor charge port116. For example, the donor connector114may provide a proximity signal (referred to herein as a first proximity signal) that is different or distinguishable from the proximity signal (referred to herein as the second proximity signal) generated by the recipient connector102. In some embodiments, the recipient connector102provides a proximity signal that is defined by the CCS1 standard communication protocol.

In some embodiments, differences in electrical attributes between the recipient connector102and the donor connector114are provided by the presence or absence of a control pilot signal. For example, in some embodiments, the recipient connector102provides a control pilot signal line CP (shown inFIG.3) when connected to the recipient vehicle108according to a CCS1 standard. In some embodiments, the donor connector114differs from the CCS1 standard because the donor connector114is not configured to and does not provide a control pilot signal line when connected to the donor vehicle118.

In some embodiments, a control module120in the donor vehicle118may be programmed to detect one or more electrical attributes (e.g., a proximity signal and/or lack of control pilot signal) to determine that the donor vehicle118needs to provide electrical power to, rather than receive power from, the donor charge port116and thereby the electrical power transfer circuitry104via the donor connector114and detachable power cable112. For example, in some embodiments, the control module120detects the proximity signal provided by the donor connector114and utilizes the detected proximity signal (either first proximity signal or second proximity signal) to detect the type of connector connected to the donor charge port116. If the control module120detects the second proximity signal the control module120determines that a recipient connector102is connected to the donor charge port116, indicating that the donor charge port116will be utilized to receive charging power. Conversely, if the control module120detects the first proximity signal the control module120determines that a donor connector114is connected to the donor charge port116, indicating that the donor charge port116will be utilized to provide charging power to a recipient vehicle108. Likewise, the presence or absence of a control pilot signal may also be utilized by the control module120to determine whether the recipient connector102or donor connector114is connected to the donor charge port116. In some embodiments, the control module120utilizes a combination of two or more electrical attributes to determine whether the recipient connector102or donor connector114is connected to the donor charge port116.

While the recipient connector102and the donor connector114contained in this example conform with or are based on the SAE J1772 standard, in other embodiments, the recipient and donor connectors may be modified to conform with or be based on other electric vehicle charging connector standards, such as the NACS, CCS2, CHAdeMO, or GBT standards. Alternatively, the donor connector may be based on one of these standards while the recipient connector may be based on a different standard. In each case, electrical attributes of the donor connector114are modified as compared with the recipient connector102to allow the control module120to distinguish between the respective connectors.

The EVSE100may be configured so that the detachable power cable112terminated by donor connector114may be replaced by a power cable having a power grid connector such as a NEMA 5-15 or 14-50 connector (not shown). This allows the EVSE100to be used for both grid based charging and vehicle-to-vehicle charging.

The circuitry hardware differences in the donor connector114(i.e., proximity signal and/or lack of control pilot signal) allow a control module120in the donor vehicle118to be programmed to detect that the control module120should switch to a vehicle-to-vehicle charging mode without the need for any communication from the EVSE100or the recipient vehicle108. This allows the EVSE100to support vehicle-to-vehicle charging without any changes required to the EVSE100. During normal charging operation, software in the control module120of the donor vehicle118causes electrical power to be transferred via the electrical power transfer circuitry104to the donor charge port116, which is then supplied to the donor battery122(i.e., typical charging operation of the donor vehicle118when the control module120detects that a value of a proximity circuit in the charging connector is within a specified range of values of the proximity circuit and/or detects a control pilot signal according to the charging standard). The software in the control module120in the donor vehicle118is also programmed to cause electrical power from the donor battery122to be supplied via the donor charge port116and the electrical power transfer circuitry104to the recipient charge port106and then to the recipient battery124when the control module120detects a proximity signal and/or lack of control pilot signal from a charging connector connected to the donor charge port116.

Other embodiments may be envisioned that allow the EVSE100to provide electrical power from the donor vehicle118to other devices requiring electrical power, such as back-up emergency power for a home or other building (not shown).

FIG.3is a circuit diagram that illustrates differences in electrical attributes associated with the recipient connector102and the donor connector114according to some embodiments. As described with respect toFIG.1above, the EVSE100is connected between recipient vehicle108and donor vehicle118. The EVSE100includes a recipient connector102having physical connections configured to interface with recipient charge port106and a donor connector114having physical connections configured to interface with donor charge port116. As described above, the recipient connector102and the donor connector114may have physical attributes that conform with or are based on a particular standard (e.g., SAE J1772, NACS, CCS2, CHAdeMO, GB T, etc.). For example, this may include number, geometry, and positioning of output terminals configured to interface with the recipient charge port106and the donor charge port116. In this particular example, recipient connector102includes first and second power ports L1, L2, a ground port, a control pilot port CP, and a proximity port PROX. Likewise, the donor connector114includes first and second power ports L1, L2, a ground port, a control pilot port CP, and a proximity port PROX.

The donor connector114is defined by one or more electrical attributes that make it distinguishable from the recipient connector102. For example, recipient connector102may include a pair of proximity resistors R1, R2, wherein resistor R2is selectively connected in series with resistor R1based on the state (e.g., open/closed) of proximity switch S1. In one embodiment, switch S1remains open if recipient connector102is not engaged with the recipient charge port106and is closed if recipient connector102is engaged/mated with the recipient charge port106. The voltage provided at the proximity port PROX1is a function of the resistors R1, R2and the state of the switch S1. The donor connector114similarly includes proximity resistors R3, R4, wherein resistor R4is selectively connected in series with resistor R3based on the state (open/closed) of proximity switch S2. The voltage provided at the proximity port PROX2of the donor connector114is a function of the resistors R3, R4and the state of the switch S2. By selecting the values of one or both of resistors R3, R4to be different than the value of resistors R1, R2, the voltage provided at proximity port PROX2is distinguishable from the voltage provided at proximity port PROX1. In some embodiments, the voltage provided at proximity port PROX2must be distinguishable from the voltage provided at proximity port PROX1regardless of the state of proximity switches S1and S2. For example, in some embodiments the range of voltages provided at proximity port PROX2(based on whether proximity switch S2is opened/closed) does not overlap with the range of voltages provided at proximity port PROX1(regardless of whether proximity switch S1is opened/closed).

In some embodiments, the recipient connector102includes a control pilot signal line CP that is connected to the power transfer circuitry104. In this embodiment, the control pilot signal line CP is connected to a voltage source via resistor R5. In some embodiments, the control pilot signal is a pulse-width modulated signal utilized by the recipient vehicle108as a control signal. In some embodiments, the donor connector114has a control pilot signal line, but the signal is not connected to the power transfer circuitry104. As a result, no control signal (e.g., pulse-width modulated control signal) is provided to the donor charge port116via the control pilot signal line CP. In some embodiments, the control module120utilizes the lack of control pilot signal to distinguish between a recipient connector102and a donor connector114.

In this way, the electrical attributes of the donor connector114are distinguishable from the electrical attributes of the recipient connector102, allowing the control module120on the donor vehicle to detect the presence (or absence) of the donor connector114. As such, when the control module120detects the presence of electrical attributes indicative of a standard connector such as recipient connector102(i.e., in a typical charging operation) the software in the control module120in the donor vehicle118is programmed to command the electrical power transfer circuitry104to transfer electrical power to the donor charge port116, which is then supplied to the donor battery122of the donor vehicle118. Likewise, software in the control module120in the donor vehicle118is also programmed to command the electrical power transfer circuitry104to transfer electrical power from the donor charge port116to the recipient charge port106of the recipient vehicle108when the control module120detects the presence of electrical attributes indicative of a donor connector114(i.e., a donor vehicle charging operation).FIG.4is a flowchart illustrating a method400of charging the recipient battery124of the recipient vehicle108using electrical power from the donor battery122of the donor electrical vehicle118.

At STEP402, a donor connector of an electric vehicle supply equipment is connected to a charge port of a donor vehicle. In some embodiments, this may include connecting a donor connector114of an EVSE100to a donor charge port116of a donor vehicle118. The donor connector114is connected to a power input of the EVSE100.

At STEP404, a recipient connector of the electric vehicle supply equipment is connected to a charge port of a recipient vehicle. In some embodiments, this includes connecting a recipient connector102of the EVSE100to a recipient charge port106of a recipient vehicle108. The recipient connector102is connected to a power output of the EVSE100. In some embodiments, the recipient connector102conforms with a charging connector standard such as CCS1, NACS, CCS2, CHAdeMO, or GBT. As discussed above, the donor connector114physically conforms with the charging connector standard but does not electrically conform with the charging connector standard;

At STEP406, an electrical difference from the charging connector standard in the donor connector is detected by an on-board control module in the donor vehicle. In some embodiments, this includes detecting an electrical difference from the charging connector standard in the donor connector114via a control module120in the donor vehicle118. The control module120may detect that a resistance value of a proximity circuit of the donor connector is different than the charging connector standard, e.g., 150 or 480 ohms. The on-board control module may detect that a resistance value of a proximity circuit of the donor connector is 261 or 471 ohms. The on-board control module may detect that the donor connector does not provide a control pilot signal.

At STEP408, electrical power from a donor battery in the donor vehicle is provided to a recipient battery in the recipient vehicle via the electric vehicle supply equipment. In some embodiments, this includes providing electrical power from a donor battery in the donor vehicle118to a recipient battery in the recipient vehicle108via the electrical power transfer circuitry104in the EVSE100;

At STEP410, the donor connector may be detached from the electric vehicle supply equipment. For example, the donor connector114may be detached from the EVSE100.

At STEP412, the donor connector may be reattached to the electric vehicle supply equipment. For example, the donor connector114may be reattached to the EVSE100.

At STEP414, the donor connector may be replaced with a power connector configured to connect to an electrical power grid. For example, the donor connector114may be replaced with a power connector configured to connect to an electrical power grid.

Discussion of Possible Embodiments

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) configured to provide electrical power from a donor vehicle to a recipient vehicle, the EVSE including: electrical power transfer circuitry having a power input and a power output; a recipient connector connected to the power output and configured to interconnect with a recipient charge port of the recipient vehicle; and a donor connector, connected to the power input and configured to interconnect with a donor charge port of the donor vehicle, wherein the donor connector has one or more electrical attributes that distinguish the donor connector from the recipient connector.

The electric vehicle supply equipment of the preceding paragraph can optionally include, additionally and/or alternatively any, one or more of the following features, configurations and/or additional components.

The donor connector provides a first proximity signal that is always different than a second proximity signal provided by the recipient connector when the electrical power transfer circuitry is operating.

A second proximity signal provided by the recipient connector according to a charging standard operates within a specified range of values and wherein a first proximity signal provided by the donor connector operates outside the specified range of values utilized by the recipient connector.

The donor connector includes a first proximity circuit having a resistance value of 261 or 471 ohms.

The recipient connector includes a second proximity circuit having a resistance value of 150 or 480 ohms.

A resistance value of a proximity circuit of the donor connector has a value other than 150 or 480 ohms.

The recipient connector provides a control pilot signal and wherein the donor connector does not provide a control pilot signal.

The donor connector is detachable from and reconnectable to the electric vehicle supply equipment.

The donor connector is replaceable with a power connector configured to connect to an electrical power grid.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method of charging a battery of a recipient electrical vehicle using electrical power from a battery of a donor electrical vehicle, including: connecting a donor connector of an electric vehicle supply equipment to a donor charge port of a donor vehicle, wherein the donor connector is connected to a power input of the electric vehicle supply equipment; connecting a recipient connector of the electric vehicle supply equipment to a recipient charge port of a recipient vehicle, wherein the recipient connector is connected to a power output of the electric vehicle supply equipment, wherein the donor connector has one or more electrical attributes that distinguish the donor connector from the recipient connector; detecting an electrical attribute of the donor connector via an on-board control module in the donor vehicle; and providing electrical power from a donor battery in the donor vehicle to a recipient battery in the recipient vehicle via the electric vehicle supply equipment.

The on-board control module detects that a resistance value of a proximity circuit of the donor connector is different than 150 or 480 ohms.

The on-board control module detects that a resistance value of a proximity circuit of the donor connector is 261 or 471 ohms.

The on-board control module detects that the donor connector does not provide a control pilot signal.

The method further includes detaching the donor connector from the electric vehicle supply equipment.

The method further includes reattaching the donor connector to the electric vehicle supply equipment.

The method further includes replacing the donor connector with a power connector configured to connect to an electrical power grid.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an electric vehicle, including: a battery; a charge port conforming to a charging standard and configured to receive a charging connector; and an on-board control module containing software that, when executed, causes the on-board control module to: transfer electrical power from the charge port to the battery when the on-board control module detects that one or more electrical attributes of the charging connector are within a specified range of values according to the charging standard, and transfer electrical power from the battery to the charge port when the on-board control module detects that one or more electrical attributes are outside the specified range of values according to the charging standard.

Additionally, while terms of ordinance or orientation may be used herein these elements should not be limited by these terms. All terms of ordinance or orientation, unless stated otherwise, are used for purposes distinguishing one element from another, and do not denote any particular order, order of operations, direction or orientation unless stated otherwise.