Application US20180201148

Charge Control System for Mobile Energy Storage Fleet
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US20180201148

1. A vehicle control system, comprising: (7) (4)

one or more location sensors for determining a current location of a vehicle;

an energy storage device located onboard the vehicle and configured to provide operating power for one or more vehicle systems;

one or more charge sensors configured to determine a current state of charge of the energy storage device; and

one or more vehicle computing devices configured to: communicate the current location of the vehicle and the current state of charge of the energy storage device to one or more remote computing devices located remotely from the vehicle;

receive, from the one or more remote computing devices, a charging control signal determined, at least in part, from the current location of the vehicle and the current state of charge of the energy storage device; and

control charging of the energy storage device in accordance with the charging control signal.

2. The vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the charging control signal is further determined, at least in part, from one or more electric grid signals indicating a current status or power pricing information for an electric grid. (0)

3. The vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the charging control signal is further determined, at least in part, from one or more service requests that request operation of the vehicle for providing a vehicle service to one or more end users. (0)

4. The vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the charging control signal comprises location instructions determining a charging structure location for charging the vehicle. (1) (0)

6. The vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the charging control signal comprises charging mode instructions indicating one of a positive charging mode during which the charge level of the energy storage device increases or a negative charging mode during which the charge level of the energy storage device decreases. (0)

7. The vehicle control system of claim 1, wherein the charging control signal comprises one or more of authorization instructions to initiate a start of charging for each energy storage device or to request not charging for each energy storage device, location instructions for determining a charging structure for charging each vehicle, charging mode instructions specifying a positive charging mode for energy consumption from the electric grid or a negative charging mode for energy generation to the electric grid, charging time instructions for determining a charging start time or a charging stop time, rate of charge instructions that specify a current rate of charge for charging each energy storage device, and target state of charge instructions that specify a target state of charge desired for the energy storage device. (0)

8. The vehicle control system of claim 1, further comprising a grid-tie inverter coupled to the energy storage device for providing an interface between the energy storage device and a charge controller. (0)

9. The vehicle control system of claim 1, further comprising: (0) (2)

10. A computer-implemented method for controlling charge of a fleet of energy storage devices, comprising: (5) (4)

receiving, by one or more computing devices, current status indicators from a plurality of vehicles including energy storage devices;

receiving, by the one or more computing devices, one or more electric grid signals indicating current status or power pricing information for an electric grid;

determining, by the one or more computing devices, charging control signals for each of the plurality of vehicles, wherein the charging control signals are determined, at least in part, from the current status indicators of the vehicles and the one or more electric grid signals indicating current status or power pricing information for the electric grid; and

providing, by the one or more computing devices, the charging control signals to the plurality of vehicles to control charging of the energy storage devices at the plurality of electric vehicles in accordance with the charging control signals.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: (0) (3)

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more electric grid signals comprises a time-based rate signal providing one or more power pricing rates for consuming energy during different increments of time. (0)

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more electric grid signals comprises a demand response signal providing power pricing rates for increased generation or reduced consumption as needed to support local grid demand requirements. (0)

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more electric grid signals comprises a frequency signal providing power pricing rates for short term frequency signal adjustment as needed to support local grid frequency requirements. (0)

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the charging control signals comprise one or more of authorization instructions to initiate a start of charging for each energy storage device or to request not charging for each energy storage device, location instructions for determining a charging structure for charging each vehicle, charging mode instructions specifying a positive charging mode for energy consumption from the electric grid or a negative charging mode for energy generation to the electric grid, charging time instructions for determining a charging start time or a charging stop time, rate of charge instructions that specify a current rate of charge for charging each energy storage device, and target state of charge instructions that specify a target state of charge desired for the energy storage device. (0)

16. A charging structure, comprising: (3) (3)

a plurality of charging stations, each charging station configured to electrically couple to an energy storage device for use with a fleet of vehicles;

an energy transfer system configured to interface with the energy storage devices at each charging station and selectively charge the energy storage devices;

a charge controller coupled to the energy transfer system and configured to: determine, by one or more computing devices, a sensed state of charge for each energy storage device; and

control, by the one or more computing devices, charge of each energy storage device in accordance with one or more charging control signals, wherein the charging control signals are determined, at least in part, from the sensed state of charge for each energy storage device and one or more electric grid signals indicating current status or power pricing information for an electric grid.

17. The charging structure of claim 16, wherein each charging station comprises a vehicle platform configured to lift a vehicle and physically maneuver the vehicle while on the vehicle platform through the charging structure. (1) (0)

19. The charging structure of claim 16, wherein the charging structure further comprises one or more path bridges that provide a designated path through the charging structure by which a vehicle can exit the charging structure ahead of other vehicles. (0)

20. The charging structure of claim 16, wherein the energy transfer system comprises one or more inductive charging coils configured to induce current in another inductive charging coil positioned relative to each energy storage device, or one or more conductive charging elements configured to electrically couple to each energy storage device. (0)

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Application US20180201148

Charge Control System for Mobile Energy Storage Fleet

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