EP4010217A1

EP4010217A1 - Mobile charging station for an electric vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP4010217A1
Application number: EP20735165.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christoph Erni
Original assignee: Juice Technology AG
Current assignee: Juice Technology AG
Priority date: 2019-08-05
Filing date: 2020-06-26
Publication date: 2022-06-15
Also published as: WO2021023437A1; DE102019121108B3

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for the flexible electrical charging of an accumulator of an electric vehicle (1), having a charging control unit (2), to which a power plug-in connector (3) is connected via a charging cable on the consumer side and to which a first adapter element (4) is connected via the charging cable on the grid side, and a second adapter element (5) which can be connected to the first adapter element (4), which second adapter element is permanently connected to a grid connection connector (6) via a charging cable, wherein a first signal line (7) is provided between the first adapter element (4) and the charging control unit (2), via which first signal line at least one characteristic associated with the second adapter element (5) and/or the grid connection connector (6) can be queried. The apparatus is characterized in that the charging control unit (2) is bridgeable with respect to power and communication such that it conducts no power when a predefined connector type is detected.

Description

Mobile charging station for an electric vehicle

The invention relates to a device for electrically charging an accumulator of an electric vehicle with a charge control unit to which a power plug connector is connected on the consumer side and a first adapter element is connected to the mains side, and a second adapter element that can be connected to the first adapter element and is connected to a mains connector.

The electromobility market is developing rapidly. The various players have different interests here. This also applies in particular to charging the battery packs in electric vehicles. The users of electric vehicles are interested in charging the electric vehicle as completely as possible in the shortest possible time, anywhere and at any time. A comprehensive and flexible charging infrastructure is required for this. The providers of the charging infrastructure must always communicate with the network operators of the electrical supply networks as to whether the supply network is at all suitable for installing charging stations at the respective locations.

The fixed charging stations have so far been mainly located at motorway service stations, petrol stations, in densely populated inner city areas, parking garages and, last but not least, in private households. These charging stations are generally suitable for charging the vehicles in a short time with a relatively high output. For this purpose, a charging cable is used in the prior art, which is provided with an IEC type 2 adapter (plug or coupling) at both ends. The charging voltage and charging power can be set differently by means of a control line integrated into the charging cable from plug to plug. The charging station usually uses pulse width modulation to report the maximum current that can be made available by the charging station. The electric vehicle in turn can "communicate" with the charging station, for example via an integrated electronic component.

For users of electric vehicles, this permanently installed and predetermined charging infrastructure is rather inadequate and not very convenient. In order to be able to connect electric vehicles not only to specially installed charging stations, it is therefore desirable that the electric vehicles also be connected to conventional mains connection plugs, for example single-phase Sige Schuko or three-phase CEE plug connectors can be connected to charge the electric vehicle via conventional mains connections such as household sockets or similar.

From an electrical point of view, however, such a connection has disadvantages and possibly even dangers. For example, household power grids and their sockets are often designed for a maximum current of 16 A. Household sockets can also lose their performance due to aging and other wear and tear. Mains connections that are used to charge electric vehicles are often found in areas exposed to the weather, which also contributes to wear and tear and to a reduction in the functionality of the network connections. In addition, the long, high load, which can last up to several hours, due to the charging process of an electric vehicle, represents an atypical load behavior in contrast to many other low-voltage consumers and therefore places greater strain on the network connections. If there is an overload in this network connection, this can cause major damage both on the network side and on the consumer side. In the worst case, the overload and the resulting overheating can even cause fires.

In addition, the flexible, locally indeterminate charging of electric vehicles affects the distribution networks in the medium and low voltage levels. These distribution networks are designed for the peak load in the respective supply area. Charging the electric vehicles can change the load profile and the peak load can also increase, so that the technical specifications of the legislature can no longer be met by the existing networks. Therefore, the influence of the mobile chargers on the peak load must be taken into account and coordinated with the network operator. In particular, if many charging processes are to be carried out locally at the same time, this can also pose problems for the supply network.

DE 102014201 764 A1 discloses an electrical connection device for a La dekabel for charging an electric vehicle, which has a network-side first connection means for electrically connecting the connection device to an electrical supply network and a charging cable-side second connection means for connecting the connection device to a network-side plug of the charging cable the first The connecting means has a first temperature sensor which is electrically connected to the second connecting means via a communication line. The second connection means has a further contact in order to transmit a signal from the temperature sensor to the charging cable. A similar device with a temperature sensor is disclosed in GB 2 489 988 A.

It is therefore the object of the invention to at least partially overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide an improved device which enables more flexible and more comfortable charging of electric vehicles.

To solve this problem, a device for the flexible electrical charging of a battery of an electric vehicle is provided, with a charge control unit to which a power connector is connected on the consumer side and a first adapter element is connected to the network side, and a second adapter element that can be connected to the first adapter element and that is equipped with a Mains connector is firmly connected. A first signal line is provided between the first adapter element and the charge control unit, via which at least one feature assigned to the second adapter element and / or the mains connection plug can be queried. The first signal line is preferably in addition to the electrical charging line. By querying this feature, the type of mains connection plug can be determined and, based on this, the current for charging the electric vehicle and other parameters can be set by the control device, ie the charge control unit. This makes it possible to charge the electric vehicle via a large number of conventional network connections, which are available in significantly larger numbers than special, permanently installed charging stations. The location for charging is also no longer specified by the location of the permanently installed charging station. This results in significantly improved local flexibility and usage options. According to the invention, the charge control unit can be bridged in terms of performance and communication technology in such a way that it does not carry any power when a predetermined plug type is recognized. This measure is particularly useful when the electric vehicle is to be connected to a standard charging station via the device according to the invention. This is determined by the fact that an (IEC) Type 2 plug, for example, has been recognized as the mains connection plug. The communication and in particular the power control then do not have to take place via the charge control unit. The connection between the standard charging station and the electric vehicle is therefore similar to the connection described above Charging process with standardized type 2 connectors. To this end, the charge control unit is set up in such a way that it recognizes the IEC type 2 connection within a very short time without it already carrying power. In particular, during the bridging it is technically ensured that no harmonic waves or other interference signals are sent from the charge control unit to the charging station.

The feature can preferably be queried via a resistor encapsulated in the second adapter element. The resistance value is assigned to a certain type of mains connector so that the charge control unit can set the charging current to the type of connector. In addition to or as an alternative to a resistor, another (electronic) component can also be provided in the second adapter element or in the mains connector.

A further development of the invention provides that a second signal line is installed between the second adapter element and the mains connection plug and means for temperature monitoring are provided in the mains connection plug, the means for temperature monitoring being able to be queried via the second signal line. If the mains connection is overloaded, be it due to wear and tear or incorrect installation, it can overheat. This overheating is detected by the means for temperature monitoring and measures can be taken to counteract the overheating. Suitable means for temperature monitoring are, for example, bimetal switches or thermistors. If overheating is detected, this can be passed on to the charge control unit via the signal lines.

If such an excess temperature is detected, it is useful if means are provided in the charging control unit which trigger a controlled shutdown of the charging process when a temperature excess is detected in order to avoid damage. The controlled shutdown can be carried out by a control unit integrated in the charge control unit.

Furthermore, it is advantageous if the charge control unit can be controlled via a communication interface. The communication interface can be hard-wired or wireless. Via such a communication interface, the device can communicate with both the consumer and upstream network-side participants communicate. For example, the current status of the battery can be queried on the consumer side and specifications relating to the desired charging time, the minimum charge status, the latest time of full charge or the like can be transmitted. Vehicle identification data can also be transmitted in this way. Upstream network-side participants can be, for example, the network operator himself, but also operators of larger parking spaces with a large number of locally concentrated charging options. The latter can then control the charging of the electric vehicles by means of the communication interface in such a way that a peak load agreed with the network operator or a peak load specified by the network operator or the (house) infrastructure or short-term reduced or increased peak load is not exceeded and at the same time the requirements with regard to the consumer specifications be taken into account. Based on this, individual charging processes can be prioritized.

An expedient development provides that the charge control unit is designed in such a way that consumer-side signals from the electric vehicle can be passed through to a network-side controller. This enables direct communication between the electric vehicle and the charging station, for example via pulse width modulation (PWM) or the like. By passing the PWM signal through, it can be determined, for example, whether an electric vehicle is connected to the charging station.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1 schematically part of a device according to the invention in a first imple mentation form;

Fig. 2 shows schematically a device according to the invention in a second embodiment;

Fig. 3 schematically form a device according to the invention in a third embodiment.

In Fig. 1, a part of the device according to the invention is shown according to a first embodiment. The device is used to electrically connect an electric vehicle 1 with a power supply for charging the battery of the electric vehicle 1. The The device has a charge control unit 2 which is accommodated in a housing. A power plug connector 3, for example an IEC type 2 plug connector, via which the electric vehicle 1 is connected, is connected to the charge control unit 2 on the consumer side. A first adapter element 4 is connected to the charge control unit 2 on the network side. A second adapter element 5 can be connected to the first adapter element 4. The second adapter element 5 is in turn firmly connected to a mains connection plug 6, shown here as a single-phase Schuko plug 6. These are usually designed for maximum currents of up to 16 A, but can only be loaded with 80% of the respective maximum current strength, i.e. up to 13 A, under continuous load and are therefore suitable for charging with up to 3 kVA. The mains connection plug 6 can also be, for example, a three-phase CEE plug which is usually designed for currents of 16 A or 32 A and is accordingly suitable for charging with 11 kVA or 22 kVA.

Between the first adapter element 4 and the charge control unit 2, a first signal line 7, which is present in addition to the charge line, is installed, via which at least one feature can be queried (or several). The at least one feature enables the second adapter element 5 and thus in particular the mains connector 6 to be recognized. This enables the charge control unit 2 to recognize, for example, the type of connector the connected mains connector 6 is. The feature via which the detection takes place can be implemented, for example, by means of a resistor encapsulated in the second adapter element 5, the voltage drop being measured accordingly. In this application example, each different connector type is assigned its own resistance value, and this enables the charging control unit 2 to set the correct charging mode for the electric vehicle 1. On this basis or by means of further features, the charge control unit 2 can thus determine further values, for example the expected charging time and the like.

The Schuko plug 6 can be plugged into a household socket 8 and thus connected to the house electricity network. The electrical installation in a household is usually designed for a certain output, and the individual circuits on the house connection box are protected accordingly (e.g. up to 16 A). Consequently, the electric vehicle 1 can, at best, only charge with the current intensity to which the installation is at a maximum is designed. It should also be taken into account here that additional consumers can be connected in the same circuit at the same time.

Poor installations due to installation errors, wear and tear or signs of aging pose a risk. In such cases, overheating can occur in the household socket 8 and, in the worst case, a fire. In addition, the charging process requires a relatively long period of time, typically up to several hours, which is rather untypical for other household loads. Therefore, means for monitoring the tempera ture in the household socket 8 are provided in the power connector 6 when the power connector 6 is inserted.

The temperature monitoring can be implemented, for example, via a bimetal contact integrated in the mains connection plug 6, but the use of thermistors or other suitable temperature monitoring means is also possible. In order to detect the excess temperature, a second signal line 9 is provided between the second adapter element 5 and the power connector 6, which is preferably also formed separately from the charging line. If the bimetal contact now opens, for example, this is recognized by the charge control unit 2 via the signal lines 7, 9, and the charge process can be stopped in a controlled manner by the charge control unit 2. This avoids damage to the electric vehicle 1 and the charging device on the consumer side as well as to the network side in the house installation.

The signal lines 7, 9 are preferably arranged in the same jacket as the electrical charging line, but electrically separated therefrom and / or advantageously shielded, since interference is minimized. Usual signal lines have a cross section of 0.5 mm ² , but can also have smaller and larger cross sections, for example from 0.25 mm ² to 3 mm ² .

The device can be hung in a (not shown here) permanently installed wall charging station, for example in the garage, and used. If necessary, the device can be removed and equipped with additional 6 other types of power connector for mobile use as flexible as possible. Fig. 2 shows a device according to the invention in a second embodiment. The electric vehicle 1 is connected here to a permanently installed charging column 10 by means of an IEC type 2 connector. The charge control unit 2 recognizes by means of the functionality described above that it is an IEC type 2 connector. The control of the charging process can consequently be implemented here directly between the charging station 10 and the electric vehicle 1 via the standard communication of the IEC type 2 connection. It is not necessary for the charge control unit 2 to become active or to intervene in a controlling manner. Consequently, both the power connection and the communication connection of the charging control unit 2 can be bypassed via a bridge 11. As a result, on the one hand, influencing the communication between the charging station 10 and the electric vehicle 1 is excluded. On the other hand, the charge control unit 2 is not used by the power transmission. Rather, the charge control unit 2 recognizes in seconds that it is being bridged and prevents interference signals from being sent to the charging station 10 or the electric vehicle 1. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the bridging 11 is shown schematically as an electrical line around the charging control unit 2 shown around. It goes without saying that the bridging 11 does not represent a separate component here, but is integrated in the housing of the charge control unit 2 in a suitable manner.

3 shows a further embodiment of devices according to the invention. Here, it should be possible to charge a large number of electric vehicles 1 with several charging stations 13 at a common network connection point 12. This can occur, for example, in a parking lot, a parking lot or underground car park or similar. The common network connection point 12 must in this case be coordinated with the responsible network operator in such a way that sufficient charging capacity is available. Usually, the connectable power of this network connection point 12 is set to a certain maximum power, which must not be exceeded. It therefore makes sense to provide communication between the network connection point 12, the charging stations 13 and / or the charging control units 2, which are each assigned to the electric vehicles 1. This enables load and information management to be carried out.

For example, it is determined whether an electric vehicle 1 is connected to an individual charging station 13 and with what power the electric vehicle 1 should or can be charged over which phases. Accordingly, the maximum loading The power of the individual charging stations 13 can be designed to be high, with the total load, that is to say the maximum power of the network connection point 12, not being exceeded. If only a few electric vehicles 1 are connected to the network connection point 12 at the same time, the charging power can be set relatively high to a maximum by means of the communication between the network connection point 12 and the charging stations 13. If, however, an electric vehicle 1 is to be charged at all charging stations 13, for example, the output of the individual charging stations 13 must be reduced accordingly or coordinated with one another. For this purpose, it is also useful if the communication is bidirectional, ie also from the electric vehicle 1 to the charging station 13 or network connection point 12. In this way, charging states can also be queried or specifications such as the minimum range, the latest time of full charge or similar can be taken into account. The type of car can also be determined in this way by transmitting and checking charging characteristics.

The communication between the charging station (s) 13 and the network connection point 12 can take place via hard-wired signal lines, such as Ethernet cables, Powerline (PLC) or similar, as well as via suitable wireless communication technologies, such as Bluetooth, ANT +, LoRa, WLAN or Something similar can be realized. In the application shown in FIG. 3, the charging stations 13 communicate wirelessly with a load management controller integrated in the network connection point 12. Communication between the charging station 13, charging control unit 2 and electric vehicle 1 is possible via the wired signal lines 7, 9 in the device according to the invention. Here too, however, wireless communication interfaces are conceivable, for example in the private application when using up to three charge control units 2, these can communicate with one another via the wireless interface. The state of charge of the individual electric vehicle 1 and the specifications regarding the minimum charge level and the latest full charge can be viewed or changed by the vehicle user, for example via an app. The app communicates with a transmitter and receiver unit integrated into the charge control unit 2, the electric vehicle 1 or the charging station 13.

In addition, the device according to the invention can have means for identifying the electric vehicles 1. For example, a camera or a scanner, via which the electric vehicle 1 can be identified, can be provided on one or more components of the device, such as on the charge control unit 2, on one of the adapter elements. elements 4, 5 or on the cables between the components. Suitable, suitable means can also be provided in or on the electric vehicle 1. For example, the license plate of the electric vehicle 1 or a QR code in the vicinity of the charging socket of the electric vehicle 1 can be detected via the camera. In this way, useful data about the driving and charging behavior of the respective electric car 1 can also be recorded. It is also possible to bill the charging process via an account assigned to the electric vehicle 1.

Finally, a direct interface for paying for the purchased energy can be provided at the charging stations 13 or charging stations 10, for example by means of a credit card or cell phone. This interface can also be implemented wirelessly via RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) or another wireless data communication standard such as NFC (Near Field Communication). The operator of the charging stations 10 or charging stations 13 can thus provide their own secure payment method and infrastructure, for example by reading out the number of the bank card or credit card in a secure and encrypted manner, where the first six digits are read openly and the data is sent to a company's own Ba be transmitted.

The present invention provides an improved device which enables more flexible and more comfortable charging of electric vehicles.

List of reference symbols:

1 electric vehicle

2 charge control unit 3 power connectors

4 first adapter element

5 second adapter element

6 power connector

7 first signal line 8 household socket

9 second signal line

10 charging station

11 bridging

12 Mains connection point 13 Charging station

Claims

Expectations

1. Device for flexible electrical charging of an accumulator of an electric vehicle (1), with a charge control unit (2) to which a power connector (3) is connected on the consumer side via a charging cable and a first adapter element (4) is connected on the mains side via the charging cable, and a second adapter element (5) which can be connected to the first adapter element (4) and which is permanently connected to a mains connection plug (6) via a charging cable, a first signal line (7) between the first adapter element (4) and the charge control unit (2). is provided, via which at least one feature assigned to the second adapter element (5) and / or the mains connection plug (6) can be queried; characterized in that the charge control unit (2) can be bridged in terms of performance and communication technology in such a way that it does not carry any power when a predetermined connector type is recognized.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the assigned feature is determined by a resistor assigned to the second adapter element (5).

3. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a second signal line (9) is installed between the second adapter element (5) and the mains connector (6) and means for temperature monitoring are provided in the mains connector (6), the means for Temperature monitoring can be queried via the second signal line (9).

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that a bimetal contact is provided for temperature monitoring.

5. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that a thermistor are provided for temperature monitoring.

6. Apparatus according to claim 3, 4 or 5, characterized in that means are provided in the charging control unit (2) which trigger a controlled shutdown or reduction of the charging process when a temperature excess is detected.

7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the charge control unit (2) has a communication interface.

8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the charge control unit (2) is designed in such a way that consumer-side signals from the electric vehicle (1) can be passed through to a network-side controller.

9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first signal line (7) is formed separately from the charging cable and / or shielded.

10. Device according to one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that the second signal line (9) is separated from the charging cable and / or is shielded.