GB2613539A

GB2613539A - Control system

Info

Publication number: GB2613539A
Application number: GB2116038.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Catley Ross; Kelly Daire
Original assignee: Orthello Partnership Ltd
Current assignee: Orthello Partnership Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-08
Filing date: 2021-11-08
Publication date: 2023-06-14

Abstract

A charging infrastructure system 10 for charging a plurality of mobile client units (e.g. vehicles V1, V2 in a car park). The system is connected to a power grid 1 and includes a battery bank 24 connected to the grid and operated by a controller module to be charged from the grid. A plurality of charging bays 30a-30c are each temporarily occupiable by a mobile client unit for recharging, wherein power is supplied from the battery bank to the charging bays. The system associates a client charge requirement with each one of a plurality of mobile client units, including a first client charge requirement for a first mobile client. The first mobile client is associated with a first charging bay, which is operated to charge the first mobile client depending on the first client charge requirement. The system may determine a battery bank charge level and predict a charge quantity required to charge the first mobile client, to determine whether the battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity. Charging of additional mobile unit is prevented until the battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity. The mobile client units may be trains, buses, aircraft or watercraft.

Description

Electric vehicle charging infrastructure and system

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle hub infrastructure, such as car park infrastructure or scooter bays, designed to improve charging processes across multiple vehicles. The present invention further relates to systems and methods related to the operation of such vehicle hub infrastructure.

Backqround The practical usability of electric vehicles depends on their range influenced in part by battery charge capacity and by battery charging time or speed. Particularly for battery-powered rail locomotives, current on-board battery systems lack sufficient capacity for day-long use expected from established rail time tables, or, respectively, cannot be charged fast enough with established electric road vehicle charging infrastructure.

International Patent Publication W02019229479A1 discloses a charging system for use in a rail network infrastructure of fast-charging hubs, located at train stations, designed to fast-charge locomotives during a limited time they are at a station, to thereby top up on-train batteries and increase their charge level. For example, a top up charge may add in the region of 60-80 miles (about 100-130 km) range in about 5-10 minutes, intended to ensure that a train is able to reach another charge point at a subsequent station. The infrastructure increases the practical range of locomotives without requiring larger capacity batteries on board.

A practical problem with such train hub battery banks is that they need to be of considerable power and capacity so as to be able to charge a train, typically dimensioned in the region of 800 volt. Existing typical electric vehicle charging infrastructure and typical existing train station infrastructure is not dimensioned for such short-term high-voltage charging. As such, it is necessary to create new infrastructure in the form of appropriately dimensioned battery banks at train stops for a wider implementation of the fast-charging train concept.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved charging infrastructure to facilitate increased adoption of fast-charging infrastructure.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a charging infrastructure system as defined in claim 1. The charging infrastructure system is provided for charging a plurality of mobile client units. The system is connected to a power grid and comprises a battery bank connected to the grid and operated by a controller module to be charged from the grid, and a plurality of charging bays each temporarily occupiable by a mobile client unit for recharging. The system is operative to supply power from the battery bank to the charging bays, wherein the system comprises a configuration allowing it to associate a client charge requirement with each one of a plurality of mobile client units, including a first client charge requirement for a first mobile client, to associate a first mobile client with a first charging bay, and to operate the first charging bay to charge the first mobile client depending on the first client charge requirement.

The first client charge requirement may be a charge amount that is necessary to charge the client to a pre-determined charge level. The first client charge requirement may be a charge duration that is required to allow the client to be charged to a predetermined charge level, or to be charged by a pre-determined charge amount. In accordance with the invention, the charging infrastructure system is configured to ensure the first client charge requirement can be met while other mobile client units are supplied from the battery bank.

Underlying the present invention is an appreciation by the applicants that, in order to provide rapid charging functionality, the rapid-charge battery bank infrastructure has considerable voltage and capacity. The battery banks are dimensioned for fast-charging trains while they are stationary, e.g. in the region of 5-15 minutes and typically around 7-10 minutes. As a consequence, fast charge battery banks may remain unused for much of their operational time, recharging from the grid and remaining practically "on standby", so as to be ready to charge a subsequent train during a short few-minutes period they are in a station.

Herein, the expression 'grid' is understood to include references to an electricity network or distributed energy network.

The present applicants appreciated that the unused battery bank capacity may be used to charge other vehicles, and/or to export power to the grid, for instance during peak demand times. However, a practical problem is that any additional supply taken from a battery bank risks compromising the original purpose of a battery bank, to be able to provide sufficient power for a succession of trains to be fast-charged.

In some embodiments, the system is further operative to supply power from the grid to the charging bays, and comprises a configuration to select a supply from one of the battery bank and the grid depending on the first client charge requirement.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to control an export from the battery bank to the grid depending on the first client charge requirement.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to delay an export from the battery bank to the grid depending on the first client charge requirement.

In variants of the embodiment, the system may be configured to block export from the battery bank to the grid while the first client charge requirement is below a minimum threshold.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration allowing it to associate one or more second mobile clients with one or more second charging bays, to determine for each second mobile client a second client charge requirement, and to operate each second charging bay to charge the second mobile client depending on the second client charge requirement.

In some embodiments, the system operates a second charging bay to charge a second mobile client depending on the first client charge requirement.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to delay charging the second mobile client depending on the first client charge requirement.

In variants of the embodiment, the system may be configured to block export from the battery bank to the grid while the second client charge requirement is below a minimum threshold.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to control an export from the battery bank to the grid depending on the one or more second client charge requirements.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to control charging the battery bank from the grid depending on the one or more second client charge requirements.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to determine an arrival time of a first mobile client, and to operate the first charging bay depending on the arrival time.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to determine a departure time of a first mobile client, and to operate the first charging bay depending on the departure time.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to determine an arrival time of a first mobile client, and to operate the second charging bay depending on the arrival time.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to determine a departure time of a first mobile client, and to operate the second charging bay depending on the departure time.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration allowing it to determine a battery bank charge level, to determine a predicted charge quantity required to charge a first mobile client between an arrival time and a departure time of the first mobile client, to determine whether or not the battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity, and to prevent charging of one or more second mobile units until the battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity.

In some embodiments, the system is configured to determine a future battery bank charge level taking into account grid power supply to recharge the battery bank and power requirement from the one or more second mobile units from the battery bank, and to determine a future battery bank charge level at the arrival time of the first mobile unit, and to determine whether or not the future battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity, and to prevent charging of one or more second mobile units until the future battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a configuration to delay charging of one or more second mobile clients in a second charging bay between an arrival time and a departure time of a first mobile client In some embodiments, the first charging bay is configured to supply a higher voltage than the one or more second charging bays.

For instance, the controller module may modulate the battery bank to supply power at a first voltage to the first charging bay, and at a second voltage to the second charging bay, wherein the second voltage is lower than the first voltage.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a rectifier between the power grid and the battery bank, the battery bank supplying a plurality of DC charging bays.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a plurality of AC charging bays.

In some embodiments, the first mobile client is a train and the first charging bay is a train charging station.

A reference to trains may include references to other rail services including trams, shuttles, monorails etc. In some embodiments, the first mobile client is a bus and the first charging bay is a bus charging station.

In some embodiments, the first mobile client is an aircraft and the first charging bay is

an airfield charging station for aircraft.

In some embodiments, the first mobile client is a watercraft and the first charging bay is a watercraft charging station.

Description of the Fibure

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to Figure 1, which shows a schematic illustration a charging infrastructure network.

Description

Referring to Figure 1, a charging infrastructure system 10 comprises a grid connection 12 to a power grid 1 and an import/export meter 14 defining a conceptual boundary between the power grid 1 and the charging infrastructure system 10. The system comprises a junction 16. From the junction 16, an AC connection 18 leads to one or more (illustrated herein: one) AC electric vehicle bays 20 allowing power to be supplied from the power grid 1 to the AC electric vehicle bays 20, whereas it will be appreciated that the amount of AC power is measured by the import/export meter 14. In addition, the junction 16 connects to an inverter/rectifier module 22 operatively connected with a battery bank 24 allowing power to be supplied from the power grid 1, as AC current, to be converted in the inverter/rectifier module 22, and to be supplied as DC current to charge batteries of the battery bank 24.

The battery bank 24 is controllable to supply power to one or more of several vehicles V1, V2, constituting mobile client units. Likewise, via the inverter/rectifier module 22, power from the battery bank 24 may be fed back into the power grid 1, and/or to supply power to one or more AC vehicle bays 20. As such, it will be appreciated that the AC vehicle bays 20 can be operated without direct connection to the grid 1. A DC connection 26 connects one or more DC electric vehicle bays 30 (here: three DC electric vehicle bays 30a, 30b, 30c) to the battery bank 24. Further, a DC connection 28 connects one or more fast-charge controllers 32 to the battery bank 24. The fast-charge control 32 is operable to control charging of a fast charge bay 34. In the example described herein, the fast charge bay 34 is provided to fast-charge an onboard battery of a locomotive or rail carriage R1, constituting a first mobile client unit.

The fast charge bay 34 may be configured to fast-charge an on-board battery in a few minutes, e.g. in ten minutes, or in a period between 7 and 15 minutes.

It will be appreciated that in the present example, the fast-charge controller 32 and the fast-charge bay 34 are provided specifically for fast-charging electric rail carriages, however the system may be used in other scenarios in which certain mobile client units require charging within a relatively short time frame. The system may comprise a fast charge bay 34 for each rail track passing through a station. The electric vehicle bays 20, 30a-c are exemplary for a car park infrastructure comprising a relatively great number of parking spaces. The number may, for practical purposes, be limited, e.g. to no more than 10, 20 or 30 charging bays, however the invention is not so limited and it is envisaged that car parks are provided with several hundred charging bays or more, as adoption rate and battery bank dimensions increase. Each electric vehicle bay 20, 30 is temporarily occupiable by an electric vehicle V1 or V2, an electric vehicle constituting a mobile client unit of the invention. In Figure 1, two vehicles V1 and V2 are illustrated at the electric vehicle bays 30a, 30b, however any number of vehicles may be located, one each, at any one of the electric vehicle bays.

To provide illustrative examples, the battery bank 24 may be dimensioned to provide in the region of 2.5 to 10 MWh charge capacity at 800 Volt using existing technology.

Future infrastructure may be able to reach several 100 MWh capacity. Typical electric vehicles may be charged at voltages between 200-450 volts for 36kW or 90kW charging, or voltages between 200-600 volts for up to 240kW charging. It will be understood that the charge requirements of electric vehicles may change as electric vehicle technology advances, and so the values provided herein should be considered exemplary to illustrate that a battery bank is dimensioned considerably larger than required for electric road vehicle charging, to enable its use for fast-charging purposes, yet its fast-charge capacity is underutilised for large periods of time.

For vehicles supporting different charge rates, a longer charging period may allow a slower charge rate whereas a shorter parking time may require a higher charge rate. Each DC electric vehicle bay may be configured with a specific charge rate. For instance, for car parks predominately used by commuters who are believed to park a vehicle for a duration of a typical working day, and car parks predominantly used for shopping and entertainment may allow for a charge duration in the region of a few hours. In such scenarios, it may be appropriate to use 50kW DC charging bays, or 22kW AC charging bays. However, these values should be understood as illustrative examples and the invention is necessarily intended to be so limited.

The charging infrastructure system 10 comprises a data management module 40 operatively connected to each one of the AC electric vehicle bays 20, to each one of the DC electric vehicle bays 30, to the one or more fast-charge controllers 32, the one or more fast charge bays 34, and to the battery bank 24. The data management module 40 constitutes a controller module and is configured to control the operation of the battery bank 24 to modulate its supply of power to one or more of the DC electric vehicle bays 30, its supply to one or more fast-charge controllers 32, to modulate its charge rate from the grid 1, and/or to modulate its supply of a return feed into the power grid 1. It will be understood that the data management module 40 may control the battery bank 24 directly, or indirectly via control of the charging bays, the rectifier inverter 22 and/or other modules. The data management module 40 is configured to block or defer the charging of mobile client units depending on charge requirements, as set out below.

The data management module 40 comprises one or more data connections 42, here illustrated in the form of a data network grid, to external data sources providing information about grid energy levels, time tables, real time train time table updates, real time road traffic updates, real time train delay information, weather forecasts, and the like. One of the data connections 42b obtains battery condition data from the battery bank 24, the battery condition data including a battery charge level, battery charge performance, battery health data and others.

The data connections 42 may include connections 42c with data servers and may be connected via internet or other suitable network connections, to servers including cloud storage 2, data server systems 3, or other appropriate data servers. The data connections 42 may be wired and/or wireless. The data connections may comprise both wired channels and wireless channels to provide redundancy in the event of a failure of a respective other channel.

The data management module 40 may be provided in the form of a processor and further comprises a time module 44 and a memory module 46 configured to store data locally. Data stored locally may include train time table information, public holiday information, etc. The data stored locally may include train travel routes. This allows the data management module 40 to determine whether or not a particular return service is provided by the same train carriage, or by a different train carriage.

In the particular embodiment, one or more fast-charge controllers 32 are provided to allow burst-charging, in the manner of a top up operation limited by a period of time a train remains stationary at a station, of on-board train batteries of autonomous, battery-powered trains. The battery bank 24 is, to that effect, configured for regular charging via the grid connection 12, and has a relatively large capacity to allow it to be used for fast-charging a train battery. It will be appreciated that fast-charge solutions systems such as those introduced in International Patent Publication W02019229479A1 allow a locomotive or other train battery to be topped up in a time frame of about 10 mins, corresponding to a typical remain time at a train station, with a charge level corresponding to about 100 km travel range. However, such solutions should be considered exemplary and the invention disclosed herein is not limited to a particular fast-charge infrastructure. In particular, the invention may be used in installations in which a first mobile client unit is not a train.

In order to be able to charge trains relatively quickly, to add a travel range of a few km in a few minutes, the battery bank 24 is of a relatively high capacity. It was an appreciation underlying the present invention that much of the capacity is unused particularly in battery banks installed at train stations, because remain times of trains at the station are comparatively short.

It will be appreciated that one or more battery banks may be provided to allow a plurality of trains at a station to be charged simultaneously. For instance, some stations may require sufficient charging capacity to charge eight or more trains at the same time. Smaller stations or stops may not need to be dimensioned to charge more than two trains at a time, or in some cases not more than one train at a time.

The data management module 40 is configured to allow it to obtain several sources of data about the periods of time throughout a day at which one or more trains are to be charged at a station, and at which times it is appropriate to utilise all capacity from the battery bank for the charging of electric vehicles at the bays 20, 30.

To this end, the data management module 40 is operated to receive in regular intervals data feeds from the data connections 42 to calculate a charging period at an appropriate granularity for each charging bay 20, 30 and for each fast-charge controller 32. The regular intervals may be in the form of practically continuous data updates.

The regular intervals may be pre-defined intervals, e.g. every minute, every five minutes, every ten minutes, or similar. The intervals may be modulated at different times of the day. For instance, the data management module 40 may pull data updates in a higher frequency, e.g. every second, every ten seconds, or the like, during peak times or times of the day with higher client activity. For instance, a higher data feed frequency may be used during typical commute times, such as between 6am and 9am, and between 16pm and 19pm, whereas lower data feed frequencies may be used during off-peak times. The data management module 40 may comprise a configuration allowing the cloud storage 2 and/or the data server systems 3 to push data, in the form of notifications or updates, towards the data management module 40. Likewise, the electric vehicle charging bays 20, 30, the fast-charging controller and bay 32,34 and/or the battery bank 24 may be configured to push information to the data management module 40, without the data management module 40 sending a specific update request. The data feed may include client data provided by users U1, U2 which may be owners of the vehicles V1, V2.

With knowledge of the charging period for each charging bay, charging periods can be assigned to each charging bay 20, 30 in which an associated mobile client unit is located. It will be appreciated that the data management module 40 may charge several mobile client units V1, V2 in sequence, or may charge several groups of mobile client units V1, V2, in sequence as permitted by the capacity of the battery bank 24.

The data feeds may be used to allocate and/or modify to re-allocate charging periods to the charging bays 20, 30. For instance, if a data feed indicates a train delay of an expected train, this may allow the data management module 40 to assign a longer charging period to one or more charging bays 20, 30 prior to the train arrival time. Alternatively or in addition, this may allow the data management module 40 to charge another mobile client unit at another one of the charging bays 20, 30 prior to the train arrival time. The data management module 40 may, in some scenarios, effectively "swap" charging periods for electric vehicles.

The charging infrastructure system is operable to block power supply to one or more, or to all, of the charging bays 20, 30 if capacity of the battery bank 24 is required to be available as power supply for a fast-charge controller 34.

With knowledge of the charging periods assigned to each charging bay 20, 30, the system is better configured to assign charging periods, and to revaluate and reassign charging periods. The data management module may evaluate the availability of charging bays in regular intervals, and/or when data is provided to it via one of the data connections 42.

It will be appreciated that the information may also be used to coordinate the charging of the battery bank 24 at times with more readily available power supply from the power grid 1. Conversely, the information may be used to reduce, or avoid, the use of the battery bank 24 to supply power to the charging bays at times of high demand or peak demand. In that case, the battery bank 24 may be operated to prioritise feeding back power from the battery bank 24 into the power grid 1.

To provide illustrative examples, one or more of the following events may be interpreted by the data management module 40, as will be explained below using the example of an electric railway train R1 constituting a first mobile client unit and electric vehicles V1, V2 constituting a plurality of second mobile client units.

In normal operation, one or more vehicles V1, V2 may arrive and be parked by their owners at a charging bay in the form of a vehicle parking space. The data management module 40 controls a power supply to control the time at which the battery bank 24 is used to recharge one or more of the vehicles V1, V2. To this end, the data management module 40 takes into account train time table data and real time train information to determine arrival and departure times of a train R1. The data management module 40 determines how long a train R1 will remain in a station to be charged by the fast charge module 32. Furthermore, the data management module 40 determines a charge rate and/or a charge amount that can be transferred in the train remain time between the arrival time and the departure time of the train. It will be appreciated that, for a given charge rate, a larger charge amount may be transferred to a train remaining at a station for a longer time, e.g. twelve minutes, than to a train remaining at a station for a shorter time, e.g. six minutes. The charge amount so determined is compared to the expected battery condition of the battery bank 24 at the arrival time of the train R1. It will be understood that the expected battery condition of the battery bank 24 may be determined by grid supply from the power grid 1 to the battery bank 24, and by the supply drawn from the battery bank 24 to charge one or more vehicles V1, V2, and/or by the supply from the battery bank 24 fed back to the grid 1. As such, the data management module 40 may determine whether or not a required train charge period is shorter than a train remain time at a station, and may modulate the operation of the battery bank 24 such that the train is charged during some of the train remain time. For instance, a train may be charged at the end of its remain time, provided it can be ensured the train is charged for the required train charge period. Alternatively, a train may be charged at the beginning of its remain time, or part-way during the train remain time.

The system is thereby able to ensure that the expected battery condition available from the battery bank 24 at the arrival time of the train R1 is no less than the expected charge amount required for charging the train R1.

If the power supply to the battery bank 24 is too low to reach an expected battery condition, and/or if the power takeoff from the battery bank 24 is too high to reach an expected battery condition, then the battery management system 40 is able to take mitigation steps. The data management module 40 may defer or stop supplying power to the one or more vehicles V1 or V2, or to all vehicles located in a charge bay. The data management module 40 may increase or start ahead of schedule a recharging of the battery bank 24.

To this end, the data management module 40 may be configured to handle one or more of the following exemplary scenarios.

A train arrival time change such as a delay event: A train delay event is an event in which a notification is received that a train will arrive at a time other (for instance, later) than the time provided by the train time table. The train delay event may cause a recalculation of some or all of the allocated charging periods for the charging bays 20, 30. The re-calculation carried out by the data management module 40 may take into account the current condition of the battery bank 24, the train charge level, remain time of the train, and other values, to determine a charge amount for a train R1 and to ensure the charge amount will be available for disposal from the battery bank 24 at the train arrival time. For instance, a delayed train may be operated on a schedule with reduced station time in order to reduce the delay. In some scenarios, a train operator may alter the schedule of a delayed train, for instance a delayed train may skip a station or may be taken out of service (the passengers disembarking at an earlier station to board a subsequent train). This may alter the charging priorities for the particular delayed train and/or for the subsequent train. Based on such train delay information, the data management module may reschedule the charging of one or more of the vehicles V1 and/or V2 in order to ensure that a required charge amount is available for charging a next train at its arrival time.

Information received via the data connection 42 may, therefore, provide an indication if there is a change to when the train will be charged. If a train due to be charged is delayed, then the schedule is adjusted. As a consequence, this may allow mobile client units to be charged at an earlier time than originally assigned. It will be appreciated that such a rescheduling is enabled by the control system without necessarily increasing the overall demand on the battery bank 24.

When a new mobile client unit V1 or V2 is added to the number of mobile client units, a user (driver) Ul or U2, respectively, of the new mobile client unit may provide an expected departure time via a user data link 42c to the data management module 40. The data management module may also determine an expected charge amount for the mobile units V1, V2, as well as a period of time required to ensure the expected charge amount can be transferred to each one of the mobile units V1, V2 before the expected departure time.

One or more of the charging bays 20, 30 may be operated as priority charging bays, for instance for emergency vehicles, priority users, car sharing users and the like. The data management module may be operated to assign a charging slot to a priority charging bay instead of other charging bays 20, 30. For instance, in the illustration of Figure 1, the vehicle V1 may be a priority vehicle. When the vehicle V1 parks in the charging bay 30a, the vehicle V1 may be associated with the charging bay 30a which may be assigned a priority charging slot, to ensure the charging bay 30a is charged in preference to other charging bays 30b, 30c. To this end, the data management module 40 may allocate a priority ranking to ensure that charging of one mobile unit V1 is completed according to the expected charge amount before charging commences for another mobile unit V2.

If for any reason one or more of the second mobile client units, such as vehicles V1 or V2, cannot be charged sufficiently to reach an expected charge amount, the data management module 40 may send a notification to the users U1, U2 of those vehicles V1, V2 that cannot be charged as expected.

When a mobile client unit such as a railway train R1 or a vehicle V1, V2 disconnects, the data management module 40 may collect information about the condition of the battery bank 24.

The data management module 40 may keep a record of historic data, including charge amounts, charge rates, battery bank recharge rates, battery bank depletion rates, etc. Based on the historic data, the data management module 40 may create a predictive model about likely power demand scenarios for a given time of a day, for a given weekday, for a given month etc. The data management module 40 may comprise a configuration allowing a user to provide an input into the data management module 40, for instance via a direct user connection 42c and/or via a service relaying data to the data management module 40 via a cloud 3. Such a configuration allows a user to modify the expected return time. A change of an expected return time for a mobile client unit allows the data management module 40 to recalculate the expected departure time for that user's mobile client unit.

The data management module 40 may receive data about a user's location and derive therefrom the expected return time of the user and/or an expected departure time of a user associated with a vehicle of a charging bay. The data management module 40 may obtain geo-location data, for instance from a mobile phone carried by the user.

The data management module 40 may obtain travel status information from a user, for instance if a travel ticket, such as a train ticket, has been activated for use to indicate a likely arrival time of the user at the charging bay.

A travel ticket may be considered activated by the data management module 40 upon fulfilling a trigger condition. A trigger condition may be using a travel ticket to board a carriage. A trigger condition may be the scanning of a travel ticket. A trigger condition may be the geolocation of a user. For instance, the data management module 40 may receive geo-location data about a user. If the user is moving along a commute line, e.g. along a train line, from a remote location returning towards the car park charging bay, the data management module may infer that the user is returning via the train line and may also infer the return arrival time. In this regard, the data management module 40 may imply that an anticipated return time of a user corresponds to an expected departure time of a vehicle associated with that user. The data management module may also add a margin time, e.g. 5 or 10 minutes, whereby an expected departure time is earlier than an anticipated return time of the user. Conversely, the data management module 40 may be instructed by a user to allow charging for a period of time after their return, for instance if a user can tolerate waiting after their return for a full charge.

A data connection 42 may obtain grid availability data about the availability of the grid 1 from a district network operator. For instance, if grid availability is unexpectedly reduced, the data management module 40 may operate to supply a partial charge to each mobile client unit to avoid vehicles being stranded. The partial charge may be less than a full charge first allocated for charging a vehicle. The partial charge may be individual to each mobile client unit. For instance, the system may have knowledge of the commute distance or distance to next charge station from each charging bay. The data management module 40 may charge each mobile client unit to a level sufficient for it to reach an adjacent charge station and/or to reach a home location.

The data management module 40 may, further, collect information about power grid network events, such as unexpected power outages or requests from a district network operator to reduce demand on the grid 1, for instance because the grid 1 is close to capacity. In that case, the data management module 40 may operate to feed power from the battery bank 24 to the grid 1, and/or may stop or defer using power from the battery bank 24 to charge one or more of the second client units. The data management module 40 may be configured to ensure that a predetermined charge amount remains available for a predetermined number of trains and/or for a predetermined time. For instance, the data management module 40 may be configured to ensure the battery bank 24 has a charge condition sufficient to supply the railway train R1 during peak demand times, for instance between 4pm and 7pm. Depending on the power supply from the grid 1 available to recharge the battery bank 24, the data management module 40 may stop or reduce the supply of energy to charging bays before peak demand commences, to ensure that at the beginning of a peak demand period the battery bank 24 has sufficient capacity for fast-charging train batteries.

The data management module 40 may monitor the charge level and condition of the battery bank 24. If the battery level falls below a minimum threshold level, e.g. more than 2% below an anticipated scheduled level, then a recalculation is triggered starting at the actual battery level. The data management module 40 may, further, comprise a configuration to create a predictive model of the battery condition for a given time of the day, day of a week, day of a month, etc. The data management module 40 may compare the actual battery status obtained via a data connection 42b with a value calculated via the predictive model. The data management module 40 may adapt the predictive model based on the actual battery status, such that the predictive model over time aligns with the behaviour of the battery bank 24.

The data management module 40 may be configured to handle mobile client disconnect events. Mobile client disconnect events are understood to include an unexpected, e.g. early, disconnection of a mobile client unit. This may occur if a mobile client unit requires less charge than originally allocated or anticipated, causing it to stop drawing supply from the battery bank 24. A mobile client disconnect event may occur if a mobile client unit is removed from the charging bay, e.g. by a user returning early. In that case, it will be understood that a charge amount assigned to a charging bay is not fully utilised and therefore available for other mobile client units.

Newer types of electric vehicles tend to be compliant with a charge communication standard, ISO 15118, allowing them to communicate vehicle charge levels and battery status. However, there is a significant proportion of electric vehicles in use that predates the ISO 15118 standard and is therefore unable to communicate their vehicle charge status. For such vehicles, the data management module 40 may have to assign a predetermined charge amount based on a fixed pre-determined value, or based on an estimate. In that case, mobile client disconnect events are not unexpected if the fixed pre-determined value exceeds the charge amount required by the mobile client unit.

The data management module 40 is further able to take into account changes indicated by data supplied to it from a cloud 2 or from a server system 3, such as events that may affect the calculation of either the predetermined charge amount required for the next train and/or the time available for the battery bank 24 to reach a charge level sufficient to supply a predetermined charge amount at the arrival time of the train.

The data management module 40 takes into account a train time table that indicates the number of train charge periods throughout a given period such as a day, for multiple trains and for a train station in question, and therefore for a battery bank 24 in question. The train time table may also indicate, and/or allow the data management module 40 to derive, the duration of each train charge period, and the charge amount for each train charge period. In some instances, a train may not necessarily require a charge amount corresponding to a train remain time in a station, for example if a train charge can be completed within six minutes whereas the train is scheduled to remain in the station for a longer period, e.g. ten minutes. When there is a change of a train time table, the data management module 40 is able to recalculate required train charge periods through a given period. In that case, the data management module 40 may allow a vehicle charging bay to charge during a period of time in which a train is stationary.

To illustrate this scenario with a numerical example, a vehicle V1 may require a charge for a period of 40 minutes. A 35-minute period may be available between the start of the vehicle charge and the train arrival time. As the required 40 minute period exceeds the available 35 minute slot, the vehicle V1 may not be charged. The data management module 40 may receive data indicating that a next train will remain in a station for 12 minutes, and will require 6 minutes fast-charge at maximum capacity. In that example, the data management module 40 may allow the vehicle Vito be charged for the required 40 minutes, including a period of five minutes during which a train is already in the station, because there a remaining period of seven minutes the train remains in the staion and which is sufficiently long to allow the train to be fast-charged for the required six minutes. With the vehicle V1 charged, it can be disconnected, potentially allowing a further vehicle to be charged sooner.

As another example, the data management system 40 may determine that a train has sufficient charge for a round trip, and that it may not be charged during a first stop at a station, and that it will be charged during another stop as part of a return journey. For instance, if the data management system 40 determines a demand for several electric vehicles cannot be met when also charging a train during its first stop, the data management system 40 may carry out a determination, based in inputs from data connections, whether or not the train need not be charged until its return, or if the train may be charged at a subsequent station. If the determination yields that the train has sufficient charge to allow it to be charged later, the data management system 40 may clear the recharging of electric vehicles. If the determination yields that the train has not sufficient charge to allow it to be charged later, or to allow it to travel sufficiently far to reach another charge point, the data management system 40 may not allow some or all of the electric vehicles to be charged. To this end, the data management system 40 may defer or block a charge via the charging bays associated with the electric vehicles in question.

The examples above illustrate the operation of the charging infrastructure system 10 using electric vehicles as examples of a mobile client unit. However, the invention is not so limited. The expression electric vehicles is understood to encompasses mobility devices including scooters, rollers, electric bikes and multi-wheel vehicles, power-assisted bikes and multi-wheel vehicles. The invention may be used in stations and hubs for a wide variety of vehicles, including rail stations, bus and coach stations, tram stations, taxi ranks, rental vehicle hubs, delivery vehicles etc. More generally, the invention is believed of use where infrastructure is required for fast-charging electric vehicles stopping a relatively short period of time during which they can be recharged, in the region of several minutes to an hour, between different legs of a journey, while several other vehicles are expected to remain at that site for prolonged periods of time of typically an hour or more. The several vehicles may be those of passengers, patrons or customers of a service requiring the fast-charge capability.

To provide further examples, a mobile client unit may be constituted by aircraft or watercraft including portable battery modules or motor units for aircraft and watercraft. While one field of application is believed to be the personal transportation sector, the invention may be applied in the logistics and robotics infrastructure, such as drone delivery and/or surveillance, entertainment and hospitality industries, healthcare and sports sector, and others, and may be used in a charging infrastructure for electric or power-assisted carts, gondolas, trolleys, carriages, buggies etc. The invention is thought to provide a synergistic effect in that it allows battery banks to be used in a more effective and versatile manner, thus allowing a denser network of battery banks to be installed where this might otherwise not be justifiable, for instance at stations without high train frequency.

As a consequence, the invention is believed to enable a denser network of battery banks to be installed faster, justifying high capacity battery bank installations in areas with less frequent train service with a correspondingly larger spare capacity to be utilised by the present invention.

Whilst the principle of the invention has been illustrated using exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not so limited and that the invention may be embodied by other variants defined within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A charging infrastructure system for charging a plurality of mobile client units, the system connected to a power grid and comprising a battery bank connected to the grid and operated by a controller module to be charged from the grid, and a plurality of charging bays each temporarily occupiable by a mobile client unit for recharging, the system being operative to supply power from the battery bank to the charging bays, wherein the system comprises a configuration allowing it to associate a client charge requirement with each one of a plurality of mobile client units, including a first client charge requirement for a first mobile client, to associate a first mobile client with a first charging bay, and to operate the first charging bay to charge the first mobile client depending on the first client charge requirement.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system is further operative to supply power from the grid to the charging bays, and comprises a configuration to select a supply from one of the battery bank and the grid depending on the first client charge requirement.
3. The system according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a configuration to control an export from the battery bank to the grid depending on the first client charge requirement.
4. The system according to claim 3, comprising a configuration to delay an export from the battery bank to the grid depending on the first client charge requirement.
5. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a configuration allowing it to associate one or more second mobile clients with one or more second charging bays, to determine for each second mobile client a second client charge requirement, and to operate each second charging bay to charge the second mobile client depending on the second client charge requirement.
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the system operates a second charging bay to charge a second mobile client depending on the first client charge requirement.
7. The system according to claim 5 or 6, comprising a configuration to delay charging the second mobile client depending on the first client charge requirement.
8. The system according to any one of claims 5 to 7, comprising a configuration to control an export from the battery bank to the grid depending on the one or more second client charge requirements.
9. The system according to any one of claims 5 to 8, comprising a configuration to control charging the battery bank from the grid depending on the one or more second client charge requirements.
10. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a configuration to determine an arrival time of a first mobile client, and to operate the first charging bay depending on the arrival time.
11. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a configuration to determine a departure time of a first mobile client, and to operate the first charging bay depending on the departure time.
12 The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a configuration to determine an arrival time of a first mobile client, and to operate the second charging bay depending on the arrival time.
13. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a configuration to determine a departure time of a first mobile client, and to operate the second charging bay depending on the departure time.
14. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a configuration allowing it to determine a battery bank charge level, to determine a predicted charge quantity required to charge a first mobile client between an arrival time and a departure time of the first mobile client, to determine whether or not the battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity, and to prevent charging of one or more second mobile units until the battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity.
15. The system according to claim 14, configured to determine a future battery bank charge level taking into account grid power supply to recharge the battery bank and power requirement from the one or more second mobile units from the battery bank, and to determine a future battery bank charge level at the arrival time of the first mobile unit, and to determine whether or not the future battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity, and to prevent charging of one or more second mobile units until the future battery bank charge level exceeds the predicted charge quantity.
16. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a configuration to delay charging of one or more second mobile clients in a second charging bay between an arrival time and a departure time of a first mobile client.
17. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first client charging bay is configured to supply a higher voltage than the one or more second client charging bays.
18. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a rectifier between the power grid and the battery bank, the battery bank supplying a plurality of DC charging bays.
19. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of AC charging bays.
20. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first mobile client is a train and wherein the first charging bay is a train charging station.
21. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first mobile client is a bus and wherein the first charging bay is a bus charging station.
22. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first mobile client is an aircraft and wherein the first charging bay is an airfield charging station for aircraft.
23. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first mobile client is a watercraft and wherein the first charging bay is a watercraft charging station.