Granted Patent B2

US 12,734,927 · App. 18/356,615 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Inventors: Zachary Jordan Lee (Altadena, CA); John Horn (San Diego, CA)

Assignee: PowerFlex Systems, LLC

B60L53/65B60L53/67G06Q10/02B60L53/68G06Q50/06

Abstract

Claims (62)

1 . A method for electric vehicle fleet management, the method comprising:

determining, via one or more sensors, that a first electric vehicle is in route to a charging site including a plurality of charging stations comprising a plurality of low-level charging stations and a plurality of high-level charging stations;

automatically matching, based on a machine learning-based assignment, a first charging task to the first electric vehicle;

automatically matching the first electric vehicle to a first charging station of the plurality of low-level charging stations based on:

one or more first operation targets of the first charging task being achievable by a low-level charging station; and

determining that there is not a sufficient amount of power available at the charging site to charge the first electric vehicle with a high-level charging station concurrently as charging a second electric vehicle with another high-level charging station;

automatically matching the second electric vehicle to a second charging station of the plurality of high-level charging stations based on:

one or more second operation targets of a second charging task associated with the second electric vehicle not being achievable by a low-level charging station;

in response to determining that the first electric vehicle has plugged into the automatically matched first charging station, associating the first electric vehicle with a first charging session;

in response to determining that the second electric vehicle has plugged into the automatically matched second charging station, associating the second electric vehicle with a second charging session;

determining an allocation of power among the plurality of charging stations for an electric vehicle fleet management at the charging site, the allocation of power based on at least one of the one or more first operation targets or the one or more second operation targets; and

allocating, based on the determined allocation of power, first charging power to the automatically matched first charging station and second charging power to the automatically matched second charging station.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, when the automatically matched first charging station is occupied by an occupying vehicle, matching the occupying vehicle to a different charging station of the plurality of charging stations and issuing instructions to cause the occupying vehicle to move.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first operation targets of the first charging task include a minimum state of charge for the first electric vehicle and a deadline by which the first electric vehicle is to achieve at least the minimum state of charge.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically matching the first charging task to the first electric vehicle includes:

selecting the first charging task from a list of charging tasks sorted by one of the one or more first operation targets of the first charging task.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the one of the one or more first operation targets of the first charging task is a deadline by which the first electric vehicle is to achieve at least a minimum state of charge.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically matching the first charging task to the first electric vehicle further includes performing a mixed integer program.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein automatically matching the first charging task to the first electric vehicle further includes performing a convex relaxation of the mixed integer program.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein automatically matching the first charging task to the first electric vehicle further includes performing the mixed integer program including one or more of a job change penalty term or a station change penalty term.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein automatically matching the first charging task to the first electric vehicle further includes performing the mixed integer program including a non-assignment penalty term.

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein automatically matching the first charging task to the first electric vehicle further includes performing the mixed integer program including a non-completion penalty term.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein allocating the first charging power to the automatically matched first charging station further includes automatically matching a charging trajectory including of one or more charging rates over time to the automatically matched first charging station based on:

the one or more first operation targets of the first charging task automatically matched to the first electric vehicle;

a maximum charge rate of the first electric vehicle; and

a maximum power output of the automatically matched first charging station.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein automatically matching the charging trajectory further includes performing load management between the plurality of charging stations to stay below an electrical limit of the charging site or to reduce operating costs or emissions of the charging site.

13 . A processing system, comprising:

a memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the processing system to:

determine, via one or more sensors, that a first electric vehicle is in route to a charging site including a plurality of charging stations comprising a plurality of low-level charging stations and a plurality of high-level charging stations;

automatically match, based on a machine learning-based assignment, a first charging task to the first electric vehicle;

automatically match the first electric vehicle to a first charging station of the plurality of low-level charging stations based on:

one or more first operation targets of the first charging task being achievable by a low-level charging station; and

determining that there is not a sufficient amount of power available at the charging site to charge the first electric vehicle with a high-level charging station concurrently as charging a second electric vehicle with another high-level charging station;

automatically match the second electric vehicle to a second charging station of the plurality of high-level charging stations based on:

one or more second operation targets of a second charging task associated with the second electric vehicle not being achievable by a low-level charging station;

in response to determining that the first electric vehicle has plugged into the automatically matched first charging station, associate the first electric vehicle with a first charging session;

in response to determining that the second electric vehicle has plugged into the automatically matched second charging station, associate the second electric vehicle with a second charging session;

determine an allocation of power among the plurality of charging stations for an electric vehicle fleet management at the charging site, the allocation of power based on at least one of the one or more first operation targets or the one or more second operation targets; and

allocate, based on the determined allocation of power, first charging power to the automatically matched first charging station and second charging power to the automatically matched second charging station.

14 . The processing system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the processing system to match an occupying vehicle to a different charging station of the plurality of charging stations and to issue instructions to cause the occupying vehicle to move, when the automatically matched first charging station is occupied by the occupying vehicle.

15 . The processing system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more first operation targets of the first charging task include a minimum state of charge for the first electric vehicle and a deadline by which the first electric vehicle is to achieve at least the minimum state of charge.

16 . The processing system of claim 13 , wherein to cause the processing system to automatically match the first charging task to the first electric vehicle, the processor is further configured to cause the processing system to:

select the first charging task from a list of charging tasks sorted by one of the one or more first operation targets of the first charging task.

17 . The processing system of claim 13 , wherein to cause the processing system to allocate the first charging power to the automatically matched first charging station, the processor is further configured to cause the processing system to automatically match a charging trajectory including of one or more charging rates over time to the automatically matched first charging station based on:

the one or more first operation targets of the first charging task automatically matched to the first electric vehicle;

a maximum charge rate of the first electric vehicle; and

a maximum power output of the automatically matched first charging station.

18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a processing system, cause the processing system to:

determine, via one or more sensors, that a first electric vehicle is in route to a charging site including a plurality of charging stations comprising a plurality of low-level charging stations and a plurality of high-level charging stations;

automatically match, based on a machine learning-based assignment, a first charging task to the first electric vehicle;

automatically match the first electric vehicle to a first charging station of the plurality of low-level charging stations based on:

one or more first operation targets of the first charging task being achievable by a low-level charging station; and

determining that there is not a sufficient amount of power available at the charging site to charge the first electric vehicle with a high-level charging station concurrently as charging a second electric vehicle with another high-level charging station;

automatically match the second electric vehicle to a second charging station of the plurality of high-level charging stations based on:

one or more second operation targets of a second charging task associated with the second electric vehicle not being achievable by a low-level charging station;

in response to determining that the first electric vehicle has plugged into the automatically matched first charging station, associate the first electric vehicle with a first charging session;

in response to determining that the second electric vehicle has plugged into the automatically matched second charging station, associate the second electric vehicle with a second charging session;

determine an allocation of power among the plurality of charging stations for an electric vehicle fleet management at the charging site, the allocation of power based on at least one of the one or more first operation targets or the one or more second operation targets; and

allocate, based on the determined allocation of power, first charging power to the automatically matched first charging station and second charging power to the automatically matched second charging station.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processing system to match an occupying vehicle to a different charging station of the plurality of charging stations and to issue instructions to cause the occupying vehicle to move, when the automatically matched first charging station is occupied by the occupying vehicle.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (20)