Granted Patent B2

US 12,539,773 · App. 18/090,292 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Inventor: John Cronin (Wilmington, DE)

Assignee: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

B60L15/2045B60L50/40H02J3/322H02J7/00306H02J7/0068H02J7/345H02J2207/50H02J2310/48

Abstract

Claims (46)

1 . A method for powering an electric vehicle including an electrochemical battery and one or more supercapacitor batteries, the method comprising:

determining self-discharge rate data for the one or more supercapacitor batteries; and

in response to the self-discharge rate data satisfying at least one threshold condition, notifying a user to charge the one or more supercapacitor batteries, otherwise performing operations including:

measuring current within a first path connecting the electrochemical battery to the electric vehicle;

storing data representing the measured current in a database;

determining a current use pattern from stored current data in the database;

in response to the current use pattern satisfying a first switching condition:

disconnecting the electrochemical battery from the electric vehicle using a first switch in a first electrical path electrically coupling the electrochemical battery to the electric vehicle; and

connecting the one or more supercapacitor batteries to the electric vehicle using a second switch in a second electrical path electrically coupling the one or more supercapacitor batteries with the electric vehicle; and

in response to the current use pattern satisfying a second switching condition:

disconnecting the one or more supercapacitor batteries from the electric vehicle using the second switch; and

connecting the electrochemical battery to the electric vehicle using the first switch.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to the current use pattern not satisfying the first switching condition, waiting for a self-discharge safe time before determining whether the current use pattern satisfies the second switching condition.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the self-discharge safe time is determined by a rule according to a charging level of the electrochemical battery.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises an instantaneous self-discharge rate between a current charge measurement and a last charge measurement.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises a last charge self-discharge rate between a current charge measurement and an initial charge measurement when the one or more supercapacitor batteries were last charged.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein N is at least twenty.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises a long-term self-discharge rate measured between a current self-discharge rate and a self-discharge rate N charging cycles earlier, wherein N is greater than zero.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises a predicted self-discharge rate obtained from artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) correlations.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the current use pattern is obtained from artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) correlations.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first switching condition comprises the measured current exceeding a current threshold.

11 . A system for powering an electric vehicle including an electrochemical battery and one or more supercapacitor batteries, the system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a computer-readable medium comprising program code that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations including:

determining self-discharge rate data for the one or more supercapacitor; and

in response to the self-discharge rate data satisfying at least one threshold condition, notifying a user to charge the one or more supercapacitor batteries, otherwise performing operations including:

measuring current within a first path connecting the electrochemical battery to the electric vehicle;

storing data representing the measured current in a database;

determining a current use pattern from stored current data in the database;

in response to the current use pattern satisfying a first switching condition:

disconnecting the electrochemical battery from the electric vehicle using a first switch in a first electrical path electrically coupling the electrochemical battery to the electric vehicle; and

connecting the one or more supercapacitor batteries to the electric vehicle using a second switch in a second electrical path operably coupling the one or more supercapacitor batteries with the electric vehicle; and

in response to the current use pattern satisfying a second switching condition:

disconnecting the one or more supercapacitor batteries from the electric vehicle using the second switch; and

connecting the electrochemical battery to the electric vehicle using the first switch.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the current use pattern not satisfying the first switching condition, waiting for a self-discharge safe time before determining whether the current use pattern satisfies the second switching condition.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the self-discharge safe time is determined by a rule according to a charging level of the electrochemical battery.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises an instantaneous self-discharge rate between a current charge measurement and a last charge measurement.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises a last charge self-discharge rate between a current charge measurement and an initial charge measurement when the one or more supercapacitor batteries were last charged.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein N is at least twenty.

17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises a long-term self-discharge rate measured between a current self-discharge rate and a self-discharge rate N charging cycles earlier, wherein N is greater than zero.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the self-discharge rate data comprises a predicted self-discharge rate obtained from artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) correlations.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the current use pattern is obtained from artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) correlations.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first switching condition comprises the measured current exceeding a current threshold.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (228)