WO2014207267A1

WO2014207267A1 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2014207267A1
Application number: PCT/ES2013/070441
Authority: WO
Inventors: José Francisco SANZ OSORIO; Juan Luis Villa Gazulla; Marta CALAVIA VITALES; Juanma PERIÉ BUIL; Tomás CABEZA GOZALO
Original assignee: Fundación Circe - Centro De Investigacion De Recursos Y Consumos Energeticos; Endesa, S.A.
Priority date: 2013-06-28
Filing date: 2013-06-28
Publication date: 2014-12-31

Abstract

The invention relates to a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, which uses a charging station provided with a plurality of independently controllable resonant modules, each module having its own corresponding primary coupling coil, which acts on electric vehicles, which are in turn provided with at least one resonant module that can be connected in parallel or in series, each one having its own corresponding secondary coupling coil, at least one converter module, and the appropriate assembly of batteries. The invention has the main advantage of allowing the provision of a multifunctional charging station which is automatically adaptable to electric vehicles with batteries of different operating voltages or powers.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles This specification refers, as its title indicates, a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles that uses a charging station equipped with a plurality of independently controllable resonant modules, each with its corresponding primary coupling coil, which acts on electric vehicles equipped with one or more resonant modules, which can be connected in parallel or in series, each with its corresponding secondary coupling coil, one or several converter modules, and the appropriate battery pack

Field of the Invention

The invention is encompassed within inductive charging devices for electric vehicles, of the type comprising a primary device arranged as a normally fixed charging station and one or several secondary devices located in electric vehicles, both of which are inductively coupled to each other for the transfer of electrical energy that causes the battery charge of the electric vehicle while standing.

Background of the invention

At present, inductive charging technology, without electrical contact, is widely known and used for recharging batteries included in electric vehicles, as we can find reflected, for example in US2010123451 "Inductive power transfer system and method" patents, US2008238364 "System for inductive power transfer", KR101038350 "Non-contact type inductive power transfer device for electric vehicle", WO2013012585 "Wireless power transfer electric vehicle supply equipment installation and validation toor, US2012010341" Ultra slim power supply device and power acquisition device for electric vehicle ", US20120186927" Power supply device, power acquisition device and safety system for electromagnetic induction powered electric vehicle "and EP2584665" Wireless high power transfer under regulatory constraints ", but all these embodiments have a common problem: power transfer must be calculated and optimized for certain Inada powers and battery voltages, in order to minimize innate energy losses to an inductive transfer. This implies that, for each type of vehicle, motor power, battery capacity and battery voltage, a differentiated charging system is necessary, which is a big problem, especially since there is no standardization in electric vehicles, which gives rise to a great Dispersion of features between different manufacturers. Thus it is common to see charging systems from a few kW to about 200kW, as well as battery voltages from 200V to more than 800V, which makes a common charging station technically unthinkable for all of them.

Some control systems are also known to minimize losses caused by misalignment between coupling coils, such as patents WO2009144354 "High-frequency inductive coupling power transfer system and associated method 'and WO 2009144355" Automatic method for controlling a high -frequency inductive coupling power transfer system "presenting a system that maintains the transferred power by compensating for imbalances of up to 99% of the secondary surface. In the same line work realizations such as those described in the patents TW200832883" Power supply and charger for series -parallel loosely coupled inductive power transfer system "and TW200810315" Power circuit component parameters design method for compensating the loosely coupled inductive power transfer system. "Some devices, such as the one described in WO2013046104" Coil configurations for Inductive Power Transfer "use multiple resonant circuits s to improve the efficiency of power transfer at different distances between primary and secondary, but none of these embodiments can compensate for differences in power and / or voltages as they exist between different manufacturers of electric vehicles, still needing different charging stations to each.

There are also some embodiments, such as those described in patent GB2474867 "Transferring electric energy to a vehicle, using a system which comprises consecutive segments for energy transfer" that propose the use of multiple resonant elements in the primary, longitudinally distributed, to transfer energy to a secondary located in a moving vehicle, to allow the loading of this vehicle while it is in motion, for example in the case of a tram, bus or train or the like, that do not remain at a stop long enough for the load so that must be complemented with a load while it is moving near the stop. These techniques are also cited in the publication "Co / 7 design and shielding methods for a magnetic resonant wireless power transfer system" (Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol 101, No. 6, June 2013). As in the previous case, it is not possible by this technique to compensate for differences in power and / or voltages as they exist between the different manufacturers of electric vehicles, still needing different charging stations for each one. In the same way, some embodiments are known, such as that described in WO2013012480 "Regulation control and energy management scheme for wireless power transfer" which use wireless communications for the transfer of parameters between primary and secondary, but not in a modular context of multiple converters that compensate for differences in power and / or voltages as they exist between different manufacturers of electric vehicles.

Description of the invention

To solve the current problem in the recharging of electric vehicles while the vehicle is stationary with different power, battery voltage, etc., the modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles object of the present invention has been devised, which uses a charging station, formed as an AC / DC converter that feeds a plurality of independently controllable resonant modules, which can be of different powers or of the same and of different frequencies or of the same, each with its corresponding primary coupling coil.

The electric vehicles to be charged in turn use one or several resonant modules, each with its corresponding secondary coupling coil, one or several AC / DC converter modules (6), and the appropriate battery pack.

In case of several resonant modules in the electric vehicle they can be connected in parallel or in series. They will be connected in parallel when it is desired to add the current transferred from the resonant modules of the charging station, thus achieving perfectly adapt the power requirements required by the electric vehicle. They will be connected in series when it is desired to add the voltage delivered by each one, being able to charge battery sets of higher nominal voltage and being able to reach the power demanded by the vehicle.

The operation of this charging system also involves an automatic connection and control configuration of both the AC / DC converter and the resonant modules of the charging station, as well as the entire charging process, based on information provided by the own electric vehicle through a wireless communication protocol with the charging station. This information includes serial or parallel configuration data, identification for charging, battery charge status and other control signals.

This modular inductive charging system is susceptible to use for multiple types of electric vehicles, from bicycles, motorcycles or electric cars for personal use, passing vans, trucks or other industrial vehicles, to trains or trams. Advantages of the invention

This modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles that is presented provides multiple advantages, among which we can highlight that it has a multifunctional charging station, automatically adaptable to electric vehicles with batteries of different powers or working voltages.

Another important advantage is that it avoids the need for charging stations specifically adapted for each type of vehicle, facilitating service to vehicles of different manufacturers and different applications.

It is important to highlight the added advantage of the possibility of combining resonant modules of different powers and frequencies with each other, for a better adaptation to different types of vehicles.

Another notable advantage is that, when performing the primary control, the working voltage can be adjusted over a wide range.

We must also highlight that this charging system is capable of being carried out with any resonant topology of the known ones, even allowing the combination of several of them.

Also note that control technologies can be implemented to compensate for possible misalignments between the primary and secondary coils, to minimize losses and optimize energy transfer.

We must not fail to highlight the advantage that implies the perfect optimization of parameters of the transfer of power in the load, minimizing the electrical losses and therefore reducing the economic cost of the recharge.

Description of the figures

To better understand the object of the present invention, a preferred practical embodiment of a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles has been shown in the attached drawing. In that plane, figure -1- shows a simplified generic block diagram.

Figure -2- shows a simplified block diagram of a charging station with an electric vehicle with two resonant modules in parallel.

Figure -3- shows a simplified block diagram of a charging station with an electric vehicle with two resonant modules in series.

Figure -4- shows a simplified block diagram of a charging station with an electric vehicle with a single resonant module.

Figure -5- shows an example of a topology combining different maximum powers and working frequencies. Figure -6- shows an example of a topology combining different maximum powers and working frequencies.

Figure -7- shows a graph of an example of maximum power obtainable as a function of voltage, in an example showing battery charging of 350V, in parallel, and 700V, in series.

Figure -8- shows an example of alignment of the primary and secondary coupling coils in case of multiple resonant modules in the vehicle.

Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

The modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles object of the present invention basically comprises, as can be seen in the attached drawing, a primary device (1) arranged as a charging station, normally fixed, and one or more secondary devices (2), located in electric vehicles, both being inductively coupled to each other for the transfer of electrical energy while the vehicle is stationary, and may also be applicable to moving vehicles.

The primary device (1) includes

- an AC / DC converter (3) that continuously feeds

- a plurality of independently controllable resonant modules (4), each incorporating their corresponding primary coupling coil (12),

- a wireless communications module (9),

- a control module (10) of the resonant modules (4) and

- a control module (1 1) of the AC / DC converter (3).

Each secondary device (2) in turn comprises

- one or more resonant modules (5), each incorporating its corresponding secondary coil (13) coupling,

- one or more AC / DC converter modules (6),

- one set of batteries (7) and

- a wireless communications module (8).

If there are several resonant modules (5) in the secondary device (2), located in the electric vehicle, they can be connected in parallel or in series. They will be connected in parallel when it is desired to add the current transferred from the resonant modules (4) of the primary device (1), thus achieving perfectly adapt the power requirements required by the electric vehicle. They will be connected in series when it is desired to add the voltage delivered by each one, being able to charge battery assemblies (7) of higher nominal voltage, thus being able to perfectly adapt the power needs required by the electric vehicle. Thus, for example, if in one embodiment of the invention each of the resonant modules (4) were 25kW maximum power, and 350V load voltage, we could find multiple possible load combinations, such as:

- electric vehicle with two resonant modules (5) in parallel (Fig. 2), which would make it possible to charge a set of batteries (7) of about 350V, with a maximum power of 50kW, typical situation in the case of some vans or trucks.

- electric vehicle with two resonant modules (5) in series (Fig. 3), which would make it possible to charge a set of batteries (7) of about 700V, with a maximum power of 50kW, typical situation in the case of some vans or trucks.

- electric vehicle with a single resonant module (5) (Fig. 4), which would make it possible to charge a set of batteries (7) of about 350V, with a maximum power of 25kW, typical situation in the case of a particular car.

Obviously with this same embodiment it would also be possible to load a vehicle with four resonant modules (5) in parallel, obtaining in this case 350V and 100kW, or with three resonant modules (5) in series, obtaining in this case 1050V and 100kW, or another combination that is needed depending on the set of batteries (7) installed in each vehicle, allowing the use of the same charging station with vehicles of different types and electrical needs.

It is also planned that, in order to adapt to the variety of existing electric vehicles, the resonant modules (4) of the primary device (1) can all have the same maximum power, or combine resonant modules (4a, 4b) of different maximum powers P1 (4a) and P2 (4b), corresponding to different resonant modules (6a, 6b) in the vehicle.

In the same way it is provided that the resonant modules (4) of the primary device (1) can all have the same working frequency, or combine different working frequencies f1, f2, etc.

This charging system is capable of being carried out with any circuit topology of the known ones, even allowing the combination of several of them.

This modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles involves a characteristic operating procedure comprising an alignment phase, a configuration phase, a charging phase and an end of charging phase.

The alignment phase comprises the location of the electric vehicle next to the charging station, being positioned such that the best possible alignment between the coil or secondary coils (13) of the secondary device (2), located in the electric vehicle, occurs. and the coil or primary coils (12) of the secondary device (2), located in the charging station. The configuration phase includes the sending by the electric vehicle, through its wireless communications module (8), of its battery configuration data, such as voltage or serial / parallel connection, identification for charging, charge status of the battery and other control signals, the reception of this information by means of the wireless communications module (9) of the primary device (1), which transmits it to the control module (10) of the resonant modules (4) and the control module (11) of the AC / DC converter (3), and the activation by control module (10) of the module or resonant modules (4) necessary depending on the particular configuration of the electric vehicle, automatically configuring to transfer the power specified by the vehicle's battery.

The charging phase comprises the inductive transfer of power between the resonant module or modules (4) activated at the charging station and the resonant module (5) of the electric vehicle, being regulated in real time by the control module (10 ) of the resonant modules (4) and the control module (1 1) of the AC / DC converter (3) based on the charging information received from the battery pack (7) of the electric vehicle through the modules wireless communications (8.9).

The end-of-charge phase comprises the disconnection of the resonant module or modules (4) previously activated when the control module (10) detects the full charge by means of the information supplied from the electric vehicle through the wireless communication modules ( 8.9).

Claims

1 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, of the type comprising a primary device (1) arranged as a normally fixed charging station and one or several secondary devices (2), located in electric vehicles, both being inductively coupled each other for the transfer of electrical energy while the vehicle is stationary or in circulation, characterized in that the primary device (1) comprises

- an AC / DC converter (3) that continuously feeds

- a wireless communications module (9),

- a control module (10) of the resonant modules (4) and

- a control module (11) of the AC / DC converter (3),

and each secondary device (2) in turn comprises

- one or more AC / DC converter modules (6),

- one set of batteries (7) and

- a wireless communications module (8).

2 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that the resonant modules (5) of the secondary device (2) are connected in parallel.

3 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that the resonant modules (5) of the secondary device (2) are connected in series.

4 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 1, characterized in that the resonant modules (4) of the primary device (1) all have the same maximum power. 5 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 1, characterized in that the resonant modules (4) of the primary device (1) combine different maximum powers. 6 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 1, characterized in that the resonant modules (4) of the primary device (1) all have the same working frequency.

7 - Modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 1, characterized in that the resonant modules (4) of the primary device (1) combine different working frequencies.

8 - Operating procedure of a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles as described in the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an alignment phase, a configuration phase, a charging phase and an end-of-charge phase.

9 - Operating procedure of a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 8, characterized in that the alignment phase comprises the location of the electric vehicle next to the charging station, positioning itself in such a way as to produce the best possible alignment between the coil or secondary coils (13) of the secondary device (2), located in the electric vehicle, and the coil or primary coils (12) of the secondary device (2), located in the charging station. 10 - Operating procedure of a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 8, characterized in that the configuration phase comprises the sending by the electric vehicle, by means of its wireless communications module (8), of its battery configuration data, identification for charging, battery charge status and other control signals, the reception of this information through the wireless communications module (9) of the primary device (1), which transmits it to the control module (10) of the resonant modules (4) and to the control module (1 1) of the AC / DC converter (3), and the activation by control module part (10) of the resonant module or modules (4 ) necessary depending on the particular configuration of the electric vehicle, automatically configuring to transfer the power specified by the vehicle's battery. 1 1 - Operating procedure of a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 8, characterized in that the charging phase comprises the inductive transfer of power between the resonant module or modules (4) activated in the charging station load and the resonant module (5) of the electric vehicle, being regulated in real time by the control module (10) of the resonant modules (4) and the control module (1 1) of the AC / DC converter (3) based on the charging information received from the battery pack (7) of the electric vehicle through the wireless communication modules (8.9), offsetting if necessary the misalignment between the primary (12) and secondary (13) coils ) coupling.

12 - Operating procedure of a modular inductive charging system for electric vehicles, according to claim 8, characterized in that the end-of-charge phase comprises the disconnection of the resonant module or modules (4) previously activated upon detecting the control module ( 10) the complete charge by means of the information supplied from the electric vehicle through the wireless communication modules (8,9).