Electrical connection between vehicle and charging station

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical connection device (10) between a vehicle (18) and a charging station (22), comprising a vehicle-side terminal (14) and a charging station-side terminal (16). The electrical connection device (10) comprises an additional functionality (24) integrated into the vehicle-side terminal (14) and / or the charging station-side terminal (16). The invention further relates to a method for determining a precise geographic position of an electrical connection device (10), in particular a charging cable (12); the invention further relates to the use of the electrical connection device (10) and the method for coupling the electrical connection device (10) to a user account (50) and for determining a precise geographic position of the electrical connection device (10) and of the charging station (22).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an electrical connection device between a vehicle and a charging station, a method for determining the exact geographical location of the electrical connection device and the use of the electrical connection device, and a method for coupling the electrical connection device to a user account and for determining the exact geographical location of the charging station. Background Art

[0002] DE 10 2015 210 325 A1 relates to a method for determining properties of a charging station. The method discloses determining vehicle data generated by a charging process at the charging station, further determining properties of the charging station based on the vehicle data, and providing data indicating the determined properties of the charging station.

[0003] DE 10 2016 221 471 A1 relates to a method for providing correction data for position determination. To this end, first position data are determined and / or provided for a vehicle based on GNSS received signals, wherein a corresponding receiver is arranged in the vehicle, and wherein the first position data are determined when the vehicle is in a charging position at a charging station.

[0004] An electric vehicle provider (E-Mobility Provider: EMP) usually offers its customers the possibility of recharging the batteries of electric vehicles at public charging stations. To this end, the electric vehicle provider (EMP) has usually developed an application for a mobile phone, which the electric vehicle provider makes available to the customer (user). The customer usually obtains the data of the charging stations indicated by the electric vehicle provider (EMP) in its application from an aggregation platform. The electric vehicle provider (EMP) can license this data. The electric vehicle provider (EMP) partly obtains the corresponding data of the charging stations directly from the charging station operators. The data of the charging station contains its geographical location, mostly in the form of longitude and latitude. The charging station itself usually does not have a GPS receiver.

[0005] The geographical location data of the charging station is not accurate, because the data is usually detected by the builders when installing the charging station and entered into the system. However, for this purpose, no precise measuring instruments are used, but usually mobile phones are used, which do not always provide accurate data. If multiple charging stations are built as neighbors at a parking lot, the multiple charging stations are, for example, combined into one location. It is not always possible for the user to identify in the application which charging station is located at the outer edge, so that in some cases authorization is not always simple, because it is unclear which charging station is released / authorized. In addition, it has proven to be disadvantageous that the geographical location data of the charging station include longitude and latitude, but do not include the geodetic height on the foundation. If the charging station is built on the roof of a parking building, for example, this situation is not always displayed, so that finding such a charging station may prove to be very troublesome compared to charging stations arranged on flat ground.

[0006] When using an application of an electric vehicle supplier (EMP), there is the possibility that each time the driver (usually the user of the application) starts a charging process in the application, the corresponding geographical location of the mobile phone used is queried. The geographical location of the charging station can be inferred from the location of the mobile phone. The method can be carried out over a plurality of charging processes at the charging station and can then be averaged. However, it is disadvantageous that the location of the mobile phone is detected, which may not be correct. This may be the case, for example, if the driver of the vehicle has moved significantly away from the relevant charging station after plugging in the charging cable, or for situations where the charging process is started from another location, for example, via the application, and thus for family members who do not happen to be able to use the application. In addition, the location is detected only at one point in time, in particular not at the start of the measurement. Mobile phones usually require a stabilization time to detect their geographical location, so that the data provided for location determination may be inaccurate.

[0007] On the other hand, one possibility would be to use vehicle data. However, there is the problem that the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) generally does not have access to vehicle data. In this context, individual models of individual vehicle manufacturers would like to have open data interfaces that the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) could use. However, it is generally true that the vehicle manufacturer does not make the data available to the outside world, so that the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) cannot access such geolocation data provided by the vehicle. Summary of the invention

[0008] According to the invention, an electrical connection between a vehicle and a charging station is provided, which has a vehicle-side terminal and a charging station-side terminal, wherein the electrical connection has additional functionality integrated into the vehicle-side terminal and / or into the charging station-side terminal.

[0009] Advantageously, compared to the above briefly described solutions of the prior art, the integrated additional functionality not only allows the electrical connection device, preferably designed as a charging cable, to be coupled to a user account of an electric vehicle provider (EMP), but also allows a more precise geographical location to be determined.

[0010] Advantageously, the electrical connection device proposed according to the invention can be coupled to a user account in view of the additional functionality integrated therein, which is designed such that the additional functionality at least enables the detection of the precise geographical location of the electrical connection device.

[0011] In an advantageous improvement of the electrical connection device proposed according to the invention, the electrical connection device is equipped with a visible or invisible identification mark at the vehicle-side and / or charging station-side terminal. The identification mark of the electrical connection device, such as a serial number, is used to couple the electrical connection device, for example in the form of a charging cable, to a user account. After the charging process is completed, the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) can aggregate two data sets from different sources. The electric vehicle supplier (EMP) obtains the time point and geographical location of the performed charging process from the electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable, and the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) obtains settlement data from the charging point operator (CPO: Charge Point Operator) together with the charging station used. The combination of the two data sets obtained enables the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) to determine the geographical location of the charging station used.

[0012] Advantageously, in the case of the electrical connection device proposed according to the invention, the visible or invisible identification mark is implemented, for example, as a QR code and / or a data matrix code which can be printed, for example, on the electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable and / or as a serial number which can be embossed, for example, into the electrical connection device implemented as a charging cable.

[0013] In the case of the electrical connection device proposed according to the invention, the integrated additional functionality comprises, in addition to the detection of the precise geographical location of the electrical connection device, the detection of information about a point in time or points in time of the charging process.

[0014] The electrical connection device proposed according to the invention is embodied as a charging cable, which comprises a vehicle-side terminal in the form of a plug and a charging station-side terminal which is also embodied as a plug.

[0015] In an advantageous development of the electrical connection device according to the invention, the integrated additional functionality comprises a GNSS module which can be integrated into a vehicle-side terminal of the electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable and / or into a charging station-side terminal.

[0016] Advantageously, the electrical connection device has the following features with regard to its additional functionality, namely that the additional functionality comprises a communication module for establishing communication between the electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable in the vehicle-side and / or charging station-side terminal and a network. To this end, according to the invention, a SIM card or eSIM functionality is contained in the vehicle-side terminal and / or the charging station-side terminal.

[0017] In a development of the electrical connection device proposed according to the invention, the additional functionality comprises an integrated Bluetooth or WIFI module accommodated in the vehicle-side terminal and / or the charging station-side terminal of the electrical connection device.

[0018] The electrical connection device according to the present invention is further characterized in that the electrical connection device can be coupled to a mobile phone and / or a WIFI router.

[0019] The invention further relates to a method for determining the precise geographical location of an electrical connection device and for coupling the electrical connection device to a user account, wherein the electrical connection device is in particular designed as a charging cable and according to the method at least the following method steps are performed:

[0020] a) coupling the user account with the electrical connection device by entering the serial number of the electrical connection device into the mobile phone or by scanning a QR code or a data matrix code into the mobile phone,

[0021] b) Determining the precise geographic location of the electrical connection device by identifying the active charging process of the vehicle at the charging station.

[0022] The method proposed according to the invention makes it possible, on the one hand, to detect the precise geographical location of the electrical connection device and, on the other hand, to indirectly assign the active charging process to the charging station by means of the above-mentioned data collection at the electric vehicle provider (EMP) or at the vehicle. It is only necessary to couple the user account to the electrical connection device once. The electrical connection device is then registered in the user account; coupling to the user account is not necessary before each charging process. Vehicle assignment is possible in the case where the electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable is able to identify the connected vehicle, for example by means of ISO 15118.

[0023] In a refinement of the method according to the present invention, the following steps are performed according to b):

[0024] - detect and store GPS and / or GLONASS and / or Galileo and / or BeiDou and / or QZSS signals,

[0025] - detect longitude and latitude and geodetic height above sea level,

[0026] - the geographical location is determined several times for each charging process and the determination time is detected,

[0027] - transmitting the geographical location of the electrical connection device determined multiple times for each charging process and the determination time or times thereof to the electric vehicle provider (EMP).

[0028] The method proposed according to the invention thus advantageously allows coupling to a plurality of satellite-assisted position determination systems, which significantly improves the reliability of use.

[0029] In a further development of the method proposed according to the invention, the detected data are checked in the electrical connection device so that the detected geographical location data are compared with one another and the detected geographical location and its detection time or times are transmitted only if the detected geographical location data no longer change significantly during the comparison. This procedure significantly increases the accuracy of the transmitted geographical location and the reliability of the data stock at the electric vehicle supplier (EMP).

[0030] In a development of the method proposed according to the invention, the received geographical location data of the electrical connection device are correlated with the charging process of the user with regard to time consistency at the electric vehicle provider (EMP) and the charging station used in each charging process is determined therefrom.

[0031] In a further development of the method proposed according to the invention, the geographical location of the charging station is updated or corrected or confirmed in the data set of the electric vehicle provider (EMP). This further processing of the received data thus takes place in the central system of the electric vehicle provider (EMP), without further use of an electrical connection in the form of a charging cable.

[0032] In a development of the method according to the invention, the electrical connection device is coupled to the mobile phone via a Bluetooth connection via a Bluetooth module integrated into the electrical connection device in order to register the electrical connection device in a user account at the electric vehicle provider (EMP).

[0033] In the case of the method proposed according to the invention, the precise geographic location can also be transmitted to the electric vehicle provider (EMP) optionally via:

[0034] - via the network through a communication module SIM, eSIM integrated in the electrical connection device, or

[0035] - via free and accessible WIFI, or

[0036] - via password-protected WIFI, where the password of the electrical connection is already known at the time of its establishment, or

[0037] - Via a Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone, the received data are further processed by the mobile phone and / or further transmitted.

[0038] In the case of the method proposed according to the invention, the detected geographical location together with its corresponding detection time can also be transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) at regular intervals, or the geographical location and the associated timestamp are detected regularly and then transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) in a collected manner at a certain point in time.

[0039] The invention further relates to the use of an electrical connection device and of the method for coupling the electrical connection device to a user account and for determining the exact geographical location of an electrical connection device in the form of a charging station and / or a charging cable.

[0040] Advantages of the invention

[0041] The solution proposed according to the invention can advantageously achieve that the components used during the charging process are used to couple the electrical connection device to the user account of the electric vehicle provider (EMP) on the one hand, and are used to update the geographical location and active charging process booked by the respectively authorized user account at the electric vehicle provider (EMP) on the other hand. Therefore, the solution proposed according to the invention can significantly improve the data structure or data material at the electric vehicle provider (EMP) in terms of its presentation capabilities. In addition, the active charging process that occurs is reliably detected and clearly assigned to the user account managed at the electric vehicle provider (EMP). In the scope of the aggregation of the data set obtained by the electric vehicle provider (EMP) from the CPO, that is, the charging station operator, with the data obtained by the electric vehicle provider (EMP) from the electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable, a rationalization check can also be performed. On the one hand, the start time and end time of the charging process reported by the charging station through the CPO and to the electric transportation provider (EMP) and on the other hand detected by the electrical connection device should be consistent with each other. This consistency does not need to be accurate to the second, but it cannot have deviations to a large extent. On the one hand, this facilitates the clarification of the data inventory at the electric mobility provider (EMP), and on the other hand, the solution proposed according to the invention significantly increases the user-friendliness in finding the charging station, since the geographical location of the charging station and, in particular, the height above the ground (for example in or above a multi-storey car park) can be stored significantly more accurately by using the solution proposed according to the invention. The solution proposed according to the invention makes it possible to improve the geographical location data of the charging station with regard to the specification of its longitude and latitude by adding the geodetic height above the ground. Thus, for example, a charging station on the roof of a car park can be determined just as easily as a charging station arranged on the ground.

[0042] The solution proposed according to the invention makes it possible to use precise geolocation data independently of vehicle models of different vehicle manufacturers. The solution proposed according to the invention makes it possible to bring together a number of data sources, namely, on the one hand, the precise geolocation resulting from the use of the electrical connection device proposed according to the invention with its additional functionality, and furthermore, from information about the time of the active charging process and from the use of the stored geolocations of the charging stations in the database of the electric vehicle provider (EMP).

[0043] The electric vehicle provider (EMP) can check the received geographical location data from the electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable for temporal consistency with the charging process of the user and thus identify the charging station used.

[0044] In the case of the last used evaluation method, the exact geographical location of the charging station is respectively updated or corrected or optionally confirmed in the data set of the electric vehicle provider (EMP), so that the charging stations of the corresponding electric vehicle provider (EMP) or frequently visited charging stations can be displayed on map materials or in navigation systems with improved, i.e. much more precise, coordinates.

[0045] Furthermore, the solution proposed according to the invention is characterized in that the data are detected and transmitted via an electrical connection in the form of a charging cable and the detected data are further processed relatively complexly at the electric vehicle supplier (EMP). The electric vehicle supplier uses the received geolocation data to perform "post-processing" (downstream data cleaning). In the case of a wide spread of data points, simple data cleaning can be performed in the form of an average or by discarding certain quantiles. The filtering of inaccurate data during the stabilization phase is not performed in the electrical connection in the form of a charging cable, but at the electric vehicle supplier (EMP).

[0046] If corresponding geographic location data are received and there is no charging station in the database for the location of this new geographic location, using the method proposed according to the invention enables the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) to enter a new, previously unknown charging station. The electric vehicle supplier (EMP) can thus display at least one charging station on a map or in the data for a navigation system, even if no details are available for this. This makes it possible for the electric vehicle supplier (EMP) to get ahead of the delayed transmission on the side of the aggregation platform used.

[0047] In the case of longer offline times, there is the possibility that, by using the solution proposed according to the invention, the electrical connection device can store the geographical location including the detection time even over multiple charging processes and transmit it in a collected form to the electric vehicle provider (EMP) only when an online connection is available again. The electric vehicle provider can then subsequently carry out the necessary steps.

[0048] Furthermore, the solution proposed according to the invention makes it possible to infer, for example, the floor in a parking garage based on information about the geodetic height, i.e. the height above the ground, by suitable data processing, so that the charging station can also be positioned vertically accurately and this information can be made available to the user. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0050] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an electrical connection device in the simplest case is shown, which is designed as a charging cable with a vehicle-side terminal and a charging station-side terminal,

[0051] Figure 2 Show according to Figure 1 The electrical connection device shown in the figure is designed as a charging cable which is in a plugged-in state at the vehicle or at the charging station,

[0052] Figure 3 shows an embodiment variant of an electrical connection device in the form of a charging cable with an additional functionality in the form of a GNSS module or a communication module for SIM and eSIM and a network to an electric vehicle provider (EMP) integrated into the vehicle-side terminals and the charging station-side terminals, respectively,

[0053] Figure 4 An alternative embodiment variant of the electrical connection device proposed according to the invention is shown, the electrical connection device having a Bluetooth or WIFI module respectively integrated into the vehicle-side terminal or the charging station-side terminal, and

[0054] Figure 5 An embodiment variant of the diagram shows an electrical connection device with charging station-side terminals and vehicle-side terminals as well as a WIFI router or a mobile phone for transmitting data to an electric vehicle provider (EMP). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] In the following description of embodiments of the invention, identical or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, wherein a repeated description of these elements is omitted in individual cases. The figures merely schematically illustrate the subject matter of the invention.

[0056] Figure 1The electrical connection device 10 proposed according to the invention is shown in a schematic manner, which is implemented as a charging cable 12. The charging cable comprises a vehicle-side terminal 14 and a charging station-side terminal 16. The mentioned terminals 14, 16 can be implemented as plugs, wherein completely different plug types such as type 2 plugs, CHAdeMO plugs, etc. are conceivable.

[0057] Figure 2 The electrical connection device 10 proposed according to the invention, which is designed as a charging cable 12 with its vehicle-side terminals 14 and its charging station-side terminals 16 , is shown plugged in both at the vehicle 18 and at the charging station 22 . Figure 2 The plugged-in state 20 results, i.e. a current connection is established between the vehicle 18 and a charging station 22 for charging its traction battery. The charging station 22 is operated, for example, by an electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP) operating in a blanket manner, which offers its services via apps or the like. A user account 50 of the driver of the vehicle 18 (see Figure 3 and 5 ) are usually managed at the electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP) so that both the user and the charging process can be identified and can be assigned to a user account 50 of the electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP).

[0058] from Figure 3 It can be seen that the electrical connection device 10 is designed as a charging cable 12 and that an integrated additional functionality 24 is accommodated in the vehicle-side terminal 14 and in the charging station-side terminal 16 . Figure 3 , the integrated additional functionality 24 is provided in two elements, namely both in the vehicle-side terminal 14 and in the charging station-side terminal 16. Alternatively, there is the possibility of integrating the additional functionality 24 only in the vehicle-side terminal 14 or only in the charging station-side terminal 16.

[0059] The integrated additional functionality 24 comprises, for example, a GNSS module 26 arranged in the vehicle-side terminal 14 and a GNSS module 28 located in the charging station-side terminal 16. Additionally or alternatively, a communication module 30, 32 for SIM / eSIM communication can be arranged in both terminals, namely in the vehicle-side terminal 14 and / or in the charging station-side terminal 16. The communication module 30, 32 for SIM or eSIM communication can also be arranged only in the vehicle-side terminal 14 or only in the charging station-side terminal 16. Via the GNSS module 26, 28 and / or the communication module SIM, eSIM 30, 32 arranged in the vehicle-side terminal 14 and / or in the charging station-side terminal 16, the detected geographical location data can be transmitted during the active charging process, which can be transmitted wirelessly to the electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP) by means of the network 34. The electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP) manages user accounts 50, by means of which the user who wants to authorize the charging process can be identified.

[0060] Figure 4 The electrical connection device 10 shown in the form of a charging cable 12 can also have visible or invisible identification marks 36, 38 in the vehicle-side terminal section 14 and / or in the charging station-side terminal 16. The visible or invisible identification marks 36, 38 can be, for example, a QR code or a data matrix code or a serial number or the like embossed into the electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12. These identification marks make it possible to identify the electrical connection device 10 when the detected geographical location data are transmitted to an electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP), at which a corresponding user account 50 is managed.

[0061] Figure 5 Finally, a possible embodiment of an electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12 with a vehicle-side terminal 14 and a charging station-side terminal 16 is shown, wherein the integrated additional functionality 24 is implemented in the form of an integrated Bluetooth / WIFI module 40, 42. By means of the Bluetooth / WIFI module 40, 42 integrated in the vehicle-side terminal 14 or the charging station-side terminal 16, the electrical connection device 10 can communicate with a mobile phone 44 or with a WIFI router 46, so that the detected geographical location data can be transmitted to an electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP) and the electrical connection device 10 can be coupled to a user account 50 managed there.

[0062] The user, who is usually the driver of the vehicle 18, can enter the serial number embossed or printed into the electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12 on his mobile phone 44, for example in the manner displayed in an app of the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP), or scan a QR code or a data matrix code via the mobile phone 44 and thus assign the electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12 to his user account 50. At the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP), a plurality of data sources are aggregated according to the solution proposed according to the invention, namely the geographical location detected by the electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12, and furthermore information about the time point of the active charging process and the geographical location of the charging station 22 in the database of the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) and data about the charging process obtained by the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) from the charging point operator (CPO). As soon as the electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12 recognizes a valid charging process, see according to Figure 2 , i.e. the vehicle 18 and the charging station 22 are galvanically connected via the electrical connection device 10 in the form of the charging cable 12, the geographic location determination is activated via the electrical connection device 10 with the additional functionality 24 integrated in the electrical connection device, as described above according to Figures 1 to 5 Described. Signals of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and / or GLONASS and / or Galileo and / or BeiDou and / or QZSS are detected and stored. In this case, not only the longitude and latitude are detected, but also the geodetic height above sea level (which corresponds to the basic functionality of the satellite-based navigation system described above). The determination of the geographic location can be performed multiple times during the active charging process, just as the measurement time points are detected multiple times in view of the recording of the date and time. After determining the sufficiently accurate geographic location and the measurement time point, these detected data can be transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) via the additional functionality 24 of the electrical connection device 10 integrated into the vehicle-side terminal 14 or the charging station-side terminal 16.

[0063] In this context, "sufficiently accurate" means that a data check is performed in the electrical connection device 10 so that the detected geographical location data are compared with one another. As soon as the detected geographical location data no longer change significantly, i.e. after the stabilization time has expired, the precise geographical location is transmitted together with a plurality of detection times or a detection time, i.e. via the network 34, for example by means of a mobile phone 44 or via a WIFI router 46 to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP). On the side of the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP), the received geographical location data from the electrical connection device 10 are checked for coincidence in time with the user's charging process, so that the used charging station 22 can be clearly identified. Subsequently, in the central system, i.e. at the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP), the geographical location of the respectively used charging station 22 in the data stock of the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) is updated, corrected or confirmed by applying suitable evaluation methods. It is achieved from this that the respective geographical location of the charging station 22 of the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) can be displayed on an application, a map or as data on a navigation system with improved geographical location coordinates.

[0064] By means of the solution proposed according to the invention, namely in the form of the electrical connection device 10 proposed according to the invention, which is preferably designed as a charging cable 12, it is therefore possible, on the one hand, to use its coupling to a user account 50 of an electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP), and on the other hand, to use exactly that electrical connection device 10 for determining the geographical location of the electrical connection device 10 or the charging station 22. In order to register the electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12 in the user account 50, the charging cable 12 is coupled to a mobile phone 44 via Bluetooth via an integrated additional functionality 24, here an integrated Bluetooth / WIFI module 40, 42, regardless of whether the integrated Bluetooth / WIFI module 40, 42 is accommodated in the vehicle-side terminal 14 of the electrical connection device 10 or in the charging station-side terminal 16. In this way, for example, a serial number can be transmitted via the mobile phone 44 for storage in the user account 50. Both the electrical connection device 10 in the form of a charging cable 12 and the charging station 22 transmit the precise geographical location to the electric vehicle provider 48 (EMP), optionally via a network 34 via a communication module SIM, eSIM 30, 32 installed in the electrical connection device 10. Furthermore, the geographic location can be transmitted without password access via free receivable WIFI or alternatively via protected WIFI, wherein the password is already known to the electrical connection device 10 during setup. Likewise, data can be transmitted via a Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone 44 or an application of the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) present there in the form of the already mentioned integrated Bluetooth / WIFI module 40, 42, wherein the data transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) can be further processed there or forwarded onwards in a central system.

[0065] Instead of transmitting the geographic location and the corresponding detection time from the electrical connection device 10 to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) only when the location is considered "sufficiently accurate", the geographic location can be transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) at regular intervals together with the corresponding detection time. This is also done via the network 34. In addition, there is the possibility of regularly detecting the geographic location together with the associated time stamp or timestamps and then transmitting them to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) as a set at a later time. The electric vehicle supplier performs "post-processing", usually downstream data cleaning, with the received geographic location data. Simple data cleaning is given by averaging or discarding certain quantiles in the case of a wide dispersion of the data. For example, filtering of the received inaccurate data during the stabilization time is not performed in the electrical connection device 10 in the form of the charging cable 12 itself, but in a central system at the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP). If the data connection is run via an application, such as in the case of a Bluetooth connection, the filtering and further processing of the data ("post-processing") can be delivered to the application on the mobile phone 44. The electrical connection device 10 cannot be connected to a user account 50 at the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP); however, the transmitted geographical location can be transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) for each detected charging process. No assignment to a specific user can thus be made on the part of the electric vehicle supplier. However, it is known in this case that a charging station 22 must be present at the transmitted geographical location, otherwise the electrical connection device 10 will not recognize an active charging process and will not perform a geographical location determination. With the data stock on the charging stations 22 in its database, the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) can still check which charging stations 22 may have been used and therefore either equalize or update and thus improve its location data.

[0066] Another possible implementation of the solution proposed according to the invention is that the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) accepts new charging stations 22, which are not yet known to it, into its data stock when the geographical location data are received and the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) at this location has not yet entered a charging station 22 in its current data stock. The electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) can then display at least one charging station 22 on a map or its data material, even if there is no more detailed information for this, thereby enabling the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) to get ahead of the delayed transmission on the part of the aggregation platform.

[0067] If longer offline times occur when transmitting the geographic location data, there is the possibility of storing the corresponding geographic location with its detection time in the electrical connection device 10 designed as a charging cable 12 over multiple charging processes and transmitting it to the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) when an online connection to the network 34 is available again. The electric vehicle supplier then subsequently performs further data processing steps in the central system.

[0068] In a further embodiment of the method proposed according to the invention, the three-dimensional position of the charging station 22 is detected from the geographical location data transmitted by the electrical connection device 10 in the form of the charging cable 12, more precisely from the height above the ground, so that it is possible to infer, for example, the floor in a multi-storey car park where the charging station 22 is located. The floor, whether above or below ground, can then be displayed as additional information in an app of the electric vehicle supplier 48 (EMP) in order to make it easier for the user to navigate there and find it.

[0069] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described here and the aspects emphasized therein. On the contrary, numerous modifications are possible within the scope of the claims, which are within the scope of action of a person skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An electrical connection device (10) between a vehicle (18) and a charging station (22), the electrical connection device having a vehicle-side terminal (14) and a charging station-side terminal (16), characterized in that: The electrical connection device (10) comprises additional functionality (24) which is integrated into a vehicle-side terminal (14) and / or a charging station-side terminal (16).

2. The electrical connection device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that: The additional functionality (24) integrated into the electrical connection device comprises at least the detection of the precise geographical location of the electrical connection device (10), the electrical connection device being coupled to a user account (50).

3. The electrical connection device (10) according to claims 1 to 2, characterized in that: The electrical connection device (10) is provided with visible or invisible identification marks (36, 38) at the vehicle-side and / or charging station-side terminals (14, 16).

4. The electrical connection device (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that: The visible or invisible identification mark (36, 38) has a QR code and / or a data matrix code and / or a serial number and / or an RFID chip / mark which can be read out by means of a mobile phone (44).

5. The electrical connection device (10) according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The integrated additional functionality (24) includes, in addition to detecting the precise geographic location of the electrical connection device (10), detecting information about a time point / points in time of the charging process and furthermore at least detecting the geographic location of a charging station (22) of an electric vehicle provider (48) (EMP).

6. The electrical connection device (10) according to claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The electrical connection device (10) is a charging cable (12), which includes a vehicle-side terminal (14) and a charging station-side terminal (16).

7. The electrical connection device (10) according to claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The integrated additional functionality (24) includes a GNSS module (26, 28) in the vehicle-side terminal (14) and / or in the charging station-side terminal (16).

8. The electrical connection device (10) according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The integrated additional functionality (24) comprises a communication module (30, 32) for establishing communication between a SIM card or eSIM functionality in a vehicle-side and / or charging station-side terminal (14, 16) and a network (34).

9. The electrical connection device (10) according to claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The integrated additional functionality (24) comprises an integrated Bluetooth or WIFI module (40, 42) in the vehicle-side and / or charging station-side terminal (14, 16).

10. The electrical connection device (10) according to claim 9, characterized in that: The electrical connection device (10) is coupled to a mobile phone (44) and / or a WIFI router (46).

11. A method for determining the precise geographical location of an electrical connection device (10), in particular a charging cable (12), according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the method comprising at least the following method steps: a) by entering the serial number of the electrical connection device (10) into the mobile phone (44) or by scanning a QR code or a data matrix code into the mobile phone (44) or by coupling a user account (50) to the electrical connection device (10) in a web browser, b) determining the geographic location of the electrical connection device (10) during the detection of an active charging process of the vehicle (18) at the charging station (22).

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that According to b) the following steps are performed: - detect and store GPS and / or GLONASS and / or Galileo and / or BeiDou and / or QZSS signals, - detect longitude and latitude as well as geodetic height above sea level, - the geographical location is determined several times for each charging process and the determination time is detected, - transmitting the geographical location of the electrical connection device (10) determined multiple times for each charging process and the determination time or times thereof to an electric vehicle provider (48) (EMP).

13. The method according to claims 11 to 12, characterized in that The detected data are checked in the electrical connection device (10) so that the detected geographical location data are compared with one another and the detected geographical location data and their detection time are transmitted only if the detected geographical location data no longer change significantly during the comparison.

14. The method according to claims 11 to 13, characterized in that On the part of the electric vehicle provider (48) (EMP), the received geographical location data of the electrical connection device (10) are checked for temporal consistency with the charging process of the user and the used charging station (22) is determined therefrom.

15. The method according to claims 11 to 14, characterized in that The geographic location of the charging station (22) is updated or corrected or confirmed in the electric vehicle provider (48) (EMP) data set.

16. The method according to claims 11 to 15, characterized in that In order to register the electrical connection device (10) in a user account (50), the electrical connection device (10) is coupled to a mobile phone (44) via a Bluetooth connection via a Bluetooth / WIFI module (40, 42) integrated into the electrical connection device (10).

17. The method according to claims 11 to 16, characterized in that The transmission of the geographic location to the electric vehicle provider (48) (EMP) is optionally performed via: - via a network (34) through a communication module SIM, eSIM (30, 32) integrated in the electrical connection device (10), or - via free WIFI, or - via password-protected WIFI, where the password of the electrical connection device (10) is already known when it is set up, or - Via a Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone (44), the received data are further processed by the mobile phone and / or further transmitted.

18. The method according to claims 11 to 17, characterized in that The detected geographic location together with its corresponding detection time is transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier (48) (EMP) at regular intervals, or the geographic location and the associated time stamp are detected regularly and then transmitted to the electric vehicle supplier (48) (EMP) in a collected form at a later point in time.

19. Use of an electrical connection device (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 10 and a method according to any one of claims 11 to 18 for coupling the electrical connection device (10) to a user account (50) and for determining the exact geographical location of a charging station (22).

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