Method and system for allocating vehicles to charging stations

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for allocating a vehicle (1) to a charging station (2), in which a vehicle (1) with an electric energy storage to be charged directly or indirectly wirelessly exchanges information with a charging station network (3), the information comprising at least vehicle configuration parameters (4) and charging process information (5), taking into account which information the vehicle (1) is allocated to a charging station (2) for carrying out a charging process by a computing unit (6.1, 6.2). The method according to the invention is characterized in that the vehicle (1) informs the charging station network (3) of a first vehicle configuration (7.1), the charging station network (3) determines the charging process information (5) depending on the first vehicle configuration (7.1) and transmits this information to the vehicle (1), and the vehicle (1) adapts at least one vehicle configuration parameter (4) depending on the charging process information (5) obtained from the charging station network (3) to set a second vehicle configuration (7.2) before the charging process is carried out.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for allocating vehicles to charging stations as defined in more detail in the preamble of claim 1 and to a charging system as defined in more detail in the preamble of claim 9. [Background technology]

[0002] To store drive energy, an electrified vehicle can have an electric energy store, such as a traction battery. Suitable vehicles perform a charging process at a charging station in order to charge the traction battery. Such charging stations can be privately owned, for example in the form of so-called wallboxes, but it is also possible to use public charging stations from an operator that operates a charging infrastructure.

[0003] To carry out the charging process, an exchange of information is required between the vehicle user or vehicle and the operator of the charging infrastructure. In this information exchange, for example, charging parameters to be used, such as the charging voltage or the charging capacity, as well as personal data that allows billing for the charging process are transmitted. This information exchange is relatively simple in structure and in many cases takes place simply via a corresponding charging cable or via an operating terminal installed at the charging station or a mobile terminal of the vehicle user that is connected to the operating terminal. From the patent application WO 2005 / 023301, a data processing unit is known which communicates with at least one motor vehicle and with a number of charging stations for charging the energy storages of the motor vehicles. The data processing unit realizes a wide range of communication between the vehicles and the charging stations, which realizes the exchange of a wide variety of information between the relevant actors. That is, the vehicles can inform the charging stations what state of charge the respective electric energy stores of the respective vehicles show at a particular time and what the maximum charging capacity is that can be used to perform the charging process. In turn, the charging stations themselves can inform the vehicles of the charging capacity that can be used in a certain time window. The data processing unit then derives a strategy for the temporal and / or spatial mapping of the vehicles to the charging stations, so that certain parameters are respected when performing the charging process. For example, the vehicles can be distributed to the charging stations in such a way that the underlying grid is not overloaded. The automatic derivation of a strategy for the mapping of the vehicles to the charging stations by the data processing unit reduces the costs of performing the charging process, shortens the waiting times at suitable charging stations and allows efficient utilization of the charging stations. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] DE102016005630A1 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The problem on which the present invention is based is to provide an improved method for allocating vehicles to charging stations and a suitable charging system used therefor, which further increases the efficiency and / or safety during the execution of the charging process. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the invention, this problem is solved by a method for allocating vehicles to charging stations having the features of claim 1 and by a charging system having the features of claim 9. Advantageous configurations and developments emerge from the claims dependent thereon.

[0007] In the method for allocating a vehicle to a charging station as mentioned in the introduction, a vehicle with an electric energy storage to be charged directly or indirectly wirelessly exchanges information with a charging station network, which information comprises at least vehicle configuration parameters and charging process information, and taking into account said information the vehicle is allocated to a charging station for performing the charging process by a computing unit. According to the invention, this general method is further developed by the vehicle informing the charging station network of a first vehicle configuration, the charging station network determining the charging process information depending on the first vehicle configuration and transmitting this information to the vehicle, and the vehicle adapting at least one vehicle configuration parameter depending on the charging process information obtained from the charging station network to set a second vehicle configuration before the charging process is performed.

[0008] The method according to the invention allows to further improve the efficiency and / or safety during the execution of the charging process compared to the prior art. That is, in the prior art, a computing unit obtains information from the vehicle and the charging station network, and depending on the obtained information, the vehicle is distributed to a suitable charging station of the charging station network. However, according to the invention, the vehicle and the charging station network interact, whereby the vehicle can change its first vehicle configuration to a second vehicle configuration depending on the charging process information obtained from the charging station network. Due to the change of the vehicle configuration, there are changed boundary conditions for the execution of the charging process, which realizes a more efficient distribution of the vehicles to the charging stations. In other words, in order to implement the execution of the charging process under the changed boundary conditions, the vehicle adapts to the boundary conditions imposed by the charging station network.

[0009] This will be explained in more detail in the following examples. In a first example, in a first vehicle configuration, a partially discharged electric energy storage of the vehicle, for example a traction battery, should be charged only when a critical state of charge, for example 20% of the maximum capacity, is reached. The charging station network currently has a low availability rate, whereby unoccupied charging stations and unused resources such as reserve voltages stored in the energy network remain unused. On this basis, the charging station network delivers an offer with the charging process information for charging at a reduced electricity price within a certain period of time, for example the next two hours. On this basis, the vehicle can change its strategy and allow the execution of the charging process even if the traction battery is still in a state of charge higher than the aforementioned critical 20%, for example 60%. In this case, the vehicle can autonomously determine that the execution of the charging process should be performed, and also the vehicle user can task the vehicle to execute the charging process by suggesting an offer from the charging station network to the vehicle user in the future. This allows multiple vehicles to collectively decide to charge during time windows with favorable electricity prices, which, on the one hand, improves the availability of charging stations and, on the other hand, provides vehicle users with the advantage of lowering charging costs.

[0010] In a second example, the vehicle configuration parameters may provide values ​​for different charging speeds usable by the vehicle. The charging speeds may be directly expressed, for example, by kWh per unit of time or Ah per minute, or indirectly expressed, for example, by the charging voltage to be selected. For different charging speeds, the charging process information may include different electricity prices, for example, a high electricity price for a high charging voltage and a low electricity price for a relatively low charging voltage. Based on this, the vehicle can automatically or manually by the vehicle user decide on a specific charging speed for performing the charging process. However, during the movement of the vehicle to the charging station assigned to the vehicle, the boundary conditions for performing the charging process change. For example, the utilization rate of the charging station network may suddenly increase and / or the underlying grid may reach a load limit. Based thereon, for example, a certain relatively high charging capacity may no longer be provided or may only be available at an increased cost. In order to nevertheless perform the charging process in accordance with the changed environmental conditions, the vehicle subsequently changes the first vehicle configuration to a second vehicle configuration. For example, the vehicle may be able to accept higher electricity prices or may be able to accept a charging process with a lower charging voltage.

[0011] Typically, the vehicle and the charging station network also exchange information during the charging process, e.g., during the charging process, the vehicle may change its vehicle configuration to a third vehicle configuration by changing the vehicle configuration parameters. Referring to the previous example, for example, the vehicle may re-perform the charging process at a relatively high charging voltage when the grid availability decreases.

[0012] Furthermore, various independent or interdependent boundary conditions can be defined, which are also relevant for the execution of the charging process. The boundary conditions can take into account technical aspects such as charging speed, battery life, charging process duration, time of day, availability of the charging station network and / or the underlying grid, available charging interfaces and / or the like. Similarly, commercial aspects can be taken into account such as special offers, electricity tariffs set depending on grid availability, vehicle user schedule (e.g., the vehicle user runs errands while parking the vehicle), etc. Also, the vehicle user can define strict environmental conditions under which the vehicle should be charged, independent of any other environmental conditions. This allows a person with limited time to charge the vehicle even if the normal boundary conditions no longer allow charging the vehicle, e.g., due to the lack of free charging stations. For example, a second person who does not need his vehicle at the moment could set his vehicle to pause the charging process in order to give the used charging station to the person with limited time. Accordingly, the second person can be rewarded for giving up their charging station, and the person with the least amount of time can be charged a higher electricity rate.

[0013] Any reliable wireless communication technology can be used for the communication between the vehicle and the charging station network. Preferably, the vehicle and the charging station network can communicate via mobile radio, in particular 2G to 6G or future communication protocols. The communication can also take place by means of WLAN, in particular WiFi protocol, Bluetooth, NFC, ZigBee, etc. In general, any vehicle-to-X (V2X) and / or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) interfaces can be used. This allows for an information exchange between the vehicle and the charging station network even if the vehicle is stationary away from the designated charging station. Here, the communication between the vehicle and the charging station network can be direct, i.e. the vehicle is directly connected to a part of the charging station network, such as a communication relay or a charging station. However, the communication can also take place indirectly, e.g. via a central computing unit, e.g. a cloud server or a backend. A service provider can operate a corresponding cloud server. As service providers, for example vehicle manufacturers of vehicles, smart city operators, smart grid operators and / or charging station network operators are relevant. A charging station network may include several charging station providers, for example municipal energy suppliers and private companies. This increases the comfort of the vehicle user when using the method according to the invention, since charging stations of various charging station providers can be conveniently used for carrying out the charging process. The computing unit that assigns the vehicle to the charging station may be, for example, the aforementioned cloud server. However, in general, the corresponding computing unit may also be integrated into a part of the charging station network, such as a specific charging station.

[0014] For example, in order to adapt the vehicle configuration, any one of the following vehicle configuration parameters can be changed: the maximum electricity tariff at which execution of the charging process is carried out, the offered electricity tariff at which execution of the charging process is initiated independent of further boundary conditions, the minimum or maximum charge of the traction battery to ensure, for example, a desired minimum driving range by the vehicle, the charging curve to be used, the charging capacity to be used, the charging voltage and / or charging current strength, the desired charging speed, in particular maximum and / or minimum values ​​related thereto, and / or the like.

[0015] Also, the planned use of the vehicle can be taken into account to perform the charging process. For example, if the vehicle is to perform a relatively long journey in a short period of time, the charging process can be planned so that there is enough reserve energy stored in the traction battery to realize the journey. The schedule of the vehicle user can also be analyzed to find a suitable time window for performing the charging process. From this, for example, it can be derived when the vehicle user wants to use the vehicle and use the corresponding free time to perform the charging process. That is, the vehicle can change the vehicle configuration of the vehicle from "standby", where the vehicle user must be ready to use the vehicle, to "idle", where the vehicle is ready to perform the charging process.

[0016] In an advantageous development of the method, the vehicle activates a preconditioning of the electric energy store in order to adapt one of the configuration parameters. The preconditioning of the electric energy store can include a temperature control of the energy store. If the vehicle has, for example, already been in use for a relatively long time, the traction battery of the vehicle is assumed to be heated. In contrast, if the vehicle is stationary for a relatively long time, the traction battery is generally assumed to be at ambient temperature. In particular in winter, the traction battery will have a correspondingly low temperature. The execution of a charging process requires that the traction battery has a temperature within an acceptable temperature range, for example a temperature in the range of 5°C to 70°C. By starting the preconditioning of the electric energy store already before the execution of the charging process, the waiting time for the execution of the charging process can be reduced. For example, the traction battery can already be cooled or warmed up accordingly when the vehicle arrives at the specified charging station. This can ensure that the temperature of the traction battery upon arrival at the charging station is within the acceptable temperature range for the execution of the charging process. However, the preconditioning of the electrical energy store can also go beyond pure temperature control and may for example envisage the deliberate execution of a cell-equalisation method, also called "Cell-Balancing".

[0017] According to another advantageous configuration of the method according to the invention, the charging station network transmits charging process-specific interface usage information to the vehicle, which interface usage information authorizes the vehicle for exchanging information via an exchange interface between the vehicle and a third party and / or between the vehicle and the charging station network upon occurrence of a defined event and also renders the vehicle ready to exchange information via the exchange interface between the vehicle and a third party and / or between the vehicle and the charging station network upon occurrence of a defined event. The transmission of the interface usage information to the vehicle can be associated with boundary conditions. For example, the transmission of the interface usage information can first be performed at a specific time or time window and / or when the vehicle is within a certain radius of a specified charging station. Using the interface usage information, the vehicle can react to certain events, such as emergency situations. For example, the defined event can be a defect, an operational failure of the charging station, or even a fire at the charging station and / or at the vehicle. The exchange interface can be a hardware-side interface and / or a software-side interface. By means of the interface usage information, the vehicle can exchange information via the corresponding exchange interface. For example, the information may include a switch-off signal for disconnecting the current supply to the charging station from the grid, e.g. in case of a fire, this allows the vehicle to control the charging station and cut off the power connection to the grid. That is to say, the vehicle can remotely control the charging station via the exchange interface. In other words, the interface usage information may be an authorization for output of a control command from the vehicle to the charging station. The interface usage information may be a single command or a collection of commands that can be output from the vehicle depending on an event that occurs.

[0018] In another advantageous configuration of the method according to the present invention, the charging station network transmits a charging process-specific emergency phone number to the vehicle as charging process-specific interface usage information, based on which the vehicle sets the charging process-specific emergency phone number as a reference emergency phone number for establishing a communication connection in the event of an emergency in order to adapt one of the configuration parameters.

[0019] Nowadays, vehicles are increasingly equipped with so-called eCall systems. With eCall, the occurrence of an accident event can be automatically detected and the rescue services can be notified. In this case, a verbal communication connection can be established with a rescue coordination center. Typically, only a standard reference emergency number is stored in the vehicle for this purpose. By setting a charging process-specific emergency number as the reference emergency number, the vehicle can react in a targeted manner to the corresponding emergency situation. For example, the number of a local fire department in the vicinity of the charging station can be stored as the emergency number. This number can be called from the vehicle to inform about the occurrence of a fire at the charging station and / or in the vehicle. For example, the vehicle can play an automatic help message and / or establish a verbal communication connection with the corresponding rescue service. The verbal communication can be made from the vehicle, for example, via a hands-free device connected to a communication unit in the vehicle or, in the absence of the vehicle user, via a mobile terminal device used by the vehicle user. That is, a suitable application can be executed on the mobile terminal, for example a smartphone, which establishes a communication connection between the mobile terminal and, for example, a cloud server of a service provider, via the aforementioned computing unit, with the local fire department. This allows a shortening of the rescue chain for taking measures against an emergency. Furthermore, the communication unit can be used to transmit digital data, thus realizing a data exchange with the Internet, for example, via a mobile radio network.

[0020] Additionally or alternatively, a service number of the operator of the charging station network can also be stored as a charging process-specific emergency number, i.e. the operator can be contacted directly in the event of a fault and can, if necessary, give initial hints for resolving the fault.

[0021] Appropriate emergency telephone numbers can be determined for each charging process individually or for each charging station or group of charging stations, and any other emergency telephone numbers stored in the vehicle can be at least temporarily overwritten by the charging process specific emergency number and / or can be contacted in addition to the charging process specific emergency number.

[0022] According to another advantageous configuration of the method according to the invention, the first vehicle configuration and / or the second vehicle configuration contain safe charging parameters, by means of which the charging station network is informed to carry out the charging process with a reduced charging speed, charging capacity, charging current strength, charging voltage, charging time and / or charging energy amount compared to the standard charging parameters. In other words, an alternative charging curve can be set, which allows the charging process to be carried out while protecting the traction battery of the vehicle. Here, the vehicle can set a "battery protection mode" by setting the second vehicle configuration depending on the response of the charging station network, i.e. the charging process information. It is also possible for the vehicle to set a battery protection mode according to the first vehicle configuration and to adapt the individual parameters after receiving and evaluating the charging process information and set the second vehicle configuration. In this way, if the charging process cannot be carried out with the battery protection mode according to the first vehicle configuration, an alternative battery protection mode can be activated. For example, if the charging capacity, charging voltage and / or charging current strength cannot be changed, a reduced charging time can be set, which prevents, for example, excessive heating of the traction battery.

[0023] In another advantageous configuration of the method, the first vehicle configuration and / or the second vehicle configuration further comprises a minimum state-of-charge threshold, at which the electric energy store is filled in the charging process at least by a defined time point. Depending on the selected vehicle configuration and the agreed conditions for carrying out the charging process by the charging station network, it may happen, for example, that the charging process of the vehicle is terminated early and / or is carried out at least temporarily with a reduced charging capacity. The vehicle and the charging station network can agree on a minimum state-of-charge threshold, at which the traction battery of the vehicle is at least charged by a defined time point. This increases the comfort of the vehicle user, since the vehicle user can thereby be sure that the traction battery of his vehicle will always be charged to the minimum state-of-charge threshold at the agreed time point. This gives the vehicle user peace of mind when he wants to travel relatively long distances with his vehicle after the charging process is finished. In this case, the vehicle can first set the minimum state of charge threshold in the second vehicle configuration or also in the first vehicle configuration, on the basis of which the minimum state of charge threshold is adapted after information exchange with the charging station network. During this adaptation, any further boundary conditions can be taken into account, for example a lower minimum state of charge threshold in the case where charging is possible at a lower electricity price or a higher minimum state of charge threshold in the case where charging is possible with a higher charging capacity.

[0024] According to another advantageous configuration of the method, the vehicle drives at least partially automated to the charging station and automatically unlocks the charging interface lock of the vehicle's charging interface to an authorized person when it arrives at the charging station. In the future, vehicles will be more automated. That is, in the future, fleets of at least partially automated or even autonomous vehicles will be used in road traffic. In one possible scenario, people will no longer own their own vehicles but will share vehicles from a vehicle pool, whereby the availability of vehicles will increase from a few minutes or hours per day to an availability rate close to 100%. In this case, the question arises of how to charge the energy storage of such vehicles in order to keep the operation of the fleet as efficient as possible. In the present invention, such vehicles drive at least partially automated or even autonomously to each designated charging station and there release the charging interface of the vehicle to an authorized person, for example a charging station attendant, so that the charging station attendant can electrically connect the vehicle to the charging station and the charging process is performed. At this time, the vehicle changes the vehicle setting of the vehicle from “charging interface locked” to “charging interface unlocked.” In appropriately configured vehicles and charging stations, it is also conceivable that the electrical connection (disconnection) between the vehicle and the charging station may be automated.

[0025] Preferably, the exchange of information between the vehicle and the charging station network and / or the adaptation of the vehicle configuration takes place independently of the operating mode of the vehicle. The vehicle can be in different operating modes. When the vehicle is parked, the ignition of the vehicle is normally switched off and different computing units, such as the control unit, can be switched off or can be operated in standby mode. Depending on the intended use, further computing units of the vehicle can be gradually started from standby mode for their operation. Finally, the ignition of the vehicle can be started and the internal combustion engine of the vehicle can be started. Finally, the required computing units of the vehicle are started and the vehicle can start to move. In this case, the vehicle doors can be locked or unlocked at different times, respectively. Of particular importance is the state of the electrical communication unit, also called TCU, which is responsible for the communication between the vehicle and the charging station network. The TCU can be designed in such a way that the exchange of information between the vehicle and the charging station network is guaranteed even while the TCU is operating in standby mode. Here, the TCU preferably uses different communication protocols, whereby information exchange is realized even if, for example, instead of a mobile radio network, only a WiFi access point is in communication range or the vehicle is connected to a charging station of the charging station network via the TCU using Bluetooth. The more computing units of the vehicle that operate in standby mode or are switched off, the more power-efficient the execution of the method according to the invention becomes, which limits the discharging of the traction battery of the vehicle while the vehicle is stationary. The method according to the invention can therefore be used to reduce the risk of the traction battery being excessively discharged. If the state of charge of the traction battery becomes too low, the vehicle can start the charging process at an early stage and / or move autonomously to a charging station.

[0026] According to the invention, a charging system is provided with a vehicle having an at least partially electrified powertrain with an electric energy storage, a charging station network including at least one charging station, and a computing unit, the vehicle, the charging station network and the computing unit being designed to carry out the method described above. The vehicle may be any vehicle, such as a passenger car, a truck, a transporter, a bus, etc. The vehicle may be configured as a vehicle driven only by battery electricity or as a hybrid vehicle. The charging station network may have any spatial extent and may comprise any number of charging stations and / or charging station clusters. The different charging stations of the charging station network may be operated by different operating companies. The computing unit may be part of the charging station network or may be located outside the charging station network. The computing unit is preferably a central computing unit, such as a cloud server of a service provider, also referred to as backend. The backend may be operated, for example, by the vehicle manufacturer, a municipal energy supplier, an operator of the charging station network, etc.

[0027] Access to the information exchanged between the individual actors involved in the execution of the method according to the invention or between the various components of the charging system can be realized in different ways. The relevant information can be automatically processed by the vehicle and the charging station network. It is also possible for the user to view and / or manipulate at least part of the information manually. That is, software can be executed in the computing unit of the vehicle, which allows access to the relevant information via a human-machine interface integrated in the vehicle. For example, the vehicle user can operate this software via a touch screen in the vehicle and thereby view the vehicle configuration and change vehicle configuration parameters, for example to set a second vehicle configuration. This can also be realized via a mobile terminal device on which a corresponding application runs and which is directly connected to the vehicle, for example by wire and / or Bluetooth, or which is indirectly connected to the vehicle via a central computing unit, for example the aforementioned computing unit. The vehicle user can also access the services offered by the computing unit, i.e. the cloud server, from his home with his PC via an Internet browser and a corresponding Internet portal, and thus adapt the vehicle configuration.

[0028] Further advantageous configurations of the method according to the invention for allocating vehicles to charging stations and of the charging system according to the invention will become apparent from the exemplary embodiments which are described in more detail below with reference to the respective figures. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0029] [Figure 1] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a charging system according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram for illustrating the relationship between the costs incurred during the charging process and the complexity of the allocation of vehicles to charging stations. [Diagram 3]1 shows a schematic plan view of a vehicle moving between different locations and changing vehicle configurations as it moves between locations; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a charging system 10 according to the invention. The charging system 10 comprises a vehicle operating entity 13 and a charging station network 3. The central part of the vehicle operating entity 13 is a vehicle 1 with an electrified powertrain and an electric energy storage, for example in the form of a traction battery. The vehicle 1 has vehicle configurations 7.1 and 7.2, which can be set by configuration parameters 4. The setting of the vehicle configurations 7.1, 7.2 can be done automatically by the vehicle 1, i.e. by a computing unit 6.3 integrated in the vehicle 1, or by input of manual operating actions by a vehicle user 14 via a human-machine interface 11 inside the vehicle, a mobile terminal device 12, for example a smartphone, which is directly or indirectly connected to the vehicle 1, or a PC 15 outside the vehicle, which is indirectly connected to the vehicle 1, for example via a cloud server. The cloud server is for example the computing unit 6.1. In general, it is also possible for the mobile terminal device 12 and / or the PC 15 outside the vehicle to automatically instruct the computing unit 6.3 inside the vehicle to change the vehicle configurations 7.1, 7.2.

[0031] The charging station network 3 comprises at least one charging station 2, which may for example be part of a parking lot 16, also called Automated Valet Parking (AVP), and / or part of a so-called smart city 17 or smart grid. A computing unit 6.2 is likewise part of the charging station network 3 and is used to manage the corresponding charging stations 2, the parking lot 16 and / or the smart city 17 or smart grid. The communication between the vehicle operating entity 13 and the charging station network 3 takes place indirectly via the computing unit 6.1 in Fig. 1. The computing unit 6.1 is in particular a cloud server of a service provider for providing the method according to the invention.

[0032] To assign a vehicle 1 to a charging station 2, the vehicle 1 first transmits the vehicle configuration parameters 4 corresponding to the first vehicle configuration 7.1 to the charging station network 3. The charging station network 3 then determines charging process information 5 depending on the first vehicle configuration 7.1 and transmits the charging process information 5 back to the vehicle 1. Based on this, the vehicle 1 changes the vehicle configuration of the vehicle 1 to a second vehicle configuration 7.2 by adapting at least one vehicle configuration parameter 4 and transmits the changed vehicle configuration back to the charging station network 3 before the corresponding charging process for charging the traction battery of the vehicle 1 is started. In this case, the allocation of the vehicle 1 to the charging station 2 can take place before or after the vehicle 1 configures the second vehicle configuration 7.2. It is also possible that an alternative charging station 2 is assigned to the vehicle 1 after the second vehicle configuration 7.2 is configured. For this purpose, the charging station network 3 can also transmit the charging process information 5 again to the vehicle 1 (not shown).

[0033] 1 , the information exchange between the vehicle operating entity 13, in particular the vehicle 1, and the charging station network 3 enables the vehicle 1 and the charging station network 3 to interact and thus adapt and renegotiate the boundary conditions valid for the execution of a charging process of the vehicle 1 at the charging stations 2 of the charging station network 3 both during the planning of the charging process and, if necessary, while the charging process is in progress. This makes it possible to ensure a particularly efficient and cost-free allocation of the vehicle 1 to the charging stations 2.

[0034] In this regard, Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram for illustrating the relationship between the costs incurred during the charging process and the complexity of the allocation of a vehicle 1 to a charging station 2. Here, on the horizontal axis of the diagram the charging costs are plotted and on the vertical axis of the diagram the complexity of the allocation of a vehicle 1 to a charging station 2 is plotted. The diagram is divided into eight fields 18.1 to 18.8. Shown are user boundary conditions 19.1 to 19.5 and operational boundary conditions 20.1 to 20.4.

[0035] The first user boundary condition 19.1 ensures that the vehicle 1 performs the charging process only if the current electricity price of the charging station network 3 is favorable. The second user boundary condition 19.2 ensures that the charging process is performed as soon as the charging station 2 is free. The third user boundary condition 19.3 ensures that the charging process is performed as soon as it becomes necessary, for example because the state of charge of the traction battery of the vehicle 1 falls below a critical value or because the vehicle 1 is in danger of not being able to provide the range required for the trip planned by the vehicle 1. The fourth user boundary condition 19.4 ensures that the charging process is performed until the vehicle user 14 returns to his vehicle 1. For example, the vehicle user 14 can drive his vehicle 1 to the city center and run some errands there while the vehicle 1 is being charged while parked in a parking lot. The fifth user boundary condition 19.5 overrides all other boundary conditions and the charging process must be performed in any case.

[0036] In the case of the first operating boundary condition 20.1, there are weekend offers with particularly favorable electricity prices. According to the second operating boundary condition 20.2, the utilization rate of the charging stations 2 in the charging station network 3 is currently low. In contrast, according to the third operating boundary condition 20.3, the utilization rate of the charging stations 2 in the charging station network 3 is high. According to the fourth operating boundary condition 20.4, for example, a number of vehicles 1 are in the charging queue, so that there is a high demand for optimization for the allocation of these vehicles 1 to the charging stations 2. In this case, the complexity is further increased by the boundary conditions set for the vehicles in the charging queue. The more vehicles 1 for which different boundary conditions are set for the execution of the charging process, the more effort is required to distribute these vehicles to the charging stations 2.

[0037] As boundary conditions, different vehicles 1 can be set, for example, to have different charging speeds, adherence to a battery saving mode, to carry out the charging process at a particular time or on a particular day or at a particular time of day, to use a particular charging interface, and / or to use different charging parameters.

[0038] 3 shows a vehicle 1 located in a public space 21. The vehicle 1 travels from a starting point S along a route R to a destination point Z. During this, a charging process is carried out in a charging station space 22 and a charging process is carried out in a vehicle parking space 23.

[0039] The vehicle 1 has stored therein a reference emergency telephone number 9 with which the vehicle 1 can be automatically contacted in the event of an emergency. For example in Germany the emergency telephone number is 112. The emergency telephone number may also be the emergency telephone number used for the so-called eCall system.

[0040] Here, when the vehicle 1 enters the charging station space 22, the vehicle 1 is informed of a charging process-specific emergency telephone number 8 that is valid for the specified charging station 2, for example by the matching charging station 2 of the computing unit 6.1 or computing unit 6.2. This charging process-specific emergency telephone number 8 is suggested in FIG. 3 by an exemplary emergency telephone number 9876. In case of an emergency, for example a fire at the charging station 2 and / or the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 can call the charging process-specific emergency telephone number 8 and thereby request help. For example, the charging process-specific emergency telephone number 8 is the telephone number of the operator of the charging station 2, the municipal operator of the charging station 2, such as a public company, or the local fire department. A number of charging process-specific emergency telephone numbers 8 can also be stored in the vehicle 1. Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle 1 can also store an emergency disconnection authorization 24, which authorizes the vehicle 1 to take control of the charging station 2 and to disconnect the power connection between the charging station 2 and the grid, for example in case of a fire. The vehicle 1 may also receive and utilize the emergency shutdown authorization 24 via, for example, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, etc., or wired, such as via a charging cable.

[0041] When staying in the charging station space 22, it is also possible to temporarily disable the basic emergency number 9 and to additionally make a charging process-specific emergency number 8 available for contact.

[0042] When leaving the charging station space 2 , the corresponding charging process specific emergency telephone number 8 and emergency shut-off authorization 24 are discarded from the vehicle 1 .

[0043] When the vehicle 1 enters the vehicle parking space 23, an alternative charging process-specific emergency telephone number 8 is stored in the vehicle 1, here indicated for example by the number 54321. In case of an emergency in the vehicle parking space 23, an instance other than the instance in the charging station space 22 is contacted, in particular an instance that is on-site and able to initiate rescue particularly quickly. By implementing a charging process-specific emergency telephone number 8, the rescue chain in the event of an emergency can be shortened, which further increases safety during the execution of the charging process. This safety can be further improved by being able to remotely control a suitable charging station 2.

Claims

1. A method for allocating a vehicle (1) to a charging station (2), comprising the steps of: A method according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle (1) equipped with an electric energy store to be charged directly or indirectly wirelessly exchanges information with a charging station network (3), said information comprising at least vehicle configuration parameters (4) and charging process information (5), and taking into account said information, said vehicle (1) is assigned by a computing unit (6.1, 6.2) to a charging station (2) for carrying out the charging process, The method is characterized in that the vehicle (1) informs the charging station network (3) of a first vehicle configuration (7.1), the charging station network (3) determines the charging process information (5) depending on the first vehicle configuration (7.1) and transmits this information to the vehicle (1), and the vehicle (1) adapts at least one vehicle configuration parameter (4) depending on the charging process information (5) obtained from the charging station network (3) to set a second vehicle configuration (7.2) before the charging process is performed.

2. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in order to adapt one of the configuration parameters (4), the vehicle (1) activates a preconditioning of the electric energy store.

3. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the charging station network (3) transmits charging process-specific interface usage information to the vehicle (1), whereby the vehicle (1) is authenticated and, upon the occurrence of a specified event, enables information to be exchanged between the vehicle (1) and a third party and / or between the vehicle (1) and the charging station network (3) via an exchange interface.

4. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the charging station network (3) transmits a charging process-specific emergency telephone number (8) to the vehicle (1) as charging process-specific interface usage information, and the vehicle (1) then sets the charging process-specific emergency telephone number (8) as a reference emergency telephone number (9) for establishing a communication connection in the event of an emergency in order to adapt one of the configuration parameters (4).

5. 5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first vehicle configuration (7.1) and / or the second vehicle configuration (7.2) contain safe charging parameters, and the charging station network (3) is informed to carry out the charging process with the safe charging parameters at a reduced charging speed, charging capacity, charging current strength, charging voltage, charging time and / or charging energy amount compared to standard charging parameters.

6. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first vehicle configuration (7.1) and / or the second vehicle configuration (7.2) comprises a minimum state of charge threshold, up to which the electric energy storage is filled in the charging process at least at a defined time point.

7. 7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the vehicle (1) is at least partially automated in its travel to the charging station (2) and, upon arrival at the charging station (2), automatically releases a charging interface lock of the charging interface of the vehicle (1) for an authorized person.

8. 8. The method according to claim 1 , characterized in that the exchange of information between the vehicle (1) and the charging station network (3) and / or the adaptation of the vehicle configuration is performed independently of the operating mode of the vehicle (1).

9. 9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the wireless information exchange between the vehicle (1) and the charging station network (3) is carried out by means of WLAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee and / or mobile radio, in particular using 2G to 6G.

10. A charging system (10) comprising a vehicle (1) having an at least partially electrified powertrain with an electric energy storage, a charging station network (3) comprising at least one charging station (2), and a computing unit (6.1, 6.2), The charging system (10), characterized in that the vehicle (1), the charging station network (3) and the computing unit (6.1, 6.2) are designed to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. Charging system (10) according to claim 10, characterized in that the vehicle (1) is designed to adapt the vehicle configuration parameters (4) by input of manual operating actions via a human-machine interface (11) inside the vehicle and / or via a mobile terminal device (12) directly or indirectly connected to the vehicle (1).

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