Vehicle-Accessory Energy Exchange Billing for Range Extension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing energy transfer systems for vehicles, particularly those with on-board battery or hydrogen cell power, face limitations in range due to infrequent and inefficient charging, especially when vehicles are stationary or moving with heavy loads, and lack real-time billing capabilities for energy usage.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method for automatic electronic billing of energy exchanges between vehicles and accessories, enabling bi-directional energy transfers, real-time cost calculation, and electronic payment transactions using a remote server, with the option to negotiate prices and utilize blockchain certification for secure transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If vehicles use on-board battery or hydrogen cell power for propulsion, then vehicle autonomy and efficiency are improved, but vehicle range is limited and frequent stops to recharge are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary energy transfer system that connects vehicles to accessories (trailers, containers) equipped with energy stores. This mediator enables energy exchange between vehicles and accessories, allowing vehicles to extend their range by drawing energy from attached accessories or sharing energy within convoys, thereby resolving the range limitation without requiring frequent stops.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the energy resources of multiple vehicles and accessories into a shared energy network. By combining energy stores across vehicles and their attached accessories, the system creates a collective energy pool that extends the operational range of individual vehicles, allowing them to travel longer distances without recharging.
2Measurement precision
If existing systems measure and bill energy usage, then energy tracking is enabled, but billing is not performed in real-time and uses simplified unit costs rather than true real-time pricing
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements real-time feedback loops where energy consumption is continuously measured and cost calculations are performed and communicated immediately to users. This feedback mechanism provides true real-time pricing information, allowing users to see the actual cost of energy consumption as it occurs, rather than receiving simplified post-event billing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical/electrical billing infrastructure with an electronic computing and communication system. This substitution enables complex real-time cost calculations based on multiple variables (energy amount, time, location, demand) and instant transmission of billing information, replacing simplified unit cost models with sophisticated real-time pricing algorithms.
3Adaptability or versatility
If energy transfer connections are established between vehicles and accessories, then bi-directional energy exchange is enabled, but system complexity and billing management become more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a universal billing platform that can handle multiple types of energy exchanges (vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-accessory, accessory-to-vehicle) through a single integrated system. This multi-functional approach manages diverse energy transfer scenarios using common protocols and interfaces, reducing the complexity that would otherwise arise from managing separate billing systems for each exchange type.
Solution Approach 2:
The billing system incorporates automated self-service capabilities where energy exchanges are automatically measured, priced, billed, and settled without manual intervention. The system autonomously manages the complex billing operations for bi-directional energy transfers between vehicles and accessories, reducing the operational complexity for users while maintaining versatile energy exchange capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method for automatically electronically billing an energy exchange between a vehicle and a vehicle accessory includes detecting the type of vehicle or vehicle accessory, enabling energy transfer between one or more energy stores of the vehicle and one or more energy store of the vehicle accessory in one or both directions, measuring the amount of transferred energy and calculating the cost for the transferred energy, by transmitting an indication of the measured amount of transferred energy to a remote server and at the remote server a transmitted indication of the measured amount of transferred energy, calculating the cost for the vehicle and vehicle accessory based on the received indication of the amount of transferred energy in a given time period for each of the vehicle and the vehicle accessory; and transmitting an indication of the cost to each party associated with either the vehicle and/or the vehicle accessory.