Multi-Port EV Charging Layout With Shared Gateway Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing charging systems for electric vehicles require long cabling and high costs due to the need for a communication gateway in each charging station, which becomes impractical as the number of electric vehicles increases, necessitating a more efficient and cost-effective solution for managing multiple charging ports.
Innovation Solution
A multi-port electric vehicle charging system with a smart EV charging station that includes a single network gateway and controller, coupled with multiple charge ports, each equipped with a metering circuit and communication capabilities, allowing centralized management and reduced infrastructure costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate smart charging station with gateway and controller is installed at each charging port, then each port can independently manage charging and communicate with the cloud, but the system cost and cabling complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the gateway and controller functions into a single centralized smart charging station that serves multiple charge ports. Instead of having separate gateways and controllers at each port, one gateway handles communication for all ports, and one controller manages charging across multiple ports, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliable charging management.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized gateway and controller are designed to serve multiple charge ports simultaneously. The gateway can communicate with the cloud for all ports through a single interface, and the controller can manage charging parameters for multiple ports, making these components universal rather than port-specific.
2Productivity
If the number of charging ports is increased to accommodate growing EV demand, then more vehicles can be charged simultaneously, but the cabling length and infrastructure costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple charge ports are merged into a single charging station unit with shared gateway and controller. This consolidation reduces the need for separate cabling runs to each port, as the ports share common communication and power management infrastructure, thereby reducing overall cabling length and infrastructure costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The single gateway and controller serve multiple charge ports universally, allowing one communication interface and one control unit to manage all ports. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for dedicated cabling and components at each port, reducing infrastructure requirements while maintaining high charging capacity.
3Loss of information
If a gateway is included in every charging station to enable cloud communication and metering, then authorization and metering information can be transmitted, but the cost of every charging session increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates the gateway function into a single shared component that serves all charge ports. Instead of having a gateway at each port, one gateway handles all communication with the cloud for multiple ports, including authorization and metering information transmission. This sharing of the gateway resource significantly reduces the cost per charging session while maintaining complete metering and communication functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-port charging system is provided for charging a rechargeable battery pack that solely propels a plug-in electric vehicle (EV). The system comprises a smart EV charging station including a single network gateway as an entire system communication portion of the multi-port charging system and a single charging system controller as an entire system controller portion of the multi-port charging system. The system further comprises at least two or expandable to greater than two charge ports electrically coupled to the smart EV charging station. Each charge port includes only a charging portion but not a system communication portion and a system controller portion. Each charge port includes a metering circuit to track an amount of electric energy delivered to an EV and collect metered energy data and send the metered energy data back to the smart EV charging station. Each charge port includes one or more EV connection plugs.