Plug-In Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment

摘要

A system for connecting an electric vehicle to a Level I or Level II power source. The system including an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) having an electrical plug compatible with a Level I or Level II power outlet, the plug connected to a power cord. The power cord is connected to a housing containing a number of electrical components configured to control the power flow to an electric vehicle to recharge the vehicle's batteries, via either Level I or Level II. The power cord extends from the housing and is connected to a standard electric vehicle connector compatible with battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). The EVSE further includes safety measures, such as a relay that controls the flow of power to the vehicle connector and a ground fault interrupter, to protect users from high voltage electric shocks.

主权项

1. An apparatus for connecting an electric vehicle to an electrical socket and for selectively receiving and delivering either level I voltage or level II voltage, comprising:
a first socket connector configured to couple with the electrical socket providing either level I voltage or level II voltage; a power conduit having a first end connected to the first socket connector and configured to convey a voltage from the electrical socket to the electric vehicle, the power conduit configured to deliver either the level I voltage or the level II voltage; a relay placed inline with the power conduit and configured to control voltage along the power conduit; a control circuit connected to the power conduit and configured to generate signals corresponding to the voltage along the power conduit, wherein the signals indicate whether the voltage is the level I voltage or the level II voltage; a communication device configured to couple to a remote processor device and provide communication between the apparatus and the remote processor device, the communication device comprising at least one of a modem, network interface card, serial bus, parallel bus, LAN interface, WAN interface, wired interface, wireless interface or an optical interface; and a vehicle connector connected to a second end of the power conduit and configured to connect to the electric vehicle to provide one of the level I voltage and the level II voltage.