Battery Use Optimization Utilizing A Reserve Fleet

摘要

A system for the management of a fleet of battery powered vehicles using a paradigm of a reserve pool of vehicles as opposed to a reserve fleet of batteries. In this system, a reserve pool of vehicles is always maintained in a ready state such that vehicles being returned with depleted batteries may be replaced with a vehicle having a fully-charged battery. The system maintains a balance between reserve fleet size and charging time (and therefore the life of the batteries) to provide optimal performance and cost savings. The system has the added advantages of capital efficiency in that that the time and labor required to change batteries, and the need to maintain extra batteries is eliminated.

主权项

1: In an environment having a fleet of battery-powered vehicles, a system comprising:
a plurality of battery charging stations configured to charge batteries connected to said battery-powered vehicles; a central monitoring facility, including a processor, connected to each of said battery charging stations, for monitoring the charge state of each battery software, running on said processor, said software performing the functions of accepting vehicles having depleted batteries for charging; maintaining a queue of vehicles ready for deployment; and charging said vehicles using a charge rate sufficient to maintain said approximate percentage of queued or charging vehicles.