The invention relates to a charging contact unit (100, 1100) for a vehicle, for integrating beneath a road surface, with a charging contact element carrier head (113, 1113) designed to interact with a contact device on the lower side of a vehicle, the contact making and the contact separation being carried out by a relative movement of the charging contact element carrier head and the contact device in a contacting direction (6), the charging contact element carrier head (113, 1113) being movable inside the charging contact unit and/or rotatable or pivotable about the contacting direction (6) in order to compare incorrect positioning in either one or a plurality of directions extending transversely to the contacting direction (6). The invention also relates to a contact system and a road covering.

The invention relates to a system for wirelessly charging an electrically chargeable device, in particular a mobile inspection robot, in a potentially explosive environment. The invention also relates to a charging station for use in such a system according to the invention. The invention further relates to an electrically chargeable device, in particular an inspection robot, for use in such a system according to the invention. In addition, the invention relates to a method for wirelessly charging an electrically chargeable device, in particular a mobile inspection robot, by using such a system according to the invention.

A vehicle charging system includes a vehicle propelled by an electric machine powered by a chargeable energy storage system. The charging system also includes a controller programmed to predict at least one upcoming plug-in event based on historical charging data, and define a plug-in routine based on a plurality of upcoming plug-in events. The controller is also programmed to set a charging schedule to coincide with the plug-in routine such that a target state of charge (SOC) is achieved at a conclusion of each of the plurality of upcoming plug-in events. Each target SOC corresponding to a plug-in event is based on minimizing a charging energy cost of the plug-in routine and an expected energy depletion ahead of a next subsequent plug-in event.

A system for supplying electrical energy to an energy-absorber mobile device having two electrically conductive secondary terminals includes a power-source base with electrically conductive primary terminals configured to be arranged in contact with the two secondary terminals when the mobile device is positioned on the base; a supply and control subsystem having a line selector whose outputs are connected to the primary terminals, a rectifier and programmable power supply providing energy, and a mini-processor connected to the line selector and to the rectifier and programmable power supply. The line selector has two input lines, between which a voltage difference higher than zero is applied and which is configured to apply the voltage difference cyclically to all possible pairs of output lines based on the commands received from the mini-processor.

The invention describes a DC voltage charging post (100; 200; 300) for charging an electric vehicle. The DC voltage charging post (100; 200; 300) comprises two DC voltage charging post input connections (102, 104) for an input DC voltage (VE) with a first voltage range provided by a central unit; a first DC voltage converter (106; 302) for converting the input DC voltage (VE) into a output DC voltage (VA) with a second voltage range; two DC voltage charging post output connections (108, 110) for providing the output DC voltage (VA) to the electric vehicle; and a control unit (112) with a first communication interface (114) for communication between the DC voltage charging post (100; 200; 300) and the central unit.

An information providing apparatus according to an aspect includes an acquirer configured to acquire information on anthropomorphic characters correlated with a battery that stores power for allowing a vehicle to travel, and an information provider configured to provide information on a competition between the anthropomorphic character correlated with the battery and another anthropomorphic character when the vehicle is connected to a charging facility that supplies power to the battery to charge the battery.

A server includes a charge schedule creation unit that creates a charge schedule for external charging of a vehicle. When user-specified-time information for determining a time to perform the external charging is not given by a user of the vehicle, the charge schedule creation unit creates a first charge schedule. When the user-specified-time information is given, the charge schedule creation unit creates a second charge schedule. In the first charge schedule, a battery mounted in the vehicle is pre-charged with some of power to be charged to the battery, and, after the pre-charging is performed, the battery is charged with a remaining amount of the power during a time period in which an electricity cost is inexpensive. In the second charge schedule, the battery is charged, without the pre-charging being performed.

A method for operating a battery charging assistance system external to a motor vehicle involves the motor vehicle transmitting a charging request and an actual position of the motor vehicle to the battery charging assistance system. Depending on the position and the charging request, the battery charging assistance system chooses one battery charging station and the one battery charging station is reserved from the battery charging assistance system by transmitting a reservation signal to the one battery charging station. If the one battery charging station is occupied by a further electrical operated motor vehicle, a leaving message is computed and transmitted to the further motor vehicle in order to ask the further motor vehicle to leave the one battery charging station and if the further motor vehicle is leaving a compensation action for the further motor vehicle is initiated.

The present invention relates to a method for reporting an electric car charging space in a parking lot, the method comprising: identifying whether a charger of each of charging spaces in a parking lot is being used; identifying whether a car exists in each of the charging spaces; and selecting a chargeable space and reporting the selected chargeable space.

Disclosed herein is a system a including a controller, a switching assembly commanded by the controller, and a DC-DC charger associated via the switching assembly with an array of power storage devices (PSDs). The system is controllably connectable to a power source, and, to rechargeable loads. The switching assembly is configured to individually enable and circumvent PSDs in the array. The controller is communicatively associated with a computational module configured to receive charging requirements of a rechargeable load, and, based thereon, select whether to charge the load exclusively via PSDs in the array, exclusively via the power source, or jointly thereby, so as to substantially minimize power consumption, charging time, and/or electricity cost, and/or achieve a desired trade-off there between. The controller is configured to receive the selection from the computational module, and, if required, command the switching assembly to enable charging of the load by the selected PSDs.