The invention relates to a battery housing, in particular for an energy accumulator for a hybrid drive, comprising a tubular main body and at least two terminating covers, which are inserted into the main body and each have a cover plate that is offset inwards in the longitudinal direction of the main body and supports housing walls of the main body, wherein the terminating covers are each welded to the main body and all joints of the battery housing are formed without separate connecting elements.

An onboard charging system for an electric vehicle is configured to communicate with a power supply through exchange of control signals on a power supply line by modulating a charging current being supplied to the charging system. The charging system is capable of communicating fault and battery parameter data to the power supply, as well as a requested charging current used to regulate the power supply output. The power supply may convert high voltage AC power into a controllable DC output supplied directly to the electric vehicle, thereby providing a convenient means for the vehicle to initiate charging during operations. Connection between the electric vehicle and the power supply may be effected using an extendible and retractable electrical connection, such as a mechanical pantograph.

An onboard charging system for an electric vehicle is configured to communicate with a power supply through exchange of control signals on a power supply line by modulating a charging current being supplied to the charging system. The charging system is capable of communicating fault and battery parameter data to the power supply, as well as a requested charging current used to regulate the power supply output. The power supply may convert high voltage AC power into a controllable DC output supplied directly to the electric vehicle, thereby providing a convenient means for the vehicle to initiate charging during operations. Connection between the electric vehicle and the power supply may be effected using an extendible and retractable electrical connection, such as a mechanical pantograph.

A system for charging a battery of a vehicle using inductive charging is provided. The system includes a charging pad for inductive charge transfer. The charge pad is configured with electronics that enables wireless communication. A self-aligning mechanism is part of the charging pad, and the self-aligning mechanism is configured to adjust positioning of the charging pad when the vehicle is disposed over the charging pad. A computer associated with the charging pad is configured to execute method operations for communicating with electronics of the vehicle to enable charging of the battery of the vehicle. The electronics of the vehicle is configured to identify a user account for charging the vehicle. An application associated with the user account is configured to receive updates regarding a charging status of the vehicle responsive to said inductive charge transfer being enabled.

A system for charging a battery of a vehicle using inductive charging is provided. The system includes a charging pad for inductive charge transfer. The charge pad is configured with electronics that enables wireless communication. A self-aligning mechanism is part of the charging pad, and the self-aligning mechanism is configured to adjust positioning of the charging pad when the vehicle is disposed over the charging pad. A computer associated with the charging pad is configured to execute method operations for communicating with electronics of the vehicle to enable charging of the battery of the vehicle. The electronics of the vehicle is configured to identify a user account for charging the vehicle. An application associated with the user account is configured to receive updates regarding a charging status of the vehicle responsive to said inductive charge transfer being enabled.

A temperature adjustment apparatus has a Peltier element supplied with electric power to allow heat exchange between an electronic device mounted on a vehicle and a heat exchange portion of the vehicle, and a Peltier element control section that controls electric power supplied to the Peltier element. When the temperature difference between a first surface of the Peltier element serving as an exothermic surface and a second surface of the Peltier element serving as an endothermic surface becomes larger than a first predetermined value as a result of supply of electric power to the Peltier element, the Peltier element control section stops supply of electric power to the Peltier element.

A temperature adjustment apparatus has a Peltier element supplied with electric power to allow heat exchange between an electronic device mounted on a vehicle and a heat exchange portion of the vehicle, and a Peltier element control section that controls electric power supplied to the Peltier element. When the temperature difference between a first surface of the Peltier element serving as an exothermic surface and a second surface of the Peltier element serving as an endothermic surface becomes larger than a first predetermined value as a result of supply of electric power to the Peltier element, the Peltier element control section stops supply of electric power to the Peltier element.

A method is provided, which includes receiving, at a server, a request from a device to find one or more charge units for charging an electric vehicle at a geographic location. The method includes accessing, by the server, a first database to identify charge units that are associated with the geographic location. The method includes accessing, by the server, a second database to identify discounts available at the charge units identified to be associated with the geographic location. One of the identified discounts on one of the charge units is provided by a first merchant having a business location proximate to the one of the charge units. The method includes sending, by the server, data to the device that identifies one or more of the charge units that are associated with the geographic location, the data further including information regarding one or more discounts identified to be available at one or more of the identified charge units.

A method is provided, which includes receiving, at a server, a request from a device to find one or more charge units for charging an electric vehicle at a geographic location. The method includes accessing, by the server, a first database to identify charge units that are associated with the geographic location. The method includes accessing, by the server, a second database to identify discounts available at the charge units identified to be associated with the geographic location. One of the identified discounts on one of the charge units is provided by a first merchant having a business location proximate to the one of the charge units. The method includes sending, by the server, data to the device that identifies one or more of the charge units that are associated with the geographic location, the data further including information regarding one or more discounts identified to be available at one or more of the identified charge units.

An ultra low cost electric vehicle heating apparatus, components thereof, and related method are herein described. A driver circuit operates a switching device at an intermediate state between fully-turned-off and fully-turned-on, in a high power dissipation heating mode, to efficiently produce heat energy for heating a passenger compartment, or energy storage system, of an electric vehicle. The driver circuit operates the switching device to have a fully-turned-off state and a fully-turned-on state in a main function mode for a traction inverter or an energy storage system charger of the electric vehicle. The driver circuit is operable to cycle the heating mode and the main function mode for combining such heating and such main function operation of the traction inverter, or the charger, without compromising the operation of the traction motor, or charger, while simultaneously eliminating many of the expensive resistive heating components in use by practitioners of the art.