US 12,071,031 B2
High-availability low-impact vehicle charger
Nicholas Seroff, San Jose, CA (US); Tabish Shibly, Oakland, CA (US); Richard Steele, Newark, CA (US); and Ravi Lavu, Fremont, CA (US)
Assigned to SPEED CHARGE, LLC, Carter Lake, IA (US)
Filed by FREEWIRE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Newark, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 29, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/816,205.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/227,918, filed on Jul. 30, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0033955 A1, Feb. 2, 2023
Int. Cl. B60L 53/10 (2019.01); B60L 53/16 (2019.01); B60L 53/62 (2019.01); H02J 7/04 (2006.01); H02J 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC B60L 53/11 (2019.02) [B60L 53/16 (2019.02); B60L 53/62 (2019.02); H02J 7/04 (2013.01); B60L 2210/40 (2013.01); H02J 7/0013 (2013.01)] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A charging apparatus for charging a vehicle, comprising:
a battery pack comprising a plurality of individual batteries;
a power input port configured to receive input electrical power from a power source, wherein the input electrical power is received at a first wattage;
a power input circuit configured to provide direct current (DC) power to charge groups of batteries selected from the plurality of individual batteries using power received at the power input port;
a power conversion circuit configured to provide a charging current as a DC output of each of a plurality of selectable groups of batteries of the battery pack, each such group including multiple batteries of the plurality of batteries;
a coupling configured to receive the charging current and provide an electrical interconnect between the charging apparatus and the vehicle in order to provide the charging current to the vehicle; and
a processing circuit configured to dynamically select and control the power conversion circuit to provide the charging current at a second wattage greater than the first wattage during a time interval and further configured to control the power input circuit to prevent charging at least one group of batteries while simultaneously charging at least one additional group of batteries of the battery pack during the time interval.