BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This application is related to and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent application serial number 61/093,637 filed September 2, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to calculating, storing and transmitting verified data pertaining to use of an electric vehicle in place of an equivalent internal-combustion powered vehicle and quantifying any reduction in pollution resulting from such use. Such data can be used for the accumulation and subsequent application and trade of carbon credits, pollution offsets and other similar transactions.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

[0003] There is a current and ongoing legislative trend towards regulations limiting pollution. The construction and operation of many pollution-emitting installations such as powerplants, factories and the like increasingly requires an offsetting reduction in pollution elsewhere. As a result, a need has emerged to verifiably measure actual pollution reduction resulting from various initiatives undertaken by both organizations and individuals. Switching from fossil fuel powered transportation to electric grid-powered alternatives is an example of such initiatives, however no formal method exists to measure and account for the actual benefits of electric transportation.

[0004] The challenge in verifiably measuring pollution reduction resulting from the use of electric vehicles lies in the fact that the actual reduction is highly dependent on a wide range of variables, including the type of vehicle, distance driven, total electric energy used, means by which the electric energy is generated and the like. For example, an electric vehicle used for frequent short trips and stop-and-go driving would provide a much greater pollution reduction versus an equivalent fossil-fueled vehicle than the same electric vehicle used for extended trips at steady speeds typical of freeway travel. [0005] What is needed is an apparatus and a method for reliably capturing sufficient data to account for the pertinent variables and to store and process such data in a tamper-resistant manner to allow its use in calculating actual pollution offsets that may then be applied toward pollution produced from other sources. The present invention sets forth both the apparatus and the method to meet this need.

SUMMARY

[0006] An objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for reliably capturing data pertinent to the actual energy use in the operation of an electric vehicle. A second objective is to provide a method for gathering the captured data from one or more vehicles and making it available to effect calculation of actual pollution reduction that has taken place as a result of using an electric vehicle in place of an equivalent internal combustion powered vehicle. A third objective of the present invention is to provide a means for securely storing and making available a uniform representation of pollution reduction so that it may be accounted for and subsequently applied towards offsetting other pollution sources.

[0007] Within the context of the present invention, an electric vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of operation solely utilizing electric energy generated externally to the vehicle (zero emissions mode) and is equipped with at least an electric traction motor, an onboard energy storage means for storing electrical energy generated externally to the vehicle and a means for recharging the onboard energy storage means from an external source. Examples of such vehicles include traditional electric vehicles (EV) such as golf cars, neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV) and the like, and many types of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) when operating in electric-only mode with the internal combustion engine turned off.

[0008] According to the method of the present invention, the operation of an electric vehicle is separated into a series of discrete events. These events fall into one of two main categories: charging events and driving events. The pertinent characteristics of each event are recorded in a secure memory onboard the vehicle. [0009] For charging events, the total amount of externally generated electric energy that is transferred to the vehicle is recorded by means of an onboard electronic energy measurement device. When additional verified data is available as to the exact source of this energy, such as solar, hydro, nuclear and the like, this data is recorded as part of the information pertinent to the event. In the absence of such data, at the very least the date and time of day of the event is recorded so it can be later correlated to the known or estimated pollution profile of the electrical grid at that time. A charging event commences when the vehicle starts drawing electrical energy from an external source and stops when the flow of energy to the vehicle stops. Several consecutive charging events may occur prior to the occurrence of a driving event.

[00010] For driving events, at the minimum the duration of the event in both time and distance driven is recorded. Additionally, data such as speed profile, acceleration profile, ambient temperature and the like may be recorded. A driving event commences when the vehicle first moves solely under electric power and stops when the vehicle is stopped, turned off and remains stationary for a predetermined minimum period of time. In the specific case of hybrid vehicles, a driving event initiated solely on electrical power stops when the internal combustion engine is turned on. Once the internal combustion engine is turned on in a hybrid vehicle, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a new driving event may not occur until after another charging event takes place unless the vehicle further incorporates means to reliably distinguish electrical energy generated by the onboard internal combustion engine from energy obtained from an external source. This distinction is necessary since the internal combustion engine emits pollutants when it is used to generate electricity for subsequent all-electric operation and therefore no actual pollution reduction takes place as a result of such electric operation.

[0001I]A new event record is started when a charging event commences following one or more driving events. The event record will contain data pertaining to one or more consecutive charging events to record the total energy received and may also be adjusted if some of the energy is returned to the grid before the first driving event occurs. Once a driving event takes place following one or more charging events, all subsequent driving events are also recorded. The event record is closed out when the next charging event occurs and a new event record is then started. An event record therefore contains information pertaining to how much energy the vehicle received from the grid and how that energy was used. Event records are assigned individual unique serial numbers and are stored in secure memory for subsequent retrieval.

[00012] Periodically, the stored event records are communicated to a remote data center by means of a secure connection. Such communication may occur automatically at prescheduled intervals, or when the vehicle arrives at a predetermined location, or it can be directly initiated by the vehicle's operator. The data is then processed and compiled into a uniform representation of the actual pollution reduction achieved through electric operation.

[00013] To facilitate the implementation of the method of the present invention, the corresponding apparatus of the present invention comprises a minimum of: an onboard electronic energy metering device configured to measure the total electrical power transferred to the vehicle during any charging event; a data logger further comprising a secure memory storage; and the appropriate sensors to capture the data pertinent to an event which at the minimum is an electronic odometer and a timer. The data logger of the present invention uses the data from the energy metering device and other sensors to detect the start of both charging and driving events and subsequently store the data pertinent to the event in the secure memory until the end of the event is detected. In some embodiments the data logger may be combined with a multifunction vehicle controller or with electric motor controller. In other embodiments the data logger may be a standalone device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

[00014] The present invention is described herein with reference to the following drawings:

[00015] Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a first embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

[00016] Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of a second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

[00017] Fig. 3 illustrates the steps of creating and installing a vehicle digital certificate;

[00018] Fig. 4 shows the optional steps of creating a power source digital certificate; [00019] Fig. 5 is an illustration of the steps of operating an electric vehicle in accordance with the method of the present invention;

[00020] Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of the format of a vehicle event record;

[00021] Fig. 7 is a representation of an embodiment of the data structure of a Uniform Pollution Reduction Unit of the present invention; and

[00022] Fig. 8 shows the steps of creating and applying a UPRU of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[00023] An illustration of one embodiment of the present invention is given in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment.

[00024] Generally, the data logger 100 stores information obtained from the energy meter 130 and the vehicle odometer sensor 595, the latter typically via vehicle controller 590, to create event records. An example of the data structure of an event record 400 is shown in Fig. 6. Data loggers are commonplace in the art and typically consist of a microprocessor coupled to non-volatile memory such as FLASH. In some implementations the data logger 100 may be combined with vehicle controller 590, or the motor controller 570. Other implementations are possible where all three of the above functions are combined into a single physical unit having one or more microprocessors. Such combined units are common in the art and need not be discussed in detail herein.

[00025] A distinguishing feature of the data logger 100 of the present invention is the fact that it is configured to authenticate the logged data and therefore achieve a high degree of tamper resistance. In one embodiment the data logger is programmed with a digital certificate at the time of vehicle manufacture and utilizes this digital certificate to electronically sign the event logs that are stored. The digital certificates and their use in creating secure digital signatures are well known in the art and are widely used, particularly in Internet transactions and communications. Many means of rendering the data tamper resistant, including but not limited to encryption, exist in the art and may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. The application of tamper-resistant data technology to creating authenticated electronic records of electric vehicle use is a unique innovation of the present invention. Fig. 3 illustrates the typical steps of creating and installing a vehicle digital certificate according to one embodiment. The vehicle manufacturer 750 issues a unique Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The manufacturer then transmits the VIN to the certificate authority 760 along with a request for issuance of a certificate. This method and apparatus for carrying out this transaction is similar to obtaining a digital security certificate for an Internet website. Once a certificate is issued and recorded with the certificate authority as corresponding to the vehicle's VIN, the certificate is downloaded to the data logger 100 installed in the vehicle by the vehicle manufacturer. This process is similar to that used for changing parameters and software in a typical ECU (Engine Control Unit) of conventional vehicles. As such the necessary methods and apparatus are well known and are not disclosed in detail herein.

[00026] Optionally, it may be desirable to further apply the digital signature or other electronic authentication technology to power sources, in particular zero-pollution power sources such as solar installations. According to the method of the present invention, calculations are made to determine the pollution cost of the electrical energy supplied to the vehicle. These calculations are based on known or estimated data pertaining to the sources of energy supplying the electrical grid at the geographic location and specific time that the vehicle is charged. Since at least a portion of a typical utility grid power is supplied by burning fossil fuels such as coal, a pollution cost is assigned to the power being supplied to the vehicle and therefore reduces the potential benefit from the vehicle's operation. Power supplied from a zero-pollution source is therefore more valuable for pollution reduction. In order to maintain a verifiable record that the power supplied did in fact come from a zero- pollution or reduced-pollution source, a secure digital signature or other means of electronic authentication verifying the source is necessary. When available, such signature or authentication is transmitted to the data logger 100 via data connection 155 from the power source 650 and is then stored within the fields 452 and 453 of the corresponding event record 400. Data connection 155 may be any known type of wired, optical or wireless connection. Fig. 4 illustrates an example of the steps of issuing a digital certificate to a power source which are similar to issuing and installing a vehicle certificate as disclosed previously herein.

[00027] When power source digital signature is not available, additional data may be stored in the event record 400, such as load profile 454 indicating the rate at which the energy was transferred to the vehicle. During peak and off-peak demand times, as determined from the corresponding time stamp, this data may be used to adjust the pollution cost assigned to the energy received by the vehicle. The exact nature of adjustment, if any, will depend on a number of variables. The present invention does not specify the details of such adjustment but only the capability of doing so if desired.

[00028] A component of one embodiment of the present invention is the energy meter 130. The energy meter facilitates accurately measuring the total energy received by the vehicle from the electrical power source 650. In the preferred embodiment the energy meter 130 is situated onboard the vehicle 10 and is connected between the external power connection 600 and the onboard charger 550, with the power connection 600 being preferably of AC type although DC type connections are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[00029] In some embodiments it may be desirable to locate the charger 550 externally to the vehicle and use a DC power connection 610 to transfer energy to the vehicle as illustrated in Fig. 2. The purpose of this type of configuration is to provide high power rapid charging capability that would be impractical or costly to achieve with an onboard charger. It is also possible to combine the two illustrated embodiments in a vehicle that is configured with both an AC power connection 600, an energy meter 130 and onboard charger 550; and a DC power connection 610 that allows the connection of an external charger. The resultant combined apparatus can be operated in either of the two modes; its configuration will become apparent based on Figures 1 and 2 to those skilled in the art and therefore it is not illustrated separately.

[0003O]In the past, energy metering has been accomplished by driving a mechanical mechanism at a speed proportional to the rate of energy usage. Mechanical gauges would then display the total power usage and this information would typically be used for billing purposes by the electric utility company. Today, utility companies are switching to digital meters, which provide additional capability such as peak/off-peak billing rates, and remote meter reading. To accomplish this task, a number of highly integrated, low-cost digital devices have been developed. One example of such devices is the Microchip MCP3905, several others are commercially available. These devices, along with a small number of passive electronic components (resistors, capacitors, etc) can be used to make a fully functioning energy meter at a very low cost. [00031] Since electronic energy metering devices are well known in the art, only a cursory discussion of their operation is included herein for reference. Generally, the energy metering devices work by measuring the AC line voltage and the AC current being delivered to the loads connected downstream. The AC voltage is measured directly between the line and neutral wires through a resistor divider to scale the voltage to a level that the chip can tolerate. The AC current is measured by inserting a very low-ohm resistor, called a "shunt," in series with the line wire. The shunt converts an AC current to a small voltage according to Ohm's law (voltage equals current times resistance). The device then converts these voltage and current signals into digital values inside the device. Since power equals voltage times current, the device multiplies the digital representations of the voltage and current signals. A fixed-function digital signal processor inside the device performs these digital operations, along with some additional signal conditioning and filtering. The precise nature of such processing and filtering is specific to each particular device and is determined by the device manufacturer; a detailed discussion of the specifics is not material to the present invention and is therefore not included herein. While examples referred to here pertain to measuring AC power, similar devices for measuring DC power are well known in the art and can be applied to DC type power sources.

[00032] After the conversion and filtering takes place, the device reports the energy usage by outputting digital pulses, with the frequency of these pulses dependant on the rate of energy usage. When energy is being used at a high rate, the time between these pulses is very short, meaning the frequency is high. When less energy is being used, the time between these pulses is increased, resulting in a lower frequency. Each pulse represents a certain amount of energy. Therefore, it is possible to report the total energy consumption over a certain interval simply by counting the number of pulses that occurred during that time. According to one embodiment, a microcontroller is used to accumulate these pulses.

[00033] A high level of accuracy can be achieved with these devices once they are calibrated to a known standard. Calibration can be performed quickly and easily once a known load is presented to the device. Once calibrated, it should not be necessary to recalibrate the device to adhere with standards presented by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). [00034] An additional feature enabled by these devices is the ability to measure the direction of energy flow. In the application of charging a battery pack, energy always flows in one direction into the charger. However, in the future it may be desirable to also extract energy from the battery pack, which will require a charger/inverter that supports this feature. The energy metering device as proposed is capable of accumulating the flow of "negative energy" and be able to report that in addition to the "positive energy" into the battery pack. When such negative flow of energy occurs, the event record is updated accordingly.

[00035] In addition to the data logger 100 and energy meter 130, a third key component of the apparatus of the present invention is a means of measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle. Numerous examples of such means exist in the art. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a wheel sensor 595 coupled to a vehicle controller 590 which in turn communicates via a standard link such as USB, CAN or RS232 with the data logger 100. This is a commonly practiced implementation of the distance measuring function but many others are possible. For example, if the electric motor 560 is coupled to the driving wheels via a single-speed coupling (as opposed to a multi-speed transmission), the motor controller 570 can determine the distance traveled directly from the number of motor revolutions and the known overall drive ratio. It would then communicate with the data logger so that the distance data may be recorded. This type of implementation is also common in the art.

[00036] A timer is also necessary for the implementation of the method of the present invention. Timer functionality is commonly found both within mainstream microprocessors and dedicated integrated circuits that further incorporate a calendar and that continue to operate even while power is removed from the main circuits. Many examples of such circuits are known.

[00037] In addition to total energy transferred to the vehicle and the corresponding miles driven, further information may be optionally recorded by the data logger 100. This information may include ambient temperature, acceleration data and the like, gathered with the use of appropriate sensors many examples of which exist. The more information gathered about the exact use of the vehicle the more accurately a calculation can be made of the actual amount of pollution reduction achieved by using an electric vehicle in place of an equivalent internal-combustion powered one in the same circumstances. For instance, it is well known that internal combustion engines emit much greater amounts of pollution while cold, shortly after startup. Therefore as an example the first mile driven in electric mode on a single trip would account for a greater portion of pollution reduction than subsequent miles. Consequently an electric vehicle that is used for a large number of short trips would be more effective at reducing pollution than one used for a small number of longer trips. If data pertinent to the exact nature of vehicle operation is recorded and authenticated, it can later be processed to provide a more accurate determination of the pollution reduction achieved. In the absence of such data, assumptions must be made and would typically allow for the least amount of pollution reduction based on general usage data. Therefore less than the actual pollution reduction would likely be credited in many circumstances.

[00038] The method of the present invention can be separated into three major parts. The first is the method of manufacturing the apparatus of the present invention and in particular the assignment of a unique VIN to a vehicle and the assignment of a unique digital certificate to the same vehicle and associating the certificate with the VIN in a certificate database. This part of the method is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 3. A related method, illustrated in Fig. 4, is that of assigning a unique digital certificate to a power source with reduced or zero pollution cost. The second part is the method of operating the vehicle, gathering and storing the usage data. It is illustrated in Fig. 5. The third and final part of the method of the present invention is the authentication, transmission and conversion of the accumulated data into a numeric representation, referred to herein as Uniform Pollution Reduction Units (UPRU), which can subsequently be applied toward the operation of other pollution-producing installations such as factories, processing plants and the like. A representative structure of a UPRU of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 7 and the steps of the method for its generation and use are shown in Fig. 8.

[00039] The portion of the method of the present invention pertaining to the manufacture and configuration of the apparatus of the present invention, as illustrated in Fig. 3, consists of the steps to create a unique digital certificate for each vehicle and to associate the certificate with the corresponding VIN. Within the context of the present invention, a digital certificate is any binary, numeric or alphanumeric block of data that is used by the vehicle's data logger 100 to render the event records it creates tamper resistant. Many different examples of such certificates exist in the art including public and private encryption keys, digital signature certificates and the like. The means of rendering an event record tamper-resistant may include digitally signing a binary or ASCII representation of the data, or encryption of a portion or all of the event record. Any known encryption or digital signature method may be used within the scope of the present invention. A graphical block-diagram representation of the typical data contained within an event record is shown in Fig. 6, however the illustration is not limiting and many equivalent embodiments are possible, including those containing additional information.

[00040] The opening of a new event record is triggered by the start of a charging event, if no open event record exists. More than one charging event may occur prior to the start of a first driving event, in which case any charging events following the first one are appended to the event record. In some cases energy may be drawn from the vehicle's onboard storage, such as in some Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) systems. Such charging events are recorded as negative energy input and the record of the total energy transferred to the vehicle is adjusted accordingly in the event record. Since the energy meter 130 of the present invention is situated between the electric power source/drain and the battery charger circuit 550, any loss due to inefficiency in the charger circuit is automatically accounted for.

[00041] Once the first driving event occurs following one or more charging events, it and any subsequent driving events are recorded in the same open event record, as shown in Fig. 5. A driving event starts when the vehicle moves under electric power and terminates after the vehicle has been stationary for a predetermined period of time which is preferably no less than a minute. In the case of plug-in hybrid vehicles, a driving event in the context of the present invention terminates when the internal combustion engine is turned on. The occurrence of a new charging event following one or more driving events, or the turning on of the internal combustion engine in a hybrid vehicle, triggers the closing of the current event record, the creation of the event record data structure, and triggers the opening of a new event record. In one embodiment the complete event record data structure, including the authentication such as digital signature or encryption of all or a portion of the record, occurs when the event record is closed. The complete closed event record is therefore stored in data logger memory in the format in which it will eventually be transmitted to the remote data center 700. This minimizes the likelihood of tampering with the data while it is in the data logger memory. Alternative embodiments are possible, including forming the final event log data structure at the time of transmission, but they are considered less desirable in light of the objectives of the present invention.

[00042] The third portion of the method of the present invention pertains to collecting the usage data from one or more vehicles, verifying the authenticity of the received event records, and using data obtained from one or more authenticated event records to calculate the actual pollution reduction achieved as a result of the recorded electric vehicle operation. It is illustrated in Fig. 8. The event records from one or more electric vehicles 10 are transmitted periodically, either automatically or by operator-initiated transaction, to the remote data center 700. The authenticity of each event record is then verified by contacting the certificate authority 760 which originally issued the digital certificate used to authenticate the event records. After authentication and a check for duplicate event records, the valid event records are processed and the total pollution reduction documented thereby is recorded in a data structure referred to herein as Universal Pollution Reduction Unit (UPRU). The data structure is then stored in a secure database. A requestor wishing to obtain a pollution reduction credit then requests the assignment of one or more UPRUs, typically in exchange for payment or another form of consideration. Upon assignment of one or more UPRUs to the requestor, the assignment is recorded in the database.

[00043] The objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and methods for gathering, authenticating and making available the data pertinent to electric vehicle use. The exact methods and formulas used in calculating the amount of actual pollution reduction that takes place as a result of such use fall outside the scope of the present invention. In general terms, however, such methods may include obtaining test data from a variety of internal combustion powered vehicles under several predetermined sets of conditions, then assigning various representative pollution values per distance driven and classifying them by both vehicle type and conditions. The data obtained from event records set forth in the present invention can then be used to match each driving event, by both vehicle type and prevailing conditions indicated by the data, to a predetermined equivalent amount of pollution that would have been produced by an equivalent IC powered vehicle type under the same conditions. The total amount of pollution eliminated by using the electric vehicle over the course of the combined driving events can then be determined. The data pertaining to the pollution cost of the energy transferred to the vehicle during corresponding charging events can then be used to calculate the actual pollution cost of the electrical energy used, and the overall net pollution reduction is can be determined by subtracting the pollution cost of the energy from the total IC pollution eliminated.