(Source: Business Wire)
AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ: AVAV) has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for technology that facilitates the optimal charging, management, control and maintenance of battery packs, chargers and electric vehicles (EVs). Patent No. 7,444,192 builds on AV's intellectual property portfolio in its Efficient Energy Systems business segment. This segment's products include PosiCharge systems, the leading fast charge systems for electric vehicles.
AV's technology is directly applicable to battery packs, chargers and battery-powered EVs that can be linked to the electric utility network and managed by a "smart grid" controller. The technology is designed to gather data from the EV or the charger, and uses the data to determine whether the rate of charge is optimized for the vehicle's performance, the battery's long-term health, and the utility's power availability. A device employing this technology could create and store a performance profile for the EV and charger. Based on this historical profile, the device could optimize the rate of charge or transmit an alert to the utility or end user.
The technology was developed for AV's PosiNET system, a Web-based motive power management solution which has been deployed in support of commercial EV fleets in the United States. PosiNET minimizes fleet downtime and optimizes vehicle utilization by providing real-time, predictive and historic reports as well as actionable alerts and equipment usage recommendations to fleet managers.
"We launched this technology in the commercial EV market, but there are also compelling potential applications for passenger electric vehicles," said Michael Bissonette, AV senior vice president and general manager of its Efficient Energy Systems segment. "For instance, utilities could employ PosiNET to capture and analyze energy usage data from EV battery packs that connect to the electric grid. With these data, the utility -- or a third party -- could remotely optimize the charge rate or energy load based on real-time vehicle needs and grid capabilities, resulting in a win-win for the utility and end users."
For passenger EV charging, the system would enable vehicle and grid optimization through grid-tied electric charging systems communicating with utilities via the internet. The system could send alerts and other actionable data to utilities which could then remotely control charge rates using the PosiNET system. The comprehensive information gathered by the system could also be used by the utilities for reporting and analysis.
