Automated planning of charge processes for privately owned electric vehicles

Following the vision of decentrally generated and locally out-balanced renewable electric energy the research project econnect Germany investigates the end user acceptance of Vehicle2Grid and Grid2Vehicle applications. The algorithm used to compute the charging/discharging of individual batteries in electric vehicles (EV) will be an essential factor for end user acceptance. This is because it controls the achievable driving range and the cost savings for the individual user of an electric vehicle. Additionally, the algorithm has to allow for an effective control by the energy provider to compensate for the natural fluctuations of wind and solar energy in the region. As the final authority to decide about charging/discharging needs to be the battery management system of the EV, it is a natural choice to embed the algorithm in an electronic control unit of the car. This paper presents an algorithm designed to meet these requirements and demonstrates that it scales down to the low computing power of embedded automotive systems.