Electrical Vehicle Battery Charger/Discharger

Issue

Nowadays, there are cases when the battery of EV passenger cars must be discharged for safety reasons in different situations (e.g. transportation, repair or recycling).

This discharge is currently done with inconvenient workarounds such as turning on the A/C to increase self consumption. This process can:

Be time-consuming
Require high personal effort
Waste energy

Your advice

1. Do you need to test or adjust each EV or battery to ensure they comply with the prescribed limits (i.e. 0%, 30%, 50% or 80%)?

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Frequently

Continuously

2. Is it very time and energy consuming to charge and discharge EV batteries to a certain percentage (i.e. 0%, 30%, 50% or 80%)?

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

3. How does your company measure the state of charge of the Electrical Vehicle (EV) or batteries?

You can select up to 4 items

On the dashboard of the vehicle

Reading out measures of Electronic Control Unit (ECU) via CAN communication

There is no technology in my company that allows me to accurately measure SOC

Other (please specify in comments)

4. How does your company discharge EV batteries to a certain SOC (i.e.30%)?

You can select up to 7 items

Turn on energy consuming components in the vehicle until the energy decreases

Drive the vehicle until the target SOC is reached

Connect to a bi-directional charging station

Use special discharger solution

Doesn’t apply in our company

We currently can’t discharge batteries to a certain SOC

Other (please specify in comments)

5. How does your company charge EV batteries to a certain SOC (i.e.80%)?

You can select up to 5 items

Set SOC to 80% in the car and charge normally

Estimate the end of charging at about 80%

Charge to 100% to ensure SOC is above 80%

Doesn’t apply in our company

Other (please specify in comments)

6. Do you think the regulation will force discharge of EV batteries under certain conditions ?

Example: transportation, recycling, process, safety, insurance, etc.

Definitely not

Probably not

Neutral

Probably

Definitely

7. How important will be the process documentation of SOC EV batteries in your company?

Not at all important

Not very important

Neutral

Important

Very important

8. Which of these organizations already require or will require a maximum specific SOC for certain activities?

You can select up to 7 items

My company (e.g., based on internal regulations)

Legislation

Customer (e.g. carrier or shipowner)

Occupational health and safety organizations, e.g. employers' liability insurance associations

Insurance

None

Other (please specify in comments)

Solution

We are currently working on an EV battery discharger. It connects to the standard plug (e.g. Type 2 connector) and can discharge the battery to a certain SOC (e.g. 30%). The energy can be fed back into the grid, so it is not lost.
Depending on the configuration, several EV batteries can be discharged at once. The device can also be used to charge to a defined SOC.

Main advantages:

It gives more time to the workers
It reduces energy costs and the CO footprint
It is safe, reliable and can be used for documentation purposes

Your advice

9. Does this solution seem relevant to you ?

Not at all relevant

Not very relevant

Neutral

Somewhat relevant

Highly relevant

10. Rate the importance of the following features for a battery discharge solution.

☆☆☆☆☆ = Not at all important / ★★★★★ = Highly important

11. What are the weaknesses of this new solution?

12. Do you think your company could...

You may choose several options

Be a customer

Participate in development

Distribute / Prescribe

Be interested in further discussion on the subject