Published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, CarBuzz has uncovered a patent filed by Ford for a technology that aims to allow multiple electrified vehicles to charge from a single charger. In essence, the system takes full advantage of the potential of Vehicle-to-X (V2X) and combines it with bi-directional charging technology to enable multiple battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) to be charged in cascade simultaneously, or even individually.
The patent proposes that future Ford electric vehicles be equipped with two sets of charging ports, where one is traditionally used to recharge the charge in the battery pack and the other could be used as a sort of power outlet that would allow another vehicle to be powered. Alternatively, the same goal could be achieved by installing a charge sharing adapter.
While the Ford F-150 Lightning already has something similar with its Pro Power Onboard system that allows the electric truck to deliver energy to household appliances and other machinery, the latter seems to be a cheaper solution compatible with more vehicles. This would mean that not all Ford EVs would necessarily have to come with additional charging hardware from the factory and maybe not too cheap. Whatever components are used for the idea, Ford proposes various ways to recharge multiple vehicles from a single charger, including distributed, cascading, targeted and automated strategies.
A distributed charging strategy would charge each vehicle at the same rates, while a cascade charging strategy would mean that the first vehicle directly connected to the (host) charging station would have preference and be charged until full or until it reaches a level predetermined, after which the second vehicle would be powered, then the third and so on. Of course, this last solution would create an enormous potential disadvantage for those who, perhaps, need to leave the bay after recharging.
A targeted recharging program would allow the user of the host vehicle to decide how much energy will receive each of the dependent vehicles. An automated charging strategy would allow the host vehicle to determine how much charge each vehicle would get, presumably based on factors such as remaining charge/range, when each respective vehicle is plugged in, or what type of charging cable is being used (assuming different types of wiring may be available).
Finally the charging strategy, the final proposal, where the host vehicle could anticipate the expense of the connected vehicles perhaps using the FordPass app or some other telecommunication module that use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or NFC.
The potential advantages and disadvantages of these systems are numerous; while among the positive aspects we find the possibility of occupying fewer columns and favoring a sort of sharing, among the negative ones we find the incessant use of the battery which, in the long run, could heat up excessively or degrade ahead of schedule. In short, the proposals seem to arrive, but "fine tuning" will be necessary for everything to work.
Credits: Carbuzz