Method and system of billing for charging a vehicle battery leveraging a pre-arranged payment method

Abstract

A method and system provided for a single-action with which the customer places an order and receives goods by the single action of connecting an electrical vehicle (EV) to a charging station according to the business terms associated with this invention, the affiliated organizations that purchase or support the operation of the invention participate in a business “franchise” operation whereby all affiliated organizations increase their revenues as the volume of EV charging events increases.

1 . A method, comprising:
 storing, in an electric vehicle, a unique vehicle client identifier, the unique vehicle client identifier associated with a remote billing transaction service that maintains purchaser-specific and vendor-specific billing information used for remote billing of charging operations by electric vehicles of a plurality of purchasers with charge stations of a plurality of vendors, the unique vehicle client identifier mapped in the remote billing transaction service to a first purchaser among the plurality of purchasers that is further mapped to a billing account in the remote billing transaction service; and   communicating the unique vehicle client identifier from the electric vehicle in connection with performing a charging operation for the electric vehicle.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the charging operation charges the electric vehicle from a charge station, the method further comprising initiating the charging operation in response to detecting a connection between the electric vehicle and a charge station. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein communicating the unique vehicle client identifier from the electric vehicle is performed in response to detecting the connection and includes communicating the unique vehicle client identifier to the remote billing transaction service to initiate a billing transaction in the remote billing transaction service using the unique vehicle client identifier, wherein the billing transaction bills the billing account mapped to the first purchaser for the charging operation based upon the unique vehicle client identifier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the connection is a physical connection and establishment of the physical connection between the electric vehicle and the charge station is a single action made by a user of the electric vehicle that initiates the charging operation, communication of the unique vehicle client identifier and the billing transaction without any subsequent action of the user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the charge station includes a unique charge station identifier stored in the charge station and associated with the remote billing transaction service, the method further comprising, in response to detecting the connection:
 receiving in the electric vehicle the unique charge station identifier from the charge station;   determining that the charge station is compliant with the remote billing transaction service by checking the received unique charge station identifier; and   in response to the charge station being compliant with the remote billing transaction service, initiating a validation procedure between the electric vehicle and the charge station, wherein initiating the validation procedure includes, in the electric vehicle, exchanging public key information with the charge station, and wherein the charging operation is performed in response to the validation procedure being successful.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein initiating the billing transaction includes storing billing information associated with the charging operation in the electric vehicle and communicating the billing information associated with the charging operation to the remote billing transaction service. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unique vehicle client identifier is associated with a pre-arranged agreement established for the electric vehicle that authorizes payment for charging the electric vehicle from the billing account. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating the unique vehicle client identifier includes communicating the unique vehicle client identifier to the charge station. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising communicating the unique vehicle client identifier and billing information associated with the charging operation from the charge station to the remote billing transaction service. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating the unique vehicle client identifier includes communicating the unique vehicle client identifier to the remote billing transaction service. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing the charging operation at a first location for the electric vehicle while no network connection is established between the electric vehicle and the remote billing transaction service and caching billing information associated with the charging operation in the electric vehicle, and wherein communicating the unique vehicle client identifier includes communicating the unique vehicle client identifier and the cached billing information from the electric vehicle to the remote billing transaction service after the connection between the electric vehicle and the charge station has been disconnected and after the electric vehicle has moved to a second location and a network connection has been established between the electric vehicle and the remote billing transaction service. 
     
     
         12 . An electric vehicle, comprising:
 a battery;   a memory configured to store a unique vehicle client identifier, the unique vehicle client identifier associated with a remote billing transaction service that maintains purchaser-specific and vendor-specific billing information used for remote billing of charging operations by electric vehicles of a plurality of purchasers with charge stations of a plurality of vendors, the unique vehicle client identifier mapped in the remote billing transaction service to a first purchaser among the plurality of purchasers that is further mapped to a billing account in the remote billing transaction service; and   a processing system disposed in the electric vehicle and configured to communicate the unique vehicle client identifier from the electric vehicle in connection with performing a charging operation for the electric vehicle.   
     
     
         13 . The electric vehicle of  claim 12 , wherein the charging operation charges the electric vehicle from a charge station, the processing system further configured to initiate the charging operation in response to detecting a connection between the electric vehicle and a charge station. 
     
     
         14 . The electric vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the processing system is configured to communicate the unique vehicle client identifier from the electric vehicle in response to detecting the connection and to communicate the unique vehicle client identifier to the remote billing transaction service to initiate a billing transaction in the remote billing transaction service using the unique vehicle client identifier, wherein the billing transaction bills the billing account mapped to the first purchaser for the charging operation based upon the unique vehicle client identifier. 
     
     
         15 . The electric vehicle of  claim 14 , wherein the connection is a physical connection and establishment of the physical connection between the electric vehicle and the charge station is a single action made by a user of the electric vehicle that initiates the charging operation, communication of the unique vehicle client identifier and the billing transaction without any subsequent action of the user. 
     
     
         16 . The electric vehicle of  claim 14 , wherein the charge station includes a unique charge station identifier stored in the charge station and associated with the remote billing transaction service, the processing system further configured to, in response to detecting the connection:
 receive the unique charge station identifier from the charge station;   determine that the charge station is compliant with the remote billing transaction service by checking the received unique charge station identifier; and   in response to the charge station being compliant with the remote billing transaction service, initiate a validation procedure between the electric vehicle and the charge station, wherein the processing system is configured to initiate the validation procedure by exchanging public key information with the charge station, and wherein the charging operation is performed in response to the validation procedure being successful.