Vehicle electric battery charging system

Abstract

A battery arrangement 430 for an electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises: a battery cell 240 operable to store electrical charge to power the electrically-powered vehicle 130; and a charging controller 410 in communication with the battery cell, wherein the charging controller is operable to determine the source of the charge provided to the battery cell and enables or disables charging of the battery cell depending on the determined source of the charge provided to the battery cell. The arrangement may include a meter 420 to record the amount of charge provided to the battery cell. The source may be determined based on whether the vehicle is moving over a threshold speed to permit charging of the vehicle using regenerative braking and hybrid vehicles charging from an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell. The controller may provide a unique identifier to authenticate a charging operation in communication with a remote authentication system, authorised via signals from either the charging source and / or a remote system. Unauthenticated charging is only permitted when details of the charge are recorded so that the cost of the charge and / or fuel duties can be paid.

Description

Field The present invention relates to a system for enabling or disabling the charging of a vehicle battery depending on the charging source being used to provide charge to the battery and whether the charging source is authenticated and / or authorised. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system comprising either software and / or one or more pieces of hardware or distributed hardware to provide a system for preventing charging of the battery of a stationary vehicle without the charging source being authenticated and / or authorised via signals from the charging source and / or a remote system. Background Over the last few decades, vehicle manufacturers have started to provide vehicles that are powered by alternative fuel sources rather than solely by internal combustion engines. For example, vehicles are now provided with hybrid arrangements having an electric motor(s) and internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell (known as hybrid vehicles) where the electric motor(s) power(s) the vehicle either in parallel or at times instead of the internal combustion engine or fuel cell. In further examples, vehicles can now be provided with only a battery and electric motor(s) (known as battery-powered electric vehicles) to power the vehicle. Both such vehicles (where such hybrid vehicles have electrical sockets for direct battery charging) and battery-powered electric vehicles can have their batteries charged using a variety of power sources. For example, the battery in such vehicles can be charged using a domestic power source such as a standard domestic plug connected to a charging device either on-board or off-board the vehicle. In another example, the battery in such vehicles can instead be charged using a dedicated EV charger device having the correct charging plugs or ports and which can be powered by industrial or commercial power sources and therefore which is able to provide a higher level of power to charge the vehicle, thus charging the vehicle faster. Such flexibility in charging sources might in some cases need to be limited or restricted to prevent unauthorised or non-optimal charging arrangements. For example, in a commercial fleet of hybrid and / or battery-electric vehicles, the operator of the fleet may prefer drivers to charge their vehicles using specific types of chargers, or chargers having specific capabilities, or to prevent drivers charging using unauthorised sources of power. To provide further details of this example: the commercial operator may wish drivers only to use a specific provider of charging with which they have negotiated a preferential charging cost or with which they have a centralised billing arrangement that means that drivers don’t need to pay individually for each charge or drivers might not need to take manual authorisation steps other than to plug in their vehicle for charging, reducing the complexity of charging. In another specific example, the commercial operator may not want drivers charging at their residential addresses to reduce the risk of and liability for domestic electrical accidents and / or minimise time wasted by drivers waiting for their vehicle to charge and / or prevent expense claims for home charging from drivers thereby reducing administration of such expense claims. For some vehicles and in particular in fleets of vehicles, over time it might become necessary to verify that the charge billed to the fleet / vehicle operator / owner account has been received by each vehicle purported to have been charged and not somehow diverted to another vehicle or overcharged by a charging provider. Governments and tax authorities may also wish to limit unauthorised or untaxed charging of electric vehicles in future. Taxes on road vehicles are typically levied in most countries via a combination of annual vehicle taxes and fuel taxes. Annual vehicle taxes are typically an annual fee levied on the owner of each vehicle, but these do not take into account the amount that the vehicle is actually used. These taxes are typically constrained in their maximum amount as it is usually preferred to raise more tax revenue from high users of vehicles rather than spread the tax burden across all users. Fuel taxes generally raise the majority of tax revenues, and are included in the cost of purchasing fuel for vehicles. Fuel taxes are seen as fairer than high annual vehicle taxes, as the amount of fuel used by each motorist is proportional to their use of the road system and thus the amount of tax paid is based upon the amount of fuel used that is also indicative of the amount the road system is used. With the move to electric vehicles (for example plug-in electric hybrids or batteryelectric vehicles), while annual vehicle taxes can still be levied, there is a problem in that there are currently no mechanisms for levelling fuel taxes on electric vehicle charging. These mechanisms are yet to be created, as charging of electric vehicles is carried our predominantly using domestic electrical systems. In this environment, there is currently no way of distinguishing between the electricity used for domestic purposes and that used for fuelling vehicles. As a result, in most jurisdictions, fuel duty (tax) is not being collected on vehicles that use electricity as a fuel. As these vehicles become more plentiful and replace traditional diesel and gasoline vehicles, there will be an increasing shortfall in tax revenue collected. Therefore, there are a variety of reasons why future hybrid and battery-powered vehicles will require mechanisms to enable the collection of fuel duties on the electricity used by these vehicles. Summary of Invention Aspects and / or embodiments seek to provide a method and / or system to prevent unauthorised charging of vehicle batteries while still permitting charging of the vehicle using regenerative braking and hybrid vehicles charging from an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell. Vehicle operators putting in place policies and procedures for drivers to mandate permitted charging sources will not be able to guarantee that drivers do not charge using a domestic power source, as both hybrid and battery-electric vehicles are designed by their manufacturers to accept charge from many charging sources with the end-user’s convenience in mind. Should fuel taxes be applied to electricity used to charge hybrid and battery-electric vehicles in future, applying fuel taxes only to public electric vehicle charging points will not prevent home charging without paying fuel taxes as there are many ways to hide such activity, thus the burden of paying fuel taxes will fall on those road users without the ability to charge electric vehicles using their domestic power supply. Further, such a partial ability to levy fuel taxes (i.e. on commercial public charges but not on domestic or business charging) may result in some users not adopting electric vehicles due to perceived unfairness. Applying fuel taxes to domestic electricity supplies will be politically unpalatable as some users will not have electric vehicles, and most use of the domestic electricity supply is not likely to be for charging electric vehicles now or in future. Applying fuel taxes to domestic installations of electric vehicle chargers will not prevent users charging their vehicles using standard domestic electricity plugs and thus those determined to avoid fuel taxes will likely be able to do so. Further, another complication is that most, if not all, electric vehicles recover battery charge when braking by reversing the motor(s) to capture kinetic energy from the vehicle motion and returning this kinetic energy to chemical potential energy stored in the battery (a feature termed regenerative braking). Applying fuel taxes to the amount of energy received by the vehicle battery by regenerative breaking for example would also not be acceptable as fuel duty (tax) will already have been paid on the fuel used to move the vehicle to a state where the vehicle has the necessary kinetic energy. According to a first aspect, there is provided a battery arrangement for an electrically-powered vehicle comprising: a battery cell operable to store electrical charge to power the electrically-powered vehicle; a charging controller in communication with the battery cell wherein the charging controller is operable to determine the source of the charge provided to the battery cell and wherein the charging controller is operable to enable or disable charging of the battery cell depending on the determined source of the charge provided to the battery cell. Optionally, there is provided a meter in communication with the battery cell, the meter is operable to record the amount of charge provided to the battery cell. Providing a controller can allow for charging to be allowed or not (and / or the amount of charging / charge provided to the battery cell to be recorded) depending on the source of the charge (and optionally also allow a meter and / or the controller to record the amount of charge provided to the battery cell from each source either all the time or only in certain circumstances - so for example metering occurs when the vehicle is stationary and the vehicle is detected to be connected to an external charger but where the charger is not authorised by a tax authority or company, but not in other circumstances such as when the vehicle is moving and receiving charge from an internal combustion engine, hydrogen fuel cell or from regenerative braking which is always allowed). Optional recording of the amount of charge provided to the battery can occur with or without authorisation from an external system, allowing a substantially independent record of the amount of charge received by the battery cell to be stored along with metadata such as time and location, and further this can allow for this record to be communicated or retrieved when communication is possible in order to facilitate, for example, payment of relevant charging duties and taxes. Optionally, the controller can be configured to prevent charging of the battery cell should any tax payment or charging payment not be paid by the due date for payment. Optionally, the charging controller is operable to determine the source of the charge provided to the battery cell based on whether the electrically-powered vehicle is moving over a predetermined threshold speed. The charging controller can be configured or operable to determine the source of the charge being provided to the battery cell, for example by determining the input source or by determining the input source from sensor data. Optionally, the charging controller is in communication with one or more vehicle systems (and further optionally the electrically powered vehicle’s global navigation satellite system (GNSS), if fitted) and wherein the charging controller is operable to determine whether the electrically-powered vehicle is moving using data provided by the one or more vehicle systems (and further optionally the electrically powered vehicle’s global navigation satellite system (GNSS), if fitted). Optionally, the one or more vehicle systems comprise any or any combination of: an energy recovery system or regenerative braking system; an electric vehicle on-board charger; charging provided by an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell; charging provided by an authenticated and / or authorised electric vehicle charger; and charging provided by unauthenticated electric vehicle charging. Optionally, there is further provided a global navigation satellite system in communication with the charging controller and wherein the charging controller is operable to determine whether the electrically-powered vehicle is moving over a predetermined threshold speed using the global navigation satellite system. Optionally, the global navigation satellite system is integrated into the controller. By communicating with vehicle systems, it can be possible to determine the source of the charge to the battery. By communicating with vehicle systems, or being provided with a sensor such as a satellite navigation system (i.e. a global navigation satellite system) or an inertial navigation system or inertial sensor or other sensor able to determine movement of the vehicle, and if it is determined from vehicle systems and / or the satellite navigation and / or the inertial navigation system and / or other sensor such as a visual odometry system that the vehicle is moving, or moving over a certain speed (i.e. a predetermined threshold speed, for example over 2 miles per hour or over 4 miles per hour), then it is not possible for the vehicle to be charging using an external power source and instead must be using an internal power source such as regenerative braking or a hybrid engine system to charge the battery from an internal combustion engine or a hydrogen fuel cell, and therefore neither the meter nor the controller need to record the amount of charge provided by internal power sources and / or the controller does not prevent charging. Optionally, various sensor data can be recorded by the charging controller such as location data and / or location data over time, time data, charge data, last verified position of the vehicle, velocity data and / or velocity data over time. Optionally, there is further provided a unique identifier associated with any of any combination of: the battery arrangement; or the battery cell; and wherein the unique identifier is operable to authenticate and / or authorise a charging operation. By providing a unique identifier for either the battery arrangement as a whole including the cell and the controller and the meter, or for one or more (or each) of these components, this unique identifier(s) can be used to authenticate charging with either the charger being used to provide charge to the battery cell or with a remote system used to authenticate and / or authorise charging. Optionally, the charging controller is operable to communicate with an electric vehicle charger and wherein the electric vehicle charger further comprises a charger controller; optionally wherein the charging controller communicates with the charger controller via a charging cable connecting the electrically-powered vehicle to the electric vehicle charger. By communicating via the charging wire, the charging controller can authenticate and / or authorise the charge and / or exchange data with the charger infrastructure using existing equipment rather than needing to be provided with independent communications mechanisms, where the existing equipment is sufficiently trusted to provide authentication / data exchange. Optionally, the charging controller is operable to communicate with a remote authentication system to authenticate and / or authorise charging the battery cell. Optionally, there is further provided a communications module wherein the communications module is operable to communicate with the remote authentication system, optionally wherein the communications module is integrated into the charging controller. Optionally, the communications module is operable to communicate with the remote authentication system via the electric vehicle charger. The charging controller can independently communicate with a remote authentication system to authenticate or authorise charging the vehicle battery / battery cell, for example using a communications module specifically provided in the battery arrangement to enable more direct communication with the remote authentication system or alternatively using existing communications methods such as the existing vehicle communications devices or via the electric vehicle charger. Optionally, the battery arrangement is integrated and / or in communication with one or more vehicle systems such that an operator of the electrically-powered vehicle interacts with the charging controller and / or meter via the one or more vehicle systems. Optionally, the operator interacts using a software application, optionally wherein the software application is operated using a mobile device. The battery arrangement can be integrated into the vehicle such that data from the vehicle systems can be used and / or data can be stored in the vehicle systems. In some embodiments, the battery arrangement can use existing vehicle hardware and be implemented mostly or entirely in software that is provided as part of the vehicle software. In some embodiments, a user can access a software application such as on their mobile device (e.g. smart phone, tablet computer, personal computer device such as laptop or smartwatch) to access data recorded by the battery system, controller, meter and / or vehicle software. Optionally, there is provided a database of authorised electric vehicle chargers, optionally wherein the database further comprises any or any combination of: authentication code(s); identification details of electric vehicle chargers; location details of electric vehicle chargers. Optionally, the charging controller is operable to permit charging of the battery cell only where the database includes details of the electric vehicle charger to permit authentication; optionally wherein the charging controller verifies the details contained in the database by communicating with the electric vehicle charger. By providing a database of pre-authorised vehicle chargers, which can be updated from time to time, the vehicle can authenticate with and / or be authorised to use the charger as long as it is in the pre-authorised list without needing to communicate with a third-party system other than the charger (which itself may or may not be connected to a communications network to allow onward communication by the controller or communication with a remote computer system to authenticate and / or authorise a charge). Optionally, the vehicle and / or controller can later connect to a remote computer system to synchronise charging data. Optionally, there is provided a vehicle comprising the battery arrangement of any preceding aspect / embodiment, optionally wherein the vehicle is any or any combination of: a battery-electric vehicle; a hybrid internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell and batteryelectric vehicle. Optionally, charging is provided by any or any combination of: an on-board charger; alternating current; direct current. Optionally, there is provided any or any combination of: an energy recovery system or regenerative braking system; charging via an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell. According to a further aspect, there is provided a kit of parts comprising a charging controller wherein: the charging controller is operable to connect to a battery cell, wherein the battery cell is operable to store electrical charge to power the electrically-powered vehicle; the charging controller is operable to determine the source of the charge provided to the battery cell and wherein the charging controller is operable to enable or disable charging of the battery cell depending on the determined source of the charge provided to the battery cell. Brief Description of Drawings Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings having like-reference numerals, in which: Figure 1 shows a standard electric vehicle charging arrangement; Figure 2 shows a standard electric vehicle charging arrangement using alternating current charging; Figure 3 shows a standard electric vehicle charging arrangement using direct current charging; Figure 4 shows unauthenticated electric vehicle charging using a controller and a meter according to a first embodiment; Figure 5 shows unauthenticated electric vehicle charging using a controller, a meter and a global navigation satellite system according to a second embodiment; Figure 6 shows authenticated electric vehicle charging via the charging wire according to a third embodiment; Figure 7 shows authenticated electric vehicle charging using a remote system according to a fourth embodiment; Figure 8 shows electric vehicle charging using a distributed controller according to a fifth embodiment; and Figure 9 shows authenticated electric vehicle charging via the charging wire where the charger communicates with a remote system according to a sixth embodiment. Specific Description Referring to Figure 1, which shows a standard electric vehicle charging arrangement 100, according to an embodiment which will now be described. In this first embodiment, there is provided an electrically-powered vehicle 130 that is provided with a charging cable 120 that can connect the electrically-powered vehicle 130 to an electric vehicle charger 110. The electric vehicle charger 110, when connected to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 using the charging cable 120, can provide electrical charge to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 to charge its battery in order to allow the vehicle 130 to power its electrical motor(s). Some electrical vehicle chargers 110 are free of charge to use, while others require payment for the amount of charge provided and are provided with various means to pay for the charge provided. In embodiments, the electrically-powered vehicle 130 can be one of a variety of types of vehicle that are partially or fully powered by electrical power, such as a battery-operated vehicle or a hybrid vehicle that is powered by a mixture of battery power and an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell. In embodiments, the charging cable 120 can be a completely detachable cable, for example that can be stowed in the electrically-powered vehicle 130, or can be fixed at one end to either the electrically-powered vehicle 130 or, more frequently, to the electric vehicle charger 110. Further, the charging cable 120 can be a variety of thicknesses and have a variety of capabilities including being able to support different levels of power being supplied via the charging cable 120 and can be made from a variety of materials of varying properties and thicknesses. Referring to Figure 2, which shows standard electric vehicle charging with alternating current 200, further details of an alternative embodiment of Figure 1 will now be described. The electric vehicle charger 110 has an electric vehicle charger output 210a, which in this embodiment is an alternating current (AC) source of electrical power. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220, an on-board charger 230 and a battery cell 240. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 is connected to the charger output 210a via a charging port 220. As the power provided to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 is alternating current (AC), the electrically-powered vehicle 130 is provided with an on-board charger 230 to convert (transform to the appropriate voltage and rectify) the received electrical power to direct current (DC) power and provide this to the battery cell 240. Referring to Figure 3, which shows standard electric vehicle charging with direct current, details of a further alternative embodiment of Figure 1 will now be described in more detail as follows. There is shown an electric vehicle charger 110 having a charger output 210b that outputs direct current (DC). The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220, an on-board charger 230 and a battery cell 240. In this embodiment, the electric vehicle charger 110 outputs direct current to the electrically-powered vehicle 130, so the on-board charger 230 is not required to convert the input electrical charge via the charging port 220 into direct current, so the electrically-powered vehicle 130 can allow the input charge to bypass the on-board charger 230 and charge the battery cell 240 directly. Referring now to Figure 4, which shows unauthenticated electric vehicle charging with a controller and a meter 400, there is shown an embodiment which will now be described in more detail as follows. In this embodiment there is provided again an electric vehicle charger 110 and an electrically-powered vehicle 130. The electric vehicle charger 110 has a charger output 210 that in this case provides alternating current to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 but in alternative embodiments can provide direct current output. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220 in communication with an on-board charger 230 and the charging port is able to receive alternating current from the charger output 210 via a charging cable 120 (not shown). The electrically-powered vehicle 130 is also provided with a battery arrangement 430 that is in communication with the on-board charger 230 and also with an energy recovery system 450. The on-board charger 230 is able to provide direct current to the battery arrangement 430 to charge a battery cell 240, converted from the input alternating current. In other embodiments, direct current can be received by the charging port 220, bypass the onboard charger 230 or flow through it unimpeded, and be received by the battery arrangement 430 to charge the battery cell 240. The energy recovery system 450, depending on embodiment, can be a regenerative braking system that recovers energy when the vehicle slows down and converts it to electrical charge to be stored by the battery cell 240, or can instead or additionally be a hybrid system such as an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell from which energy can be extracted and converted into electrical charge also to be stored in the battery cell 240. The battery arrangement 430 comprises the battery cell 240 mentioned above, which is in communication with a meter 420 and a charging controller 410. The charging controller 410 in this embodiment is configured to determine the source of the electrical charge being provided to the battery arrangement 430 and is able to enable or disable the meter 420 and / or the charging controller 410 from recording the amount of charge provided to the battery cell 240. This allows independent verification of the charging source used to charge the battery cell 240. For example, where the battery cell 240 is charged using a domestic electricity supply and this is against company policy, or alternatively this charging would incur a tax charge, this can be determined from the data recorded by the meter 420 and / or the charging controller 410. This arrangement also allows the meter 420 and / or controller 410 to record, for example, the amount of electricity provided from an electric vehicle charger 110 but not to record the amount of electricity provided from the energy recovery system 450. In embodiments, regardless of whether these embodiments include a meter or not, the controller can be operable to allow or prevent (i.e. authorise or not) charging depending on the source of the charge. Referring now to Figure 5, which shows unauthenticated electric vehicle charging with a controller, meter and global satellite navigation system 500 there is shown an embodiment which will now be described in more detail as follows. In this embodiment there is provided again an electric vehicle charger 110 and an electrically-powered vehicle 130. The electric vehicle charger 110 has a charger output 210 that in this case provides alternating current to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 but in alternative embodiments can provide direct current output. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220 in communication with an on-board charger 230 and the charging port is able to receive alternating current from the charger output 210 via a charging cable 120 (not shown). The electrically-powered vehicle 130 is again provided with a battery arrangement 430 that is in communication with the on-board charger 230 and also with an energy recovery system 450, but in this embodiment the battery arrangement is also provided with a global navigation satellite system 510 (for example using global positioning satellites to determine the location of the electrically powered vehicle 130 whose battery cell 240 is being charged). Again, the on-board charger 230 is able to provide direct current to the battery arrangement 430 to charge a battery cell 240, converted from the input alternating current. In other embodiments, direct current can be received by the charging port 220, bypass the onboard charger 230 or flow through it unimpeded, and be received by the battery arrangement 430 to charge the battery cell 240. Again, the energy recovery system 450, depending on embodiment, can be a regenerative braking system that recovers energy when the vehicle slows down and converts it to electrical charge to be stored by the battery cell 240, or can instead or additionally be a hybrid system such as an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell from which energy can be extracted and converted into electrical charge to be stored in the battery cell 240. The battery arrangement 430 comprises the battery cell 240 mentioned above, which is in communication with a meter 420 and a charging controller 410. The charging controller 410 in this embodiment is configured to determine the source of the electrical charge being provided to the battery arrangement 430 and is able to enable or disable the meter 420 and / or charging controller 410 from recording the amount of charge provided to the battery cell 240. This allows independent verification of the charging source used to charge the battery cell 240. For example, where the battery cell 240 is charged using a domestic electricity supply and this is against company policy, or alternatively this charging would incur a tax charge, this can be determined from the data recorded by the meter 420 and / or controller 410. This arrangement also allows the meter 420 and / or charging controller 410 to record, for example, the amount of electricity provided from an electric vehicle charger 110 but not to record the amount of electricity provided from the energy recovery system 450. By providing a global navigation satellite system 510 in the battery arrangement, that is at least in communication with the charging controller 410, the charging controller 410 is able to determine, using the global navigation satellite system 510, whether the electrically-powered vehicle 130 is moving, for example over a pre-determined threshold speed such as 2 miles per hour, or 4 miles per hour- and using this input data can determine whether the electrically-powered vehicle 130 is stationary or moving. Once the controller 410 has determined whether the vehicle is moving or not, it can then assume that, if the vehicle is moving over the pre-determined threshold speed, it cannot be receiving electrical energy from an electric vehicle charger 110 and therefore can disable the meter 420 and / or the controller 410 from recording the amount of charge received by the battery arrangement 430 for storage in the battery cell 240 (as it can be safely assumed that this is being provided by the energy recovery system 450 - perhaps from either recovering energy from regenerative braking of the vehicle 130 or from a hybrid engine arrangement taking power from an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell or similar. In embodiments, regardless of whether these embodiments include a meter or not, the controller can be operable to allow or prevent (i.e. authorise or not) charging depending on the source of the charge; but where the embodiment includes means to determine movement of the vehicle 130 (such as a global navigation satellite system 510), charging can always be authorised should the vehicle 130 be moving. Referring now to Figure 6, which shows authenticated electric vehicle charging via a charging wire 600 there is shown an embodiment which will now be described in more detail as follows. In this embodiment there is provided again an electric vehicle charger 110 and an electrically-powered vehicle 130. The electric vehicle charger 110 in this embodiment has a charger output 210 in communication with a charger controller 620, where in this case the charger output 210 provides alternating current to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 but in alternative embodiments can provide direct current output. The charger controller 620 is operable to authenticate the use of the electric vehicle charger 110 by the electrically-powered vehicle 130. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220 in communication with an on-board charger 230 and the charging port is able to receive alternating current from the charger output 210 via a charging cable 120 (not shown). The electrically-powered vehicle 130 is provided with a battery arrangement 430 that is in communication with the on-board charger 230 and in some embodiments also with an energy recovery system (not shown), but in this embodiment the battery arrangement is also provided with a charging controller with integrated global navigation satellite system 610 (for example using global positioning satellites to determine a location of the vehicle 130). The charging controller with integrated global navigation satellite system 610 that is operable to communicate via the charging cable 120 with the charger controller 620 to authenticate and / or authorise the process of charging the electrically-powered vehicle 130. For example, authentication might involve authenticating payment for the charging provided, or might also involve authentication of and / or updating a record of the amount of tax due or paid in respect of the charging provided. In this embodiment, communication with a system to authenticate or update the records of the amount of tax due may be via the charger controller 620 which itself is connected to a remote system that holds the records of the amount of tax due or might be via the vehicle communication systems of the vehicle 130. In other embodiments, a connection might be established via a wired or wireless connection by the charging controller in 610 that allows communication with a remote system that holds the records of the amount of tax due, or this connection may be via another device such as a user mobile device. Again, the on-board charger 230 is able to provide direct current to the battery arrangement 430 to charge a battery cell 240, converted from the input alternating current. In other embodiments, direct current can be received by the charging port 220, bypass the onboard charger 230 or flow through it unimpeded, and be received by the battery arrangement 430 to charge the battery cell 240. In embodiments including an energy recovery system (not shown), the energy recovery system can provide electrical energy to the battery arrangement 430. Depending on embodiment, the energy recover system can be a regenerative braking system that recovers energy when the vehicle slows down and converts it to electrical charge to be stored by the battery cell 240 or the energy recovery system can instead or additionally be a hybrid system such as an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell from which energy can be extracted and converted into electrical charge to be stored in the battery cell 240. The battery arrangement 430 comprises the battery cell 240 mentioned above, which is in communication with the charging controller with integrated global navigation satellite system 610 described above. The charging controller including global navigation satellite system 610 of this embodiment is configured to authenticate and / or authorise any external charging of the vehicle, i.e. charging not provided by the energy recovery system (not shown). This allows charging only to be performed by, for example, authorised electric vehicle chargers 110 that are able to authenticate with the charging controller 610. Authentication and / or authorisation occurs by communication between the charging controller 610 and the charger controller 620 via the charging cable (not shown). By providing a global navigation satellite system integrated into the charging controller 610, the charging controller 610 is able to determine, using the global navigation satellite system, whether the electrically-powered vehicle 130 is moving, for example over a predetermined threshold speed such as 2 miles per hour, or 4 miles per hour - and using this input data can determine whether the electrically-powered vehicle 130 is stationary or moving. Once the controller 410 has determined whether the vehicle is moving it can enable charge to be received from the energy recovery system (not shown) if one is present. If the vehicle 130 is determined to be stationary, then the controller 610 can require authentication / authorisation from a charger controller 620 before permitting charging of the battery cell 240. Referring now to Figure 7, which shows authenticated electric vehicle charging with a remote system 700 there is shown an embodiment which will now be described in more detail as follows. In this embodiment there is provided an electric vehicle charger 110 and an electrically-powered vehicle 130 in communication with a remote authentication system 760. The remote authentication system 760 is provided in this embodiment as a single remote computing system, but in other embodiments can be any or any combination of: local, cloud-hosted or remote single, multiple or distributed computing arrangement. The remote authentication system 760 is provided with a wireless communication connection, such as a wireless data network between the car and a wireless base station which is then linked to the remote authentication system via the Internet. In other embodiments, other means to data exchange can be employed. The electric vehicle charger 110 in this embodiment has a charger output 210, where in this case the charger output 210 provides alternating current to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 but in alternative embodiments can provide direct current output. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220 in communication with an on-board charger 230 and the charging port is able to receive alternating current from the charger output 210 via a charging cable 120 (not shown). The electrically-powered vehicle 130 is provided with a battery arrangement 430 comprising a battery cell 240 and which is in communication with the on-board charger 230 and in some embodiments also with an energy recovery system (not shown), and in this embodiment the battery arrangement 430 is also provided with a charging controller 410 in communication with a global navigation satellite system 510 (for example using global positioning satellites to determine a location of the vehicle 130) and a meter 420. The charging controller 410, as in other embodiments, is able to use the GNSS 510 to determine whether the vehicle 130 is moving or stationary (or moving over a predetermined threshold speed) and, if moving, then the meter 420 and / or the charging controller 410 can be prevented from recording the amount of charge received by the battery cell 240 and, while stationary the meter 420 and / or the charging controller 410 can be enabled to record the amount of charge provided as this is likely to be from an electric vehicle charger 110. Again, the on-board charger 230 is able to provide direct current to the battery arrangement 430 to charge a battery cell 240, converted from the input alternating current. In other embodiments, direct current can be received by the charging port 220, bypass the onboard charger 230 or flow through it unimpeded, and be received by the battery arrangement 430 to charge the battery cell 240. In embodiments including an energy recovery system (not shown), the energy recovery system can provide electrical energy to the battery arrangement 430. Depending on embodiment, the energy recover system can be a regenerative braking system that recovers energy when the vehicle slows down and converts it to electrical charge to be stored by the battery cell 240 or the energy recovery system can instead or additionally be a hybrid system such as an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell from which energy can be extracted and converted into electrical charge to be stored in the battery cell 240. The charging controller 410 is also provided with a communication mechanism, such as a wireless network communication module or a wireless data connection (e.g. using a WiFi network or cellular data network) depending on embodiment. The charging controller 410 uses this communication mechanism to communicate with the remote authentication system 760. The charging controller 410 can then provide and receive data either periodically or as needed to / from the remote authentication system 760 to either authenticate / authenticate the charge being provided by an electric vehicle charger (either to check that the charger is a permitted charger or to verify that tax is paid by the charger or will be due from using the charger) or to record the amount of charge provided by the electric vehicle charger as recorded by the meter 420 and / or the charging controller 410. Referring now to Figure 8, which shows electric vehicle charging with a distributed controller 800 there is shown an embodiment which will now be described in more detail as follows. In this embodiment there is provided an electric vehicle charger 110 and an electrically-powered vehicle 130. The electric vehicle charger 110 in this embodiment has a charger output 210, where in this case the charger output 210 provides alternating current to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 but in alternative embodiments can provide direct current output. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220 in communication with an on-board charger 230 and the charging port is able to receive alternating current from the charger output 210 via a charging cable (not shown). The electrically-powered vehicle 130 is provided with a battery arrangement 430 comprising a charging controller 410 in communication with a battery cell with integrated meter 240a and the battery arrangement 430 is in communication with the on-board charger 230 and in some embodiments also with an energy recovery system (not shown). In other embodiments, the battery arrangement 430 is also provided with a charging controller 410 in communication with a global navigation satellite system (for example using global positioning satellites to determine a location of the vehicle 130). The charging controller 410, as in other embodiments, is able to use the GNSS to determine whether the vehicle 130 is moving or stationary (or moving over a predetermined threshold speed) and, if moving, then the meter can be prevented from recording the amount of charge received by the battery cell 240a and, while stationary the meter can be enabled to record the amount of charge provided as this is likely to be from an electric vehicle charger 110. Again, the on-board charger 230 is able to provide direct current to the battery arrangement 430 to charge the battery cell 240a, converted from the input alternating current. In other embodiments, direct current can be received by the charging port 220, bypass the onboard charger 230 or flow through it unimpeded, and be received by the battery arrangement 430 to charge the battery cell 240. In embodiments including an energy recovery system (not shown), the energy recovery system can provide electrical energy to the battery arrangement 430. Depending on embodiment, the energy recovery system can be a regenerative braking system that recovers energy when the vehicle slows down and converts it to electrical charge to be stored by the battery cell 240a or the energy recovery system can instead or additionally be a hybrid system such as an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell from which energy can be extracted and converted into electrical charge to be stored in the battery cell 240a. In this embodiment, no global navigation satellite system is shown, but can in at least some embodiments be present either integrated into the battery arrangement 430 or provided as one of the vehicle 130 systems with which the charging controller 410 can communicate in order to determine position and / or speed data from the global navigation satellite system. As there is no way for the charging controller to authenticate and / or authorise charging from the electric vehicle charger 110, unauthenticated charging will occur and details concerning the charging, including the time and location where the vehicle was charged, together with the amount of charge delivered to the battery cell 240a, will be recorded along with other metadata by the meter in 240a and / or the charging controller 410. This can allow for this record to be communicated or retrieved when communication is possible in order to facilitate, for example, payment of relevant charging duties and taxes. In embodiments where the data cannot be recorded because for example, there is no meter within the battery arrangement 430 from which to obtain the amount of charge supplied to the battery cell, the charging controller 410 will, in these circumstances, prevent charging of the battery cell 240. Referring now to Figure 9, which shows authenticated electric vehicle charging via the electric vehicle charger communicating with a remote system 900 there is shown an embodiment which will now be described in more detail as follows. In this embodiment there is provided an electric vehicle charger 110 in communication with a remote authentication system 760 and an electrically-powered vehicle 130. The remote authentication system 760 is provided in this embodiment as a single remote computing system, but in other embodiments can be any or any combination of: local, cloud-hosted or remote single, multiple or distributed computing arrangement. The remote authentication system 760 is provided with a data communication connection, such as a peer to peer or wired / wireless data network between the charger 110 and a network access point / wireless base station which is then linked to the remote authentication system via the Internet. In other embodiments, other means to data exchange can be employed. In some embodiments, the remote authentication system 760 can be a single or multiple systems that perform two functions: one function is to authorise the electric vehicle charger 110 to deliver the charge as long as any tax payable will be recorded and / or paid in respect of the charge to be authorised; the second function is to authenticate any payment required for the charge (for example the charge may be added to a personal or business account for later billing or might be charged immediately to some form of payment such as a credit or debit card). The electric vehicle charger 110 in this embodiment has a charger output 210, where in this case the charger output 210 provides alternating current to the electrically-powered vehicle 130 but in alternative embodiments can provide direct current output. The electric vehicle charger 110 also has a charging controller 920 in communication with the charger output 210 and the remote authentication system 760. The charging controller 920 is able to authenticate and / or transfer charging session data with the remote authentication system 760 prior to beginning each vehicle charging session and / or at the end of each vehicle charging session. The electrically-powered vehicle 130 comprises a charging port 220 in communication with an on-board charger 230 and the charging port is able to receive alternating current from the charger output 210 via a charging cable 120 (not shown). The electrically-powered vehicle 130 is provided with a battery arrangement 430 comprising a battery cell 240 and which is in communication with the on-board charger 230 and in some embodiments also with an energy recovery system (not shown), and in this embodiment the battery arrangement 430 is also provided with a charging controller 410b having an integrated global navigation satellite system (for example using global positioning satellites to determine a location of the vehicle 130). The charging controller 410b, as in other embodiments, is able to use its GNSS to determine whether the vehicle 130 is moving or stationary (or moving over a predetermined threshold speed) and, if not moving, authentication / approval of the received charge from the electric vehicle charger 110 can be co-ordinated by communication with the charging controller 920 in the electric vehicle charger 110, which in turn authenticates / authorises the charge and / or exchanges information with the remote authentication system 760. The charging controller 410b communicates with the charging controller 920 via the charging wire (not shown). The charging controller 410b and / or the charging controller 920 in the electric vehicle charger 110 may communicate either together or separately to authenticate any payment means and / or to verify that the vehicle is stationary, which is a requirement for charging to be authorised. Again, the on-board charger 230 is able to provide direct current to the battery arrangement 430 to charge a battery cell 240, converted from the input alternating current. In other embodiments, direct current can be received by the charging port 220, bypass the onboard charger 230 or flow through it unimpeded, and be received by the battery arrangement 430 to charge the battery cell 240. In embodiments including an energy recovery system (not shown), the energy recovery system can provide electrical energy to the battery arrangement 430. Depending on embodiment, the energy recover system can be a regenerative braking system that recovers energy when the vehicle slows down and converts it to electrical charge to be stored by the battery cell 240 or the energy recovery system can instead or additionally be a hybrid system such as an internal combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell from which energy can be extracted and converted into electrical charge to be stored in the battery cell 240. In this embodiment, the charging controller 410b and the charging controller 920 communicate via the charging wire (not shown) but other communication methods can be used such as short-range wireless communications methods such as Bluetooth® or wireless networking communication, or longer-range communications methods such as cellular data networks. Ultimately, in this embodiment it is the charging controller 410b that determines if and how charging proceeds. Even though authentication requirements have been met that would allow the electric vehicle charger 110 to proceed with authenticated vehicle charging, only the charging controller 410b may allow unauthenticated charging to take place. This may occur if for example the charging controller 920 is unable to provide confirmation that the amount to be billed or collected for the charge provided by the electric vehicle charger 110 will include all applicable fuel duties and taxes that will be paid to the applicable revenue collection services. In these circumstances, unauthenticated charging will not occur because there is no meter in this embodiment and subsequently the charging controller in 410b will prevent charging of the battery cell 240. In other embodiments, as a modification to any of the described or envisaged embodiments herein, and although not shown explicitly in the figures, the electrically-powered vehicle 130 can be a battery-powered electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle that has a battery and another propulsion or electricity generating mechanism, such as an internal combustion engine or a hydrogen fuel cell. In some embodiments, the electrically-powered vehicle may not include a charging port 220 for use by the user and the charging controller is instead used only to permit charging via internal vehicle systems such as regenerative braking or a vehicle electricity generation system (using the internal combustion engine, solar panels or hydrogen fuel cell for example) to prevent charging of the vehicle using an external unauthorised charging source. In embodiments, and in any embodiment described herein, the battery cell 240 and variants described herein can comprise a single or a plurality of batteries or a cluster / clusters of batteries and that these can comprise a variety of chemistries and / or formats within the scope of the embodiments considered herein. The battery cell 240 however embodied may include its own controller to control the charging / discharging of the battery cell arrangement, typically to conserve the capabilities of the battery by charging in a substantially optimised method and at substantially optimised speeds depending on the state of charge of the battery cell / cells. In at least some embodiments, the data being transmitted to / from the vehicle and / or the data stored on-board the vehicle or on any combination of the vehicle systems is encrypted either at rest and / or in transit. In the description of the aspects and embodiments herein, the terms authorisation and authentication have been used to describe various operations in relation to charging electrically-powered vehicles. Typically, authorisation is intended to cover allowing or disallowing charging while authentication is intended to cover checking credentials such as credit card or user details in order to pay for or allow charging or vehicle or component IDs for similar reasons, however the terms are to a degree used interchangeably depending on the approvals and data exchange being described and in variations of the embodiments or aspects described it is intended that these terms can be exchanged (either one term for the other or both terms with each other) where appropriate. In some embodiments, one or more remote systems interact with the vehicle systems and / or electric vehicle charging systems to authenticate and / or approve and / or control and / or meter the charging provided to the vehicle to enable centralised control and logic to be deployed at the one or more remote systems rather than distributed across the vehicle and electric vehicle systems. Any system feature as described herein may also be provided as a method feature, and vice versa. As used herein, means plus function features may be expressed alternatively in terms of their corresponding structure. Any feature in one aspect may be applied to other aspects, in any appropriate combination. In particular, method aspects may be applied to system aspects, and vice versa. Furthermore, any, some and / or all features in one aspect can be applied to any, some and / or all features in any other aspect, in any appropriate combination. It should also be appreciated that particular combinations of the various features described and defined in any aspects can be implemented and / or supplied and / or used independently.

Claims

1. A battery arrangement (430) for an electrically-powered vehicle (130) comprising:a battery cell (240) operable to store electrical charge to power the electrically-powered vehicle (130);a charging controller (410) in communication with the battery cell (240) wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to determine the source of the charge provided to the battery cell (240) and wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to enable or disable charging of the battery cell (240) depending on the determined source of the charge provided to the battery cell (240).

2. The battery arrangement (430) of claim 1, further comprising a meter (420) in communication with the battery cell (240), the meter (420) operable to record the amount of charge provided to the battery cell (240).

3. The battery arrangement (430) of any preceding claim, wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to determine the source of the charge provided to the battery cell (240) based on whether the electrically-powered vehicle (130) is moving over a predetermined threshold speed.

4. The battery arrangement (430) of any preceding claim wherein the charging controller (410) is in communication with one or more vehicle systems (230, 450) and wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to determine whether the electrically-powered vehicle (130) is moving using data provided by the one or more vehicle systems (230, 450).

5. The battery arrangement (430) of claim 4, wherein the one or more vehicle systems comprise any or any combination of: an energy recovery system or regenerative braking system (450); an electric vehicle on-board charger (230); charging provided by an internal combustion engine; charging provided by a hydrogen fuel cell; charging provided by an authenticated electric vehicle charger (110); and charging provided by unauthenticated electric vehicle charging.

6. The battery arrangement (430) of any preceding claim further comprising a global navigation satellite system (510) in communication with the charging controller (410) and wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to determine whether theelectrically-powered vehicle (130) is moving over a predetermined threshold speed using the global navigation satellite system (510).

7. The battery arrangement (430) of claim 6 wherein the global navigation satellite system is integrated into the controller (610).

8. The battery arrangement (430) of any preceding claim further comprising a unique identifier associated with any of any combination of: the battery arrangement (430); or the battery cell (240); and wherein the unique identifier is operable to authenticate a charging operation.

9. The battery arrangement (430) of any preceding claim wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to communicate with an electric vehicle charger (110) and wherein the electric vehicle charger (110) further comprises a charger controller (620); optionally wherein the charging controller (410) communicates with the charger controller (620) via a charging cable (120) connecting the electrically-powered vehicle (130) to the electric vehicle charger (110).

10. The battery arrangement (430) of any preceding claim wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to communicate with a remote authentication system (760) to authenticate and / or authorise charging the battery cell (240).

11. The battery arrangement (430) of claim 10 further comprising a communications module wherein the communications module is operable to communicate with the remote authentication system (760), optionally wherein the communications module is integrated into the charging controller (410).

12. The battery arrangement (430) of claim 10 wherein the communications module is operable to communicate with the remote authentication system (760) via the electric vehicle charger (110).

13. The battery arrangement (430) of any previous claim, wherein the battery arrangement (430) is integrated and / or in communication with one or more vehicle systems such that an operator of the electrically-powered vehicle interacts with the charging controller (410) and / or meter (420) via the one or more vehicle systems.

14. The battery arrangement (430) of claim 13 wherein the operator interacts using a software application, optionally wherein the software application is operated using a mobile device.

15. The battery arrangement (430) of any previous claim, further comprising a database of authorised electric vehicle chargers (110), optionally wherein the database further comprises any or any combination of: authentication code(s); identification details of electric vehicle chargers (110); location details of electric vehicle chargers (110).

16. The battery arrangement (430) of claim 15 wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to permit charging of the battery cell (240) only where the database includes details of the electric vehicle charger (110) to permit authentication; optionally wherein the charging controller (410) verifies the details contained in the database by communicating with the electric vehicle charger (110).

17. A vehicle (130) comprising the battery arrangement (430) of any preceding claim, optionally wherein the vehicle (130) is any or any combination of: a battery-electric vehicle; a hybrid internal combustion engine and battery-electric vehicle; a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell and battery-electric vehicle.

18. The vehicle (130) of claim 17 wherein charging is provided by any or any combination of: an on-board charger; alternating current; direct current.

19. The vehicle (130) of claim 17 or claim 18, further comprising any or any combination of: an energy recovery system or regenerative braking system (450); charging via an internal combustion engine; charging via a hydrogen fuel cell.

20. A kit of parts comprising a charging controller (410) wherein:the charging controller (410) is operable to connect to a battery cell (240), wherein the battery cell (240) is operable to store electrical charge to power the electrically-powered vehicle (130);the charging controller (410) is operable to determine the source of the charge provided to the battery cell (240) and wherein the charging controller (410) is operable to enable or disable charging of the battery cell (240) depending on the determined source of the charge provided to the battery cell (240).

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