Controlling a thermal system of an electric vehicle

Abstract

A thermal system 100 configured to change a temperature of a component 101 of an electric vehicle comprises fluidic circuits. A subset of circuits are connectable via a multimodal valve 110. Processin

Description

The present disclosure relates to controlling the operation of a thermal system, in particular a thermal system of an electric vehicle. BACKGROUND A thermal system may be used to heat and / or cool a component, for example a component of an electric vehicle (such as a battery or another component) when the thermal system is used in conjunction with an electric vehicle. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A battery is a source of power for an electric vehicle, supplying power (e.g. DC current) to an electric motor of the vehicle which provides power to the vehicle’s transmission to drive the wheels. As part of this process a number of electronic components, hereby referred to as “power electronics” may be used. These may include a charger to receive AC power (e.g. from a power source such as the grid) and to convert the AC power to DC power, a DC / DC converter to receive DC power from the charger and to provide DC power to the battery and to the vehicle’s motor at the correct voltage, an inverter to receive DC power from the DC / DC converter and to convert DC power to AC power and to supply AC power to the motor, and an auxiliary DC / DC converter unit to receive high voltage DC power from the converter and convert it to low voltage DC power to supply low voltage electronics of the vehicle (such as units that control the vehicle’s windows, wipers, and dashboard electronics etc.). The use of the battery to provide power to the vehicle, the charging of the battery (such as during regenerative breaking), and the use of the power electronics, generates heat. A thermal system may be used to change the temperature of the battery and the power electronics of the electric vehicle. For instance, power electronics may require cooling to within a certain operating temperature range so as not to overheat, depending on the ambient temperature. Similarly, the battery may require cooling or heating depending on the ambient temperature to operate within its own operating temperature range, the operating temperature range for the battery being for maximum capacity and usable life while minimising degradation etc. Put another way, if the battery is working at too high or too low a temperature, there is a risk that its capacity and usable life will decrease. According to this disclosure there is provided processing circuitry for controlling a thermal system, the thermal system configured to change a temperature of a component of an electric vehicle, the thermal system comprising a plurality of fluidic circuits each comprising at least one component of the thermal system, wherein a subset of fluidic circuits are connectable via a multimodal valve having a number of configurations, fluid flowthrough the subset of fluidic circuits being controlled by the configuration of the multimodal valve, the processing circuitry being configured to: obtain data indicating the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle; determine whether the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle is greater than, or less than, a setpoint temperature; determine a set of operating modes in which the thermal system could be configured for the thermal system to change the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle so that it approaches the setpoint temperature, each operating mode corresponding to an operating state of at least one component of the thermal system and to a configuration of the multimodal valve; determine, for each operating mode, a measure of impact associated with operating the thermal system to change the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle according to the operating mode; and control the thermal system to be configured in the operating mode associated with the lowest measure of impact by controlling the operating state of at least one component of the thermal system and by controlling the configuration of the multimodal valve. To control the thermal system to be configured in an operating mode, the processing circuitry may be configured to cause at least one component of the thermal system to be active (for example, to cause every component of the thermal system that is to operate in the operating mode to be active). The plurality of fluidic circuits may include: a refrigerant circuit configured to operate according to a vapour-compression cycle; and a coolant circuit, a first portion of which is positioned proximate the component of the electric vehicle to facilitate heat transfer between the component of the electric vehicle and coolant in the coolant circuit, and a second portion of which is positioned proximate to a portion of the refrigerant circuit to facilitate heat transfer between refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit and coolant in the coolant circuit, wherein each operating mode corresponds to an operational state of each one of the fluidic circuits. The refrigerant circuit and coolant circuit may be fluidically disconnected. The component of the electric vehicle may comprise a battery of the electric vehicle and / or an electronic component of the electric vehicle, wherein the thermal system is configured to change the temperature of the battery and configured to cool the electronic component. The coolant circuit may comprises at least: a first coolant circuit portion configured to direct coolant proximate the battery to facilitate heat transfer between the battery and coolant in the first coolant circuit portion; a second coolant circuit portion configured to direct coolant proximate the electronic component of the vehicle to facilitate heat transfer between the electronic component and coolant in the second coolant circuit portion; and a third coolant circuit portion configured to direct coolant proximate a radiator to facilitate heat transfer between the radiator and coolant in the third coolant circuit portion. Each of the first, second, and third coolant circuit portions may be connected to the multi-modal valve and may be connectable to one another via the multimodal valve (depending on the configuration of the multimodal valve). Each configuration of the multi-modal valve may correspond to at least two of the first, second, and third coolant circuit portions being disconnected or connected in series and, to control the thermal system to be configured in an operating mode, the processing circuitry may be configured to cause the multi-modal valve to adopt a configuration in which at least two of the first, second, and third coolant circuit portions are disconnected or connected in series. The measure of impact may be a loss function. The loss function, for each operating mode, may be based on a proximity of a predicted operating parameter of each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode to a respective setpoint parameter. To determine the loss function for each operating mode, the processing circuitry may be configured to: obtain respective input parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode is to operate; determine respective predicted operating parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system is determined to operate at a future time, based on the component of the thermal system operating according to the input parameter at an initial time; and compare the predicted operating parameter values to the respective setpoint parameters. The initial parameter values and predicted operating parameter values may be the same kind of parameter (e.g. current, RPM, mass flow rate) or may be different (e.g. the initial parameter value may be related to current and the predicted operating parameter value may be the mass flow rate of a compressor operating according to that input current). The processing circuitry may be configured to, for each operating mode: obtain respective input parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode is to operate; determine respective predicted operating parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system is determined to operate at predetermined time instants over a predetermined time period based on the component of the thermal system operating according to the input parameter at the initial time; and determine a proximity vector defined as the difference between a first vector, the first vector comprising the respective predicted operating parameter values, or a vector comprising at least one quantity based on the predicted operating parameter values (for example, the first vector may comprise the temperature of one or more of the components of the electric vehicle, e.g. the battery and / or a power electronic component, these being based on the predicted operating parameter values), at each time instant for each component of the thermal system, and a setpoint vector, the setpoint vector comprising respective setpoint values for a component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode or for the component of the electric vehicle. The processing circuitry being may be configured to: determine a scalar quantity from the proximity vector, the loss function comprising the scalar quantity. The proximity vector may be determined by subtracting the setpoint vector from the product of the first vector and a weight vector, wherein the weights in the weight vector are higher for values at earlier time instants than for later time instants or wherein the weights in the weight vector decrease with successive time instants. The measure of impact is based on a measure of the power consumed by operating the thermal system according to each mode, for example the power consumed by operating the thermal system according to each mode so that the setpoint temperature is achieved by the or each vehicle component (e.g. so that the or each vehicle component achieves a temperature that is within a predetermined range of its respective setpoint temperature). The measure of impact is based on a measure of the energy consumed by operating the thermal system according to each mode, for example the energy consumed by operating the thermal system according to each mode so that the setpoint temperature is achieved by the or each vehicle component (e.g. so that the or each vehicle component achieves a temperature that is within a predetermined range of its respective setpoint temperature). The energy may be determined by integrating the power. To determine the energy consumed, the processing circuitry may be configured to, for each operating mode: obtain, for each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode, an input parameter value according to which the component is to operate; determine, for each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode, a measure of the power used by the component to operate according to the input parameter value; and determine, based on the power, the total energy consumed by the thermal system in the operating mode. The processing circuitry may be configured to: determine a measure of energy consumed by the thermal system operating in its current operating mode; and, to control the thermal system to be configured in the operating mode associated with the lowest consumed energy, the processing circuit is configured to: cause the thermal system to continue to operate in its current operating mode if the current operating mode is associated with the lowest consumed energy; or cause the thermal system to switch to another operating mode associated with the lowest consumed energy. The processing circuitry may be configured to: obtain data indicating an amount of heat generated by the component of the electric vehicle, the measure of impact being based on the measure of heat generated. The determined set of operating modes may be based on the ambient temperature of the thermal system. It will be appreciated that the processes described herein may be executed by processing circuitry and may allow a thermal system to be operated to achieve setpoint, e.g. target, temperatures of components of an electric vehicle in an energy-optimal way. The term “battery” as used herein is intended to comprise the main power source for the powertrain or drivetrain of an electric vehicle and may comprise a plurality of batteries, or battery units, or battery modules, each comprising a plurality of battery cells (or battery cell units or battery cell modules) that are connected in series and / or parallel to achieve the total voltage, current, or power requirements that the electric vehicle needs from the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Examples of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which should not be considered limiting, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a thermal system of an electric vehicle; Figures 2a-f schematically show six respective modes of operation of the thermal system of Figure 1; Figure 3 schematically shows part of a control algorithm for controlling the operation of the thermal system; Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a process for controlling the operation of the thermal system; Figure 5 schematically shows part of a control algorithm for controlling the operation of the thermal system according to the process; and Figure 6 schematically shows part of a control algorithm for controlling the operation of the thermal system according to the process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION These drawings should not be considered limiting, rather they are used for explaining and understanding the present disclosure. Figure 1 schematically shows part of a thermal system 100 of an electric vehicle. Specifically, Figure 1 shows fluidic circuits (or fluid circuits) of the thermal system 100 in connection with two components of the electric vehicle, the battery 101 and one or more power electronic components (“PEs”) indicated at 102. The fluidic circuits comprise a refrigerant circuit 10, as indicated by the dotted line, and a coolant circuit 20, as indicated by the solid lines. The refrigerant circuit 20 operates according to a vapour-compression cycle as follows. A refrigerant, which may be considered a fluid capable of absorbing and releasing heat, and capable of undergoing a phase transition between liquid and gas states, flows around the refrigeration cycle clockwise, entering a compressor 11 at an inlet thereof as low-pressure low-temperature refrigerant vapour. The compressor 11 is configured to increase the pressure of the refrigerant fluid therein by reducing its volume, thereby increasing its density. High-pressure high-temperature (relative to the inlet) refrigerant gas (superheated gas) exits the compressor 11 at an outlet thereof and enters a condenser 12 in which the gas releases heat (optional for cabin heating) and condenses into a liquid. The high-pressure liquid flows through an expansion valve 13 which reduces the pressure, and the refrigerant exits the expansion valve 13 as low-temperature, low-pressure liquid. When this liquid passes through a heat exchanger, such as the heat exchanger 14 or the battery chiller, 105 it accepts heat. This will be described below with reference to the coolant circuit 20. A further condenser 15 and expansion valve 16 are provided in the refrigerant circuit 10 to further lower the temperature of the refrigerant depending on whether it has accepted heat in the heat exchanger 14, thereby lowering the refrigerant temperature for it to pass through the battery chiller 15. The use of these components will depend on the example and will be more fully explained below. The coolant circuit 20 has a coolant therein and is configured to operate so that coolant flows, or circulates, through the coolant circuit 20. As used herein, coolant may comprise water. Coolant may comprise a mixture of water and glycol in some examples. It may be considered a fluid capable of absorbing and releasing thermal energy. The refrigerant may be considered a to be a first working fluid. The coolant may be considered to be a second working fluid. The cooling circuit 20 has three coolant circuit portions 21, 22, 23 connected via a vale 110. A first coolant circuit portion 21 is configured to direct coolant proximate the battery 101 to facilitate heat transfer between coolant in the first coolant circuit portion 21 and the battery 101. The first coolant circuit portion 21 comprises a pump 24 for controlling the flow of coolant in the first coolant circuit portion 21. A second coolant circuit portion 22 is configured to direct coolant proximate the power electronic component 102 to facilitate heat transfer between coolant in the second coolant circuit portion 22 and the PE 102. The second coolant circuit portion 22 comprises a pump 25 for controlling the flow of coolant in the second coolant circuit portion 22. A third cooling circuit portion 23 is configured to direct coolant proximate a radiator 26 of the electric vehicle. The electric vehicle comprises a grill 112 which may be configured to receive ambient air therethrough and which may be located at the front of the electric vehicle. The electric vehicle also comprises a fan 113 configured to aid in the circulation of air through the radiator (e.g. if the vehicle is stationary or traveling at low speed). The thermal system 100, which may also be referred to as a thermal circuit, is configured to change the temperature of a component of the electric vehicle, e.g. the battery 101 and / or the power electronics component 102 which may comprise any one or more of a charger, a converter, and an inverter as described above. Firstly, the refrigerant circuit 10 is configured to operate according to a vapour-compression cycle and may be used to directly lower the temperature of the battery 101 and / or the PE 102. However, as depicted in Figure 1 the battery 101 and the PE 102 are respectively proximate the first and second coolant circuit portions 21, 22. Specifically, and as shown in Figure 1, the battery 101 is positioned proximate a portion of the first coolant circuit portion 21 such that heat transfer can occur between the battery 101 and coolant flowing through the first coolant circuit portion 21 to thereby lower or increase the temperature of the battery. In some examples, the battery 101 may comprise this portion of the first coolant circuit portion 21. Put another way, a portion of the first coolant circuit portion 21 may be located inside the battery. As depicted in Figure 1, this portion of the first coolant circuit portion 21 may be in the battery chiller 105. Similarly, the PE 102 is positioned proximate a portion of the second coolant circuit portion 22 such that heat transfer can occur between the PE 102 and coolant flowing through the second coolant circuit portion 22 to thereby lower or increase the temperature of the PE 102 (although it is envisaged that in most practical examples the PE 102 will be cooled). In some examples, the PE 102 may comprise this portion of the second coolant circuit portion 22. Put another way, a portion of the second coolant circuit portion 22 may be located inside the PE 102. The temperature of coolant in the first and / or second coolant circuit portions 21, 22 may be controlled in a number of ways. A portion of the first coolant circuit portion 21 may be positioned proximate the refrigerant circuit 10 to facilitate heat transfer between refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit 10 and coolant in the first coolant circuit portion 21 so that coolant in the first coolant circuit portion 21 can be cooled by refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit 10. In this way, the refrigerant circuit 10 may be used to cool the battery 101 by cooling the coolant in the first coolant circuit portion 21. The thermal system 100 comprises a chiller 105 and the respective portions of the first coolant circuit portion 21 and refrigerant circuit 10 that are proximate one another may be provided in the chiller 105. The chiller 105 is a component of the thermal system configured to facilitate the transfer of heat between the refrigerant circuit 10 and the first coolant circuit portion 21. Specifically, the chiller 105 is a component of the thermal system configured to cool coolant in the first coolant circuit portion 21 using the refrigeration circuit 10. Alternatively or additionally, a portion of the second coolant circuit portion 21 may be positioned proximate the refrigerant circuit 10 to facilitate heat transfer between refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit 10 and coolant in the second coolant circuit portion 22 so that coolant in the second coolant circuit portion 22 can be cooled by refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit 10. In this way, the refrigerant circuit 10 may be used to cool the PE 102. The thermal system 100 comprises a heat exchanger 14 and the respective portions of the second coolant circuit portion 22and refrigerant circuit 10 that are proximate one another may be provided in the heat exchanger 14. The heat exchanger 14 is a component of the thermal system configured to facilitate the transfer of heat between the refrigerant circuit 10 and the second coolant circuit portion 22. Specifically, the heat exchanger 14 is a component of the thermal system configured to cool coolant in the second coolant circuit portion 22 using the refrigeration circuit 10. Alternatively or additionally, the radiator 26 (possibly in combination with the vehicle grill 112, the condenser 15 of the refrigerant circuit 10 and / or the vehicle fan 113) may be used to lower the temperature of coolant in the third coolant circuit portion 23 using the flow of ambient air (e.g. air outside the vehicle flowing into the vehicle via the grill 112). This may be accomplished using the valve 110 (to be described more fully below) to cause any two of the coolant circuit portions to be connected (e.g. in series) and / or any two of the coolant circuit portions to be disconnected. For example, if the valve 110 adopts a configuration where the first (or second) coolant circuit portion 21 (or 22) is connected to the third coolant circuit portion 23, the radiator 26, with at least one of the grill 112, , or fan 113 may be used to lower the temperature of the coolant in the third coolant circuit portion 23 so that when the cooled coolant then flows proximate the battery 101 (or the PE 102) the lower-temperature coolant may cool the battery 101 (or the PE 102). Alternatively or additionally, the temperature of coolant in any one of the coolant circuit portions may be increased. This too may be accomplished by using the valve 110. For example, if the valve 110 adopts a configuration where the first and second coolant circuit portions are connected, the coolant may be heated by the heat generated by the PE 102 (e.g. in the heat exchanger 14). When the heated coolant then flows proximate the battery 101 (e.g. in the chiller 105) the increased-temperature coolant may heat the battery 101. In this way, connecting the first and second coolant circuit portions 21, 22 without using the refrigeration circuit may effectively use the heat generated by the PE 102 to increase the temperature of the battery 101 (such as when the electric vehicle is being operated in cold weather). These are not the only possibilities. For example, it will be appreciated that the radiator 26 and any one of the other components mentioned above may be used to cool the PE 102 while the refrigeration circuit 10 is used to cool the battery 101etc. It will therefore be appreciated that the thermal system 100 can be operated according to different operating modes according to an objective to be achieved by the thermal system (e.g. cool the battery and / or heat the battery and / or cool the PE etc.). It will further be appreciated that each operating mode is characterised by, or defined by, an operating state of at least one component of the thermal system and a configuration of the valve 110. A controller 150 is provided for causing the thermal system 100 to operate in a particular mode. Causing the thermal system 100 to operate in a particular mode may comprise configuring, or changing the configuration of, the valve 110 to cause it to adopt a particular configuration. The valve 110 configuration may be one in which any two of the coolant circuit portions 21,22, 23, are connected and / or any remaining coolant circuit portions are disconnected. Causing the thermal system 100 to operate in a particular mode may further comprise changing the operational state of at least one thermal system component (e.g. the radiator 26, pump 24, 25, heat exchanger 14, chiller 105, expansion valves 16, 13, condensers 12, 15, compressor 11). The operational state of at least one component of the thermal system 100 may be an ON state or an OFF state and therefore causing the thermal system 100 to operate in a particular mode may further comprise actuating at least one thermal system component. It will be appreciated that the ON / OFF state of a component of a fluidic circuit (e.g. refrigerant circuit 10 and any one or more of the coolant fluid circuits 21, 22, 23), for example each component associated with the fluidic circuit, may be synonymous with the operating state of that (portion of the) fluidic circuit. For instance, the pump 24 being actuated (e.g. being in the ON state) may be synonymous with coolant circulating through the first coolant circuit portion and hence synonymous with an ON state of the first coolant circuit portion etc. These operations may be performed by the controller 150, so the controller is configured to cause the valve 110 to adopt a particular configuration and / or to actuate at least one component of the thermal system 100. Figure 2 shows example operating states of the thermal system 100. Figure 2a shows an operating mode of the thermal system 100 associated with using the radiator 26 to cool the PE102. In this operating mode the controller 150 has caused the valve 110 to adopt a configuration such that second and third coolant circuit portions are connected and the controller 150 has caused the pump 25 and the radiator 26 to be in the ON state (herein, causing a component to be in the ON state may comprise actuating the component, orcausing the component to be actuated). In this operating mode, coolant flows around the second and third coolant circuit portions clockwise, the radiator 26 cools the coolant and the lower-temperature coolant cools the PE 102. In this operating mode the configuration 110 of the valve is such that the first coolant circuit 21 is either continuous or discontinuous but the pump 24 of the first coolant circuit portion is OFF as coolant does not flow through the first coolant circuit portion 21 in this operating mode. Similarly, refrigerant does not flow through the refrigerant circuit 10 in this mode so, in this mode, the components of the refrigerant circuit 10 (the compressor 11 etc.) are OFF. Figure 2b shows an operating mode of the thermal system 100 associated with using the radiator 26 to cool the PE 104 while heating the battery 101. In this operating mode the controller 150 has caused the valve 110 to adopt a configuration where the second and third coolant circuit portions are connected and the controller 150 has caused the pump 25, the radiator 26, and the pump 24 to be in the ON state. In this operating mode the PE 102 is cooled by the radiator 26 as for Figure 2a but coolant flowing through the first coolant circuit portion heats the battery 101. Put another way, as coolant circulates it is warmed by the battery and this heat energy is not dissipated so the battery temperature can rise quicker (e.g. it is self-heating) in this operating mode. Figure 2c shows an operating mode of the thermal system 100 associated with using the heat generated by the PE 102 to heat the battery 101. In this operating mode the controller 150 has caused the valve 110 to adopt a configuration such that first and second coolant circuit portions are connected and the controller 150 has caused the pumps 24 and 25 to be in the ON state. In this operating mode, coolant flows around the first and second coolant circuit portions clockwise, the heat generated by the PE 102 increases the temperature of the coolant and the increased-temperature coolant heats the battery 101. Figure 2d shows an operating mode of the thermal system 100 associated with using the radiator 26 to cool the battery 101 and the PE 102. In this operating mode the controller 150 has caused the valve 110 to adopt a configuration such that first, second and third coolant circuit portions are connected and the controller 150 has caused the pumps 24, 25 and the radiator 26 to be in the ON state. In this operating mode, coolant flows around the first, second and third coolant circuit portions clockwise, the radiator 26 cools the coolant and the lower-temperature coolant cools the battery 101 and the PE 102. Figure 2e shows an operating mode of the thermal system 100 associated with using the refrigeration circuit 10 to cool the battery 101 while using the radiator 26 to cool the PE 102. In this operating mode the controller 150 has caused the valve 110 to adopt a configuration such that second and third coolant circuit portions are connected and the controller 150 has caused the pumps 24, 25 and the radiator 26 to be in the ON state, and has further caused all components of the refrigeration circuit 10 to be in the ON state. In this operating mode, refrigerant flows through the refrigerant circuit 10 and is cooled according to a vapour-compression cycle, the lower-temperature refrigerant lowers the temperature of the coolant in the first coolant circuit portion and therefore the battery 101 via (or using) the chiller 105, meanwhile coolant flows around the second and third coolant circuit portions clockwise and the radiator 26 cools the coolant and the lower-temperature coolant cools the PE 102 as for Figure 2a. Figure 2f shows an operating mode of the thermal system 100 associated with using the refrigeration circuit 10 to cool the battery 101 and the PE 102. In this operating mode the controller 150 has caused the pumps 24, 25 to be in the ON state, and has further caused all components of the refrigeration circuit 10 to be in the ON state. In this operating mode, refrigerant flows through the refrigerant circuit 10 and is cooled according to a vapour-compression cycle, the lower-temperature refrigerant lowers the temperature of the battery 101 via the chiller 105 and lowers the temperature of the PE 102 via the heat exchanger 14. The valve 110 may be referred to as a multi-modal valve having regard to the number of configurations that it can adopt. The valve 110 configuration in any operating mode may be such that any fluid circuit portion not in use is disconnected, or not continuous, such that fluid is prevented to flow therethrough (in addition to the thermal circuit components of that fluid circuit being OFF). The thermal circuit 100 is therefore configured to control or change the temperature of at least one component of an electric vehicle, being a battery 101 or any power electronic component 102. Figure 3 schematically indicates part of an algorithm for controlling the operation of the thermal system 100. Indicated at 30, a setpoint temperature is received, this may be considered a target temperature, and is a temperature of a component of the electric vehicle (e.g. a temperature of the battery and / or of a power electronics component) to be achieved by the thermal system 100, yset. The output of block 30 is a mode m in which the thermal system can operate so that the component of the electric vehicle achieves the setpoint, or target, temperature. Block 300 schematically indicates the thermal system 300 (e.g. 100 as above) in conjunction with the battery 301 (e.g. 101 as above) and PE 302 (e.g. 302 as above), u, another output of block 30, indicates the input operating parameters according to which each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode m are to operate. By way of example, if mode m is as per Figure 2d above, then u may be vector whose entries are the speed of pump 24, the speed of pump 25, and the current through the compressor 11 (or parameters of the PWM duty cycle) to cause it to operate within a certain mass flow rate range (or the vector may comprise the target mass flow rate itself). Block 300 indicates each of the battery 301, PE 302, and each thermal circuit (“TC”) 303 that is active or ON in the operate mode m, operating according to the selected mode m. This means that the components of the thermal system 300, active in the operating mode m, are operating according to their parameter values as per the vector u. Of course, if for a particular operating mode only one thermal system component is active then u would be a scalar quantity. The output y indicates the temperature that is actually achieved by the component of the electric vehicle, e.g. as determined by a sensor. Block 305 denotes part of the algorithm that obtains the output y, as well as the inputs t / and mode m and, based on these quantities, block 305 determines a state vector x which the algorithm can use to determine the next operating mode depending on future conditions (e.g. different ambient conditions or a new setpoint temperature etc.) or which the algorithm can use as an input for future control over the thermal system 100 so that the temperature of the component continues to be maintained to within a predetermined setpoint of the target yset- It will be appreciated that any or all of the blocks described with reference to Figure 3, and their functionalities, may be implemented by any combination of hardware and / or software and may be performed, or executed, by (or under the control of) a controller for the thermal system such as the controller 150. Figure 4 illustrates the flowchart of a process 400. The process 400 may be a process for controlling the operation of a thermal system 100 so that a component of an electric vehicle can achieve a target, or setpoint, temperature. The process 400 may be implemented as a software algorithm to be executed by a controller 150 for the thermal system 100. The schematic control algorithm of Figure 3 (and in Figures 5 and 6 to follow) may be implemented as part of the process 400. At 402 the process comprises obtaining data indicating the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle. As indicated by 401 the process may comprise receiving other data, such as ambient temperature data. The electric component of the electric vehicle may be a battery or an electronic component (e.g. one of the power electronic components) as described above. At 404 the process comprises determining whether the temperature of the or each component of the electric vehicle is greater than, or less than, a respective setpoint temperature. This determines whether the battery requires heating or cooling and / or whether the PE comprises cooling. Block 402 may therefore comprise determining the temperature of at least one component of the electric vehicle and 404 may comprise comparing each temperature to a respective setpoint. As stated above, some conditions may require heating the battery while cooling the PE component (or components) etc. At 406 the process comprises determining a set of operating modes (or candidate modes) in which the thermal system could be configured for the thermal system to change the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle so that it approaches the setpoint temperature. For instance, if, at 402 and 404, it is determined that the battery requires cooling, the candidate modes may comprise a first mode in which the battery is cooled using the radiator and a second mode in which the battery is cooled using the refrigeration circuit. Or it may be determined that the battery and PE require cooling in which case a first candidate operating mode may be a mode in which the battery is cooled using the refrigerant circuit while the PE is cooled using the radiator, and a second candidate operating mode may be a mode in which the PE and battery are cooled using the coolant circuit, hence using just the radiator. The operating modes may be as described with reference to Figures 1 and Figures 2a-f but this is not an exhaustive list of examples. Each operating mode corresponds to an operating state of at least one component of the thermal system and to a configuration of the multimodal valve. The candidate operating modes may also be based on the other data401 (e.g. ambient temperature). At 408 the process comprises determining a measure of impact for each operating mode. As indicated by the looping arrow to the right this is done for each operating mode determined at 406, e.g. each candidate mode according to which the thermal system could operate to change the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle so that it approaches the setpoint. For each mode, the measure of impact is associated with operating the thermal system to change the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle according to that operating mode. It may be a measure of proximity to the target temperature that is achievable or a measure or energy consumed to reach the target temperature, as will be explained below. At 410 the operating mode having the lowest measure of impact, determined at 418 is selected so that, at 412, the thermal system is controlled to be configured in the operating mode associated with the lowest measure of impact. As indicated at 428 and 430, respectively, this comprises controlling, 428, the configuration of the valve 110 and controlling, 430, the operating state of at least one component of the thermal system (e.g. the pump 24, 25, the radiator 26, the compressor 11), e.g. activating and controlling all components of the thermal system that are active in the selected operating mode. As indicated by 418 the measure of impact may be a loss function and may comprise a measured amount of energy predicted to be used by the thermal system operating in the operating mode. The loss function, for each operating mode, may be based on a proximity of a predicted operating parameter of each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode to a respective setpoint parameter (indicated by 416). As indicated by 420 the measure of impact may be a measure of the power consumed, 424, and / or a measure of an amount of energy predicted to be used by the thermal system operating in the operating mode, 426. As indicated by 414 and 416 to determine the measure of impact of each operating mode (each candidate mode determined at 406), in one example the process comprises first, at 414, obtaining respective input parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode is to operate. These may comprise any suitable parameter values relating to the control of the component (e.g. current through a pump, pump speed, current through a compressor, a PWM duty cycle, a mass flow rate, etc.) At 416, the process comprises determining respective predicted operating parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system is determined to operate at a future time, based on the component of the thermal system operating according to the input parameter at an initial time. For example, if the parameter at 414 is for the compressor to operate at an initial time according to a certain mass flow rate, at 416 it is determined at what mass flow rate the compressor is operating with at a future time. Alternatively, 414 may determine a current supplied to the compressor at an initial time and at 416 it may be determined at what mass flow rate the compressor is operating with at a future time. By way of example, at blocks 402 and 404 it may be determined that the battery and power electronics of the electric vehicle require cooling (e.g. the electric vehicle has been running for a long period of time and / or the weather is hot). Block 406 may determine that, to achieve this “goal” two candidate modes are possible - a first mode where the battery and PE are cooled using the radiator, and a second mode where the battery and PE are cooled using the refrigerant circuit (in combination with the fluidic circuits having portions proximate the battery and the PE). At 408 a measure of impact is determined for each mode. This will be described in more detail later but, in this example, 414 may comprise determining operating parameter input values for the pumps 24,25 and the radiator 26 to operate in the first operating mode. For instance, the input parameter at 414 may comprise respective current values according to which the pumps 24, 25 may be controlled. Alternatively, or additionally the input parameter at 414 may comprise respective flow speeds according to which the pumps 24, 25 are to operate. The input values at 414 for the second operating mode may be the area of the expansion valve(s), the compressor speed (or a current value or PWM duty cycle value) according to which the compressor is to operate etc. The values at 414 are initial parameter values according to which the components of a given mode, that are active in that operating mode, are to operate at an initial time. They may be referred to as at least one first value, or a first set of values. In contrast, the values at 416 are predicted output values in the sense that it is determined, at a future time, what value the components of the thermal system active in each mode are operating at based on these components operating according to the input values at the initial time. So, for instance, if, at 414 pump 24 is to operate at an initial pump speed (or is to be driven at an initial current value in order to operate at a target pump speed), at 416 it is determined at what pump speed the pump 24 is actually operating at a future time. By way of another example, the input value may be an RPM according to which a compressor motor is to rotate to achieve a target flow speed (say 5 RPM), the operating parameter value at 416 may be the actual RPM of the compressor at a future time (say, 5.7 RPM). The operating parameter value, at 416, at the future time may be compared to a setpoint or to the initial value at 414, depending on the example, and the measure of impact may be based on this comparison. For example, the initial value at 414 may be a current to drive the expansion valve but the predicted value at 416 may be the expansion valve area achieved, and this may be compared to a target expansion valve area, the measure of impact being based on this comparison). The parameters at 414 and 416 may therefore be a measure of the same parameter value (e.g. an initial time current or RPM and a future time current or RPM) or may be different (e.g. an initial time current and a future time RPM, or an initial velocity and a future mass flow rate). The predicted output value, or values, at 416 may be referred to as at least one second value or a second set of values. In one example, 416 comprises determining a plurality of operating parameter values, as indicated by the looping arrow. The operating parameter values may be determined at regular time intervals, for example at regular time instants over a predetermined time period. So, block 416 may comprise determining respective predicted operating parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system is determined to operate at predetermined time instants over a predetermined time period based on the component of the thermal system operating according to the input parameter, obtained at block 414, at the initial time. In one example the time instants are every second. In one example the predetermined time period is twenty seconds. The time instants may be referred to as sampling time and the time period may be referred to as a horizon, or as a prediction time. Therefore, in one example, based off an initial operating value (say a current value for driving a compressor motor), an operating parameter value is determined (say the RPM of the compressor motor rotor) every second for twenty seconds. A vector is thus determined for each component. For example, the RPM vector for the compressor may be (4, 5.7, 6.16, 5.1, 4.5, ...), each subsequent vector entry being the predicted value at the next time instant). It will be appreciated that some operating modes will have multiple active thermal system components (e.g. an operating mode that uses the refrigerant cycle comprises operating parameter values for the expansion valves, chiller, compressor, etc.) and therefore 414 may comprise a vector, where each entry is an initial parameter value of a component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode. This vector may be expressed as follows: u = (Ui, u2, ..., uM) where, for example, ui is a current value to drive the compressor and U2 is a current value to drive the expansion valve (although in some examples ui could be the target compressor speed and U2 could be the target expansion valve area) etc. The subscripts denote components of the thermal system that are active in the mode so 1 denotes the compressor, 2 denotes an expansion value etc. and there are M components in this example. The vector of output values may comprise the values for each component for each time instant over the predetermined period. This vector may be expressed as follows: V = (Vu, V1,2.....V1.20, V2.1, V2,2, ■■■, V2.20 ■ ■ ■ Vm,1, Vm,2, Vm,2o) where the Vij entry denotes the operating parameter value for the ith component at the jth time instant. A setpoint vector may be determined whose entries contain setpoint parameter values for each component. For example, if only two components were active in the operating mode the setpoint vector would comprise two entries. If the performance of the thermal system were determined at, say, one second time instants over a predetermined time period of twenty seconds then this vector would comprise forty entries, the first twenty being the setpoint value for the first component and the next twenty would be the setpoint value for the second component. This vector is therefore a constant vector. Ysetpoint — (Vc, ... Vc, Vexp, ■■■, Vexp) The creation of a setpoint vector (which, it will be appreciated, may be a scalar in the example of one component whose operation is determined at one future time) allows a comparison to be made as to the closeness of the operation of the thermal system to the setpoints. In one example, the vector v as above may be compared to the vector Ysetpoint. In this example, the predicted parameter values in the vector v may correspond to the setpoint values (e.g. the predicted parameter value is an RPM, a current, a flow speed, and the setpoint values are a target RPM, a current, a flow speed etc.). This allows a “proximity vector” P to be defined by a vector Y (which = v in this example) minus the setpoint vector: p = Y — Ysetpoint- This vector is therefore a measure of how close the components of the thermal system are able to perform relative to target values. Although Y = v in the above example, in other examples Y may be different and may be determined based on the predicted output values, v. For instance, the vector Y may comprise the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle whose temperature is obtained at 402 and whose temperature is to be changed by the thermal system so that it approaches the setpoint. In this example, u may comprise input values for the compressor, the expansion value, and other components of the refrigeration circuit, and v may comprise the compressor speed, expansion valve area, etc. that are achieved at each second over the 20 second time period. The vector Y, determined from the values in the vector v, may comprise the temperature of the battery and / or the at least one power electronic component to be heated and / or cooled at each second over the 20 second time period. If the operating modes were to achieve cooling of the battery and cooling of a plurality of power electronics then the vector Y in this example may be as follows: Y = (Tbattery,1, • • • , Tbattery,20, TpE1,1, ...,TpE1,20, -.-,TpEK,1, • • • , TpEK,2o) where there are K power electronic components in this example. Here, Tbatteryj and TpEij represent the determined temperature of the battery or the ith power electronic component at the time instant j. The setpoint vector YsetPoint in this example is: Ysetpoint — (Tbattery, • ••, Tbattery, TpE1, •••, TpE1, ... TpEK, ■ Tpek) where Tbattery is the battery setpoint temperature and Tpej is the setpoint temperature for the jth power electronic component. In other words, the first twenty entries of YsetPoint in this example are the battery setpoint temperature, the next twenty entries are the setpoint temperature of the first power electronic component and so on. The vector Y may be generally termed a total vector, a final vector, or a vector of a predicted operating condition or predicted operating conditions. However the vector Y is calculated (e.g. if it equal to v or is equal to a temperature of the electric vehicle component or indeed when it is some other quantity), in some examples the proximity vector P may be determined by subtracting the setpoint vector from the total vector Y, multiplied by a weight vector W, as follows: P = Y*W — Y setpoint This is advantageous as the multiplication of the weight vector can mitigate any uncertainty or overshot in the predicted output values v (of which Y may be equal to or otherwise based on) or in the predicted temperature values for the component of the electric vehicle. The process may decrease in accuracy for later time instants due to a cumulative effect so, in some examples, the weights in the weight vector W are higher for values in the proximity vector at earlier time instants than for later time instants. The weights may decrease with successive time instants. The first entry in the weight vector may be 1 and the last entry in the weight vector may be 0. The weights may all be between 1 and 0. Finally, in some examples, a scalar quantity may be determined from the proximity vector P = Y - Ysetpoint or P = Y*W - Ysetpoint and this scalar quantity, however it is determined, may be the measure of impact of the operating mode. This scalar may be the “vector norm” or may be calculated some other way. The measure of impact may be equal to this scalar quantity. Therefore, the measure of impact may be as follows: M= || Y-Ysetpoint || or M = || Y*W — Ysetpoint || depending on the example. In another example the measure of impact may be further based on a predicted energy consumed by the thermal system, e.g. the cumulative energy expended by the thermal system operating according to the operating mode at the end of the predetermined time period. Denoting this quantity by E, the measure of impact in this example may be expressed as follows: M — || Y*W — Ysetpoint || + E E being the total, cumulative energy as above. Alternatively, E may be a vector of energies at different time instants in which case the energy quantity E in the above example may be calculated as the norm of the energy vector, || E ||. As indicated by the looping arrow to the right of Figure 4, block 408 is repeated for each candidate operating mode. Thereby, a plurality of scalar quantities may be obtained and the operating mode that is selected at 410 may be the operating mode whose corresponding measure of impact scalar is the lowest. If the measure of impact is as above, it will be appreciated that an operating mode for which the operating parameter values are closest to their setpoints and for which the expended energy is the lowest, will correspond to the lowest measure of impact M. To implement the selected operating mode, the components of the thermal system that are to be active in the selected operating mode are caused to be driven according to their input parameter values u (e.g. in the u vector), determined at 414. So, for instance, continuing with the cooling the battery and PE component(s) example above, the compressor, expansion valve, chiller etc. would be caused to be driven according to their input values u to implement the chosen operating mode at block 412. In this way, the left-hand side of the measure of impact block 408 has the ability to “look ahead” for how the thermal system could operate according to a number of modes, all of which will achieve the battery and / or PE component approaching its setpoint temperature, and can then automatically select the mode for which the measure of impact is the lowest. Figure 5 schematically indicates part of an algorithm for controlling the operation of the thermal system 100 (500 in Figure 5) according to the process described above, where the measure of impact is calculated according to the left-hand side of 408. As for Figure 3, it will be appreciated that any or all of the blocks described with reference to Figure 5, and their functionalities, may be implemented by any combination of hardware and / or software and may be performed, or executed, by (or under the control of) a controller for the thermal system such as the controller 150. Block 50 represents the blocks 401-406 of the process 400. ec denotes the other conditions obtained at 401, y denoting the current temperature of the component of the electric vehicle (e.g. the battery and / or one or more electronic components, PEs), and ys denotes the setpoint temperature(s) of the component of the electric vehicle. Block 50 outputs a set of candidate modes denoted by mc. The next part of the figure schematically indicates the algorithm determining the measure of impact for each mode as follows, j candidate modes are determined in this example. For the jth mode block 502-j determines the or each input parameter value u. This is denoted by ui for the first mode, and each u will comprise values ui, U2, ... depending on how many components are active in that mode. For each mode the input parameter values are based on the or each setpoint temperature ys of the component of the electric vehicle to be achieved, a set of constraints Cj for each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode, and the heat being generated by the battery and / or the at least one electronic component, denoted by d. The output of block 502-j is Uj, being the or each input parameter value for each component of the thermal system that is active in the jth operating mode. Vj, or the operating parameter value for each component of the thermal system active in the operating mode, is also determined either at a future time or at each future time in examples using a sampling time over a horizon. The loss function (e.g. the measure of impact M) is determined for the jth mode at 504-j and at 506 the operating mode m associated with the minimum loss function is selected. Block 500 denotes the thermal system operating according to the selected mode. Block 508 denotes inputting the input parameter values ui, U2, ... etc., being the input values for each component of the thermal system that is active in the selected mode m. Block 505 is similar to block 305 of Figure 3. Indeed this part of Figure 5 should be considered synonymous with Figure 3, and so block 305 denotes determining the state vector x for control of the thermal system based on the temperature y is that is achieved by the thermal system operating in the selected operating mode. As indicated by the looping arrow at the top of the figure, the temperature y that is achieved is fed back to block 50 and the process may start again (this part of the diagram being synonymous with the looping arrow from block 412 to block 402 in Figure 4). Referring back to Figure 4, the measure of impact may, alternatively or additionally, be calculated another way. Having obtained, at block 414 described above, an input parameter value for which each component of the thermal system that is active in the candidate mode is to operate, the process comprises at 424, determining, for each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode, a measure of the power used by the component to operate according to the input parameter value. In one example, the measure of impact is equal to the total power used by the thermal system (e.g. all of the components of the thermal system that are active) operating in the operating mode. In another example, the process comprises, at 426, the total energy used by each component to operate according to the input parameter value. In one example, the measure of impact is equal to the total energy used (or consumed) by the thermal system (e.g. all of the components of the thermal system that are active) operating in the operating mode. By determining the power and / or energy in these examples, it is meant determined the power and / or energy consumed for the target setpoint to be achieved in each mode. Blocks 424 and / or 426 may additionally be performed for the operating mode in which the thermal system is currently operating. In this case the process comprises, e.g. at block 424 and / or 426 determining a measure of the power and / or energy consumed by the thermal system operating in its current operating mode. The mode selected at 410 may be the mode in which the thermal system is currently operating (e.g. no other mode is associated with a lower power or energy), in which case controlling the thermal system to be configured in the operating mode associated with the lowest consumed energy may comprise causing the thermal system to continue to operate in its current operating mode. Of course, block 412 may comprise causing the thermal system to switch to another operating mode associated with the lowest consumed power and / or energy if that is the case. In examples where the total energy is calculated (block 426) this may be done by integrating the power, for each component, and the results may be summed to determine the total energy. Alternatively, the determined power consumption values may be summed and the resulting sum may be integrated to determine the total energy. Implementing the chosen mode, at 412, may comprise causing the valve to adopt the necessary configuration for the chosen mode and causing each component of the thermal system active in the chosen mode to operate according to the input parameters u at a future time, e.g. at the next time instant, or epoch. Figure 6 schematically indicates part of an algorithm for controlling the operation of the thermal system 100 (600 in Figure 6) according to the process described above, where the measure of impact is calculated according to the right-hand side of 408. As for Figures 3 and 4, it will be appreciated that any or all of the blocks described with reference to Figure 6, and their functionalities, may be implemented by any combination of hardware and / or software and may be performed, or executed, by (or under the control of) a controller for the thermal system such as the controller 150. As for Figure 5, block 60 represents the blocks 401-406 of the process 400. ec denotes the other conditions obtained at 401, y denoting the current temperature of the component of the electric vehicle (e.g. the battery and / or one or more electronic components, PEs), and ys denotes the setpoint temperature(s) of the or each component of the electric vehicle. Block 60 outputs a set of candidate modes denoted by mc. The next part of the figure schematically indicates the algorithm determining the measure of impact for each mode as follows. j candidate modes are determined in this example. For the jth mode block 602-j determines the or each input parameter value u (block 414 of the process 400) based on the heat being generated by the battery and / or the at least one electronic component, denoted by d. The output of block 602-j is the or each input parameter value for each component of the thermal system that is active in the jth operating mode. Then, at 603-j the power used by each component of the thermal system that is active in the jth operating mode such that the electric vehicle component approaches the setpoint temperature (e.g. reaches the setpoint temperature) is determined based on operating constraints for each component, again denoted by Cj. At 604-j the energy expenditure used by each component of the thermal system active in the jth operating mode such that the electric vehicle component approaches the setpoint temperature (e.g. reaches the setpoint temperature) is determined (for example by integrating the power determined at 603-j) and at 606 the operating mode m associated with the minimum power and / or energy is selected. Block 601-j determines a state vector Xsj for the candidate mode. Each candidate mode’s operation to heat or cool the electric vehicle component (battery and / or PE(s)) is effectively determined in parallel so block 601-j may be regarded as, analogous to block 305 to Figure 3, providing the necessary input, based on the output y that is achieved, for the thermal system to determine the power and / or energy used for each mode. As for Figure 5, block 600 denotes the thermal system operating according to the selected mode. Block 608 denotes inputting the input parameter values ui, U2, ... etc. for the selected mode, being the input parameter values for each component of the thermal system that is active in the selected mode m. Block 605 is analogous to block 505 of Figure 5 and, as for Figure 3, this part of Figure 6 should be considered synonymous with Figure 3, and so block 605 denotes determining the state vector x for control of the thermal system based on the temperature y and input vector u is that is achieved by the thermal system operating in the selected operating mode. As indicated by the looping arrow at the top of the figure, the temperature y that is achieved is fed back to block 60 and the process starts again (this part of the diagram being synonymous with the looping arrow from block 412 to block 402 in Figure 4). In this way, the right-hand side of the measure of impact block 408 has the ability to determine, in real-time or near-real-time, for a plurality of operating modes including the current mode, the power and / or energy required to operate the thermal system to achieve the, or to reach close to, the setpoint temperature of the electric vehicle component, and the process can then automatically select the mode for which some measure of impact is the lowest. In this way, the performance of the thermal system in each mode may be regarded as a simulated system (in software code) to determine whether a different operating mode could, at the current time, have a lower power or energy requirement to cool and / or heat the electric vehicle components. The measure of impact may also be referred to as a metric. This real-time comparison (hereafter referred to as architecture 2) provides an alternative to the look-ahead method as described above relating to the loss function (hereafter referred to as architecture 1). However the two process may be performed simultaneously or part of the same control algorithm. For instance, an electric vehicle may determine that a new operating mode is required (e.g. the ambient temperature conditions or the temperature of the battery or of a power electronic component have changed). Architecture 1 may be used to determine an operating mode in which the thermal system is to operate at a future time (close to the current time). Once the thermal system of the electric vehicle is caused to operate according to that selected operating mode, Architecture 2 may be employed. Alternatively, an electric vehicle may determine that a new operating mode and select an operating mode according to Architecture 1 or Architecture 2 only. Alternatively, an electric vehicle may determine that a new operating mode is required and select an operating mode according to Architecture 2. Then, at a later time, Architecture 1 may be used to determine if that operating mode should change. It will be appreciated that the way in which these two Architectures may be used separately or together depends on the example. Architecture A may be considered an example where the measure of impact is a loss or cost function and Architecture B may be considered an example where the measure of impact is an energy consumption, but indeed the measure of impact could be something else (Architectures A and B should not be considered limiting), and regardless of which Architecture is used in a practical implementation of the method, it will be appreciated that the present disclosure provides control of an electrical vehicle’s thermal system in an energy-optimal way. “Obtaining” data as used herein may comprise receiving data (e.g. from a sensor), measuring data (e.g. by a sensor), determining or calculating or estimating data (e.g. from data received from a sensor), or retrieving data (e.g. from a memory storing data), depending on the example. The processing circuitry may be implemented according to any suitable hardware and / or software combination sufficient to cause the processes described herein to be executed. For instance the processing circuitry may be implemented on, or on any suitable combination of, a digital signal processor, field programmable gate array, and / or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The processing circuitry may be configured to execute instructions, such as processor control code, that, cause a controller to operate according to the processes described herein. Such instructions may be stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium. Such instructions may be stored in a memory. Such instructions may be stored on any suitable memory medium, e.g. on a volatile or non-volatile medium, programmed memory (e.g. read-only memory such as firmware), or a data carrier. The processing circuitry may comprise such a memory storing the instructions. In other words, a non-transitory machine-readable medium may store instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processes herein to be performed. The instructions may comprise code or microcode. The instructions, when executed, may be in any suitable programming language to allow the controller to be dynamically configured and / or reconfigured. The controller and / or processing circuitry may equally comprise, and may therefore be referred to as, a processor, microcontroller or microprocessor. The person skilled in the art realizes that the present disclosure by no means is limited to what is explicitly described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are 5 possible within the scope of the appended claims. Additionally, variations can be understood and effected by the skilled person in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

Claims

1. Processing circuitry for controlling a thermal system, the thermal system configured to change a temperature of a component of an electric vehicle, the processing circuitry being5 configured to:obtain data indicating the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle;determine whether the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle is greater than, or less than, a setpoint temperature;determine a set of operating modes in which the thermal system could be configured10 for the thermal system to change the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle so that it approaches the setpoint temperature;determine, for each operating mode, a measure of impact associated with operating the thermal system to change the temperature of the component of the electric vehicle according to the operating mode; and15 control the thermal system to be configured in the operating mode associated withthe lowest measure of impact.LDCM 2. Processing circuitry according to claim 1, wherein the thermal system comprises aT— plurality of fluidic circuits each comprising at least one component of the thermal system,20 wherein a subset of fluidic circuits are connectable via a multimodal valve having a number T— of configurations, fluid flow through the subset of fluidic circuits being controlled by the CO configuration of the multimodal valve, wherein each operating mode corresponds to anoperating state of at least one component of the thermal system and to a configuration of the multimodal valve, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to control the thermal25 system to be configured in the operating mode associated with the lowest measure of impact by controlling the operating state of at least one component of the thermal system and by controlling the configuration of the multimodal valve.

3. Processing circuitry according to any preceding claim wherein, to control the thermal30 system to be configured in an operating mode, the processing circuitry is configured to cause at least one component of the thermal system to be active.

4. Processing circuitry according claim 2 or 3 wherein the plurality of fluidic circuits include:35 a refrigerant circuit configured to operate according to a vapour-compression cycle;anda coolant circuit, a first portion of which is positioned proximate the component of the electric vehicle to facilitate heat transfer between the component of the electric vehicle and coolant in the coolant circuit, and a second portion of which is positioned proximate to a portion of the refrigerant circuit to facilitate heat transfer between refrigerant in the refrigerant5 circuit and coolant in the coolant circuit,wherein each operating mode corresponds to an operational state of each one of the fluidic circuits.

5. Processing circuitry according to claim 4, wherein the component of the electric10 vehicle comprises a battery of the electric vehicle and an electronic component of the electric vehicle, wherein the thermal system is configured to change the temperature of the battery and configured to cool the electronic component, and wherein the coolant circuit comprises at least:a first coolant circuit portion configured to direct coolant proximate the battery to15 facilitate heat transfer between the battery and coolant in the first coolant circuit portion;a second coolant circuit portion configured to direct coolant proximate the electronic LO component of the vehicle to facilitate heat transfer between the electronic component and CM coolant in the second coolant circuit portion; and T- a third coolant circuit portion configured to direct coolant proximate a radiator to20 facilitate heat transfer between the radiator and coolant in the third coolant circuit portion;1— wherein each of the first, second, and third coolant circuit portions are connected to the CO multi-modal valve, andwherein each configuration of the multi-modal valve corresponds to at least two of the first, second, and third coolant circuit portions being disconnected or connected in series25 and wherein, to control the thermal system to be configured in an operating mode, the processing circuitry is configured to cause the multi-modal valve to adopt a configuration in which at least two of the first, second, and third coolant circuit portions are disconnected or connected in series.30 6. Processing circuitry according to any preceding claim, wherein the measure ofimpact is a loss function.

7. Processing circuitry according to claim 6 wherein the loss function, for each operatingmode, is based on a proximity of a predicted operating parameter of each component of the 35 thermal system that is active in the operating mode to a respective setpoint parameter.

8. Processing circuitry according to claim 7, wherein, to determine the loss function for each operating mode, the processing circuitry is configured to:obtain respective input parameter values according to which each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode is to operate;5 determine respective predicted operating parameter values according to which eachcomponent of the thermal system is determined to operate at a future time, based on the component of the thermal system operating according to the input parameter at an initial time; andcompare the predicted operating parameter values to the respective setpoint10 parameters.

9. Processing circuitry according to claim 6, the processing circuitry being configured to, for each operating mode:obtain respective input parameter values according to which each component of the15 thermal system that is active in the operating mode is to operate;determine respective predicted operating parameter values according to which each LO component of the thermal system is determined to operate at predetermined time instantsCM over a predetermined time period based on the component of the thermal system operatingT— according to the input parameter at the initial time; and20 determine a proximity vector defined as the difference between a first vector, the first1— vector comprising the respective predicted operating parameter values, or a vector CO comprising at least one quantity based on the predicted operating parameter values, at each time instant for each component of the thermal system, and a setpoint vector, the setpoint vector comprising respective setpoint values for a component of the thermal system that is25 active in the operating mode or for the component of the electric vehicle.

10. Processing circuitry according to claim 9, the processing circuitry being configured to: determine a scalar quantity from the proximity vector, the loss function comprising the scalar quantity.3011. Processing circuitry according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the proximity vector is determined by subtracting the setpoint vector from the product of the first vector and a weight vector, wherein the weights in the weight vector are higher for values at earlier time instants than for later time instants or wherein the weights in the weight vector decrease with 35 successive time instants.31 01 2512. Processing circuitry according to any preceding claim wherein the measure of impact is based on a measure of the energy consumed by operating the thermal system according to each mode.5 13. Processing circuitry according to claim 12 wherein, to determine the energyconsumed, the processing circuitry is configured to, for each operating mode:obtain, for each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating mode, an input parameter value according to which the component is to operate;determine, for each component of the thermal system that is active in the operating10 mode, a measure of the power used by the component to operate according to the input parameter value; anddetermine, based on the power, the total energy consumed by the thermal system in the operating mode.15 14. Processing circuitry according to claim 12 or 13, the processing circuitry configuredto:determine a measure of energy consumed by the thermal system operating in its current operating mode; and, to control the thermal system to be configured in the operating mode associated with the lowest consumed energy, the processing circuit is configured to:20 cause the thermal system to continue to operate in its current operating mode if thecurrent operating mode is associated with the lowest consumed energy; orcause the thermal system to switch to another operating mode associated with the lowest consumed energy.25 15. Processing circuitry according to any preceding claim, the processing circuitry beingconfigured to:obtain data indicating an amount of heat generated by the component of the electric vehicle, the measure of impact being based on the measure of heat generated.30 16. Processing circuitry according to any preceding claim wherein the determined set ofoperating modes are based on the ambient temperature of the thermal system.

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