Method and apparatus for controlling a peak electric current used by a component of a vehicle

Abstract

A method is provided for controlling a maximum value of electrical power used by a component 104, 204 of a vehicle 200. A signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution un

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a peak electric current used by a component of a vehicle. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for control of a maximum, or peak, electrical current that can be used by a component of a vehicle based on a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) that distributes electrical power to the component. Aspects of the invention relate to a control system, to a vehicle, to a method, and to a computer program product. BACKGROUND It is known to provide a power distribution unit (PDU) in vehicles to distribute electrical power to one or more components of the vehicle. Such PDUs may contain one or more subcomponents that are temperature sensitive, such as fuses or power transistors, in particular resettable fuses have become more common and may trip, or disconnect a circuit coupled through the fuse, when their temperature exceeds a certain threshold, resulting in a component coupled to the PDU losing electrical power. It is an aim of the present invention to address one or more of the disadvantages associated with the prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Aspects and embodiments of the invention provide a control system, a vehicle, a method, and a computer readable medium as claimed in the appended claims. Embodiments of the invention provide a method for controlling a maximum, or peak, electrical current that can be used by a component of a vehicle based on a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) that distributes electrical power to the component. According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of controlling a maximum value of electrical power used by a component of a vehicle, the method comprising obtaining a signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) ofthe vehicle, the PDU configured to distribute electrical power to the component ofthe vehicle, determining, based on the obtained signal, a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component, and providing, to the component, an indication ofthe value of the peak electric current to be used by the component. Advantageously, the described method monitors the temperature of a power distribution unit ofthe vehicle and moderates a peak electric current value to be used by the component based on the monitored temperature. As the heat generated in the power distribution unit is strongly dependent on the current supplied, reducing the peak current may avoid over heating ofthe PDU that might lead to a total loss of power supplied by the PDU to the component. According to embodiments, the PDU comprises one or more fuses, and the temperature associated with the PDU is indicative of a temperature of the one or more fuses. Advantageously, the method monitors a temperature associated with the one or more fuses in the PDU which may be temperature sensitive. For example, resettable fuses have been implemented to replace traditional single use fuses, however, such resettable fuses may be particularly sensitive to high temperatures and may “trip” when a threshold temperature is reached, thereby stopping the supply of power to components of the vehicle. By providing a peak current limit to the component, the possibility of the threshold temperature being reached may be reduced, leading to greater reliability. According to embodiments, the temperature is associated with one of the one or more fuses electrically coupled to the component. In particular, the temperature of a fuse directly supplying power to the component may be particularly sensitive to the current supplied to the component. Optionally, the method comprises predicting a future temperature associated with the PDU based on the obtained signal, wherein the determining the value of the peak electric current is based on the predicted future temperature. Advantageously, the temperature measurements associated with the PDU may be used to predict increases in temperature prior to a threshold temperature being reached. The PDU may be considered to have a “thermal inertia” providing time for action to be taken to reduce the heat generated in the PDU due to supply of current to the component by controlling the peak electric current value based on the predicted temperature of the PDU at a predetermined period of time in the future. According to embodiments, predicting the future temperature comprises obtaining a plurality of signals representative of the temperature associated with the PDU over a predetermined period of time, determining a rate of change of the temperature associated with the PDU based on the plurality of signals, and predicting the future temperature based on the determined rate of change. Advantageously, it has been found that a simple linear prediction based on a rate of change of temperature over a predetermined period of time can provide good performance and predictive ability to initiate action to avoid the temperature of the PDU exceeding a threshold temperature that might lead to total loss of power to the component. According to embodiments, determining the value of the peak electric current comprises comparing the predicted future temperature with a threshold temperature value, and in response to the predicted future temperature being greater than the threshold temperature value reducing the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component. The predicted temperature may be compared against a threshold temperature. Advantageously, if the predicted temperature is determined to exceed the threshold action is then taken to reduce the peak electric current value to thereby reduce the amount of heat generated in the PDU to mitigate the risk of the actual temperature of the PDU exceeding the threshold. According to embodiments, the indication of the value of the peak electric current comprises a reduction factor indicating a current value relative to a normal peak operating current associated with the component. Advantageously, the peak electric current value may be provided as a reduction factor corresponding to a ratio between the determined peak electric current value and a normal rated peak electric current for the component. This provides a simple way to indicate a proportional reduction in the peak electric current value, facilitating graceful degradation of the component operation. Optionally, the method further comprises, in response to the value of the peak electric current being less than a normal peak operating current associated with the component, providing an indication to an operator of the vehicle of reduced operating capability associated with the component. Advantageously, when the peak electric current to be used by the component is reduced from a normal rated peak current, an indication of reduced operative status can be provided to the driver such that the driver is aware of the status of the vehicle. Optionally, the method further comprises obtaining a value indicating a minimum current required by the component, and wherein determining the value of peak electrical current to be used by the component is further based on the value indicating the minimum current required. The component may require a minimum current to operate at all, advantageously, this minimum value may be taken into account when determining the peak electrical current to be used by the component to allow a decision to be made to maintain at least the minimum functionality of the component. According to embodiments, the component comprises one of: an electric power steering system of the vehicle; a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system; or an electrically assisted brake system. The method is applicable to any large user of electrical power on a vehicle such as HVAC and electrically assisted braking. The method may be particularly relevant to electric power steering systems due to potentially large peak currents involved (e.g. 75A or more). According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a control system for controlling a maximum value of electrical power used by a component of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to obtain a signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) of the vehicle, the PDU configured to distribute electrical powerto the component of the vehicle determine, based on the obtained signal, a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component, and provide, to the component, an indication of the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component. Advantageously, the described control system is operable to monitor the temperature of a power distribution unit of the vehicle and moderate a peak electric current value to be used by the component based on the monitored temperature. As the heat generated in the power distribution unit is strongly dependent on the current supplied, reducing the peak current may avoid over heating of the PDU that might lead to a total loss of power supplied by the PDU to the component. According to an embodiment, the control system comprises one or more controllers collectively comprising at least one electronic processor having an electrical input for receiving an input signal; and at least one memory device electrically coupled to the at least one electronic processor and having instructions stored therein; and wherein the at least one electronic processor is configured to access the at least one memory device and execute the instructions thereon so as to: obtain a signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) of the vehicle, the PDU configured to distribute electrical power to the component of the vehicle; determine, based on the obtained signal, a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component; and provide, to the component, an indication of the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component. According to embodiments, the temperature associated with the PDU is indicative of a temperature of one or more fuses of the PDU, the one or more fuses electrically coupled to the component. Advantageously, the control system may be configured to monitor a temperature associated with the one or more fuses in the PDU which may be temperature sensitive. For example, resettable fuses have been implemented to replace traditional single use fuses, however, such resettable fuses may be particularly sensitive to high temperatures and may “trip” when a threshold temperature is reached, thereby stopping the supply of power to components of the vehicle. By providing a peak current limit to the component, the possibility of the threshold temperature being reached may be reduced, leading to greater reliability. Optionally, the one or more processors further configured to predict a future temperature associated with the PDU based on the obtained signal, wherein the one or more processors to determine the value of the peak electric current is based on the predicted future temperature. Advantageously, the temperature measurements associated with the PDU may be used by the control system to predict increases in temperature prior to a threshold temperature being reached. The PDU may be considered to have a “thermal inertia” providing time for action to be taken to reduce the heat generated in the PDU due to supply of current to the component by controlling the peak electric current value based on the predicted temperature of the PDU at a predetermined period of time in the future. Optionally, the one or more processors configured to predict the future temperature by obtaining a plurality of signals representative of the temperature associated with the PDU over a predetermined period of time, determining a rate of change of the temperature associated with the PDU based on the plurality of signals; and predicting the future temperature based on the determined rate of change. Advantageously, it has been found that a simple linear prediction based on a rate of change of temperature over a predetermined period of time can provide good performance and predictive ability for the control system to initiate action to avoid the temperature of the PDU exceeding a threshold temperature that might lead to total loss of power to the component. Optionally, the one or more processors configured to determine the value of the peak electric current by comparing the predicted future temperature with a threshold temperature value, and in response to the predicted future temperature being greater than the threshold temperature value reducing the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component. The control system may compare the predicted temperature against a threshold temperature. Advantageously, if the predicted temperature is determined to exceed the threshold action is then taken to reduce the peak electric current value to thereby reduce the amount of heat generated in the PDU to mitigate the risk of the actual temperature of the PDU exceeding the threshold. According to embodiments, the indication of the value of the peak electric current comprises a reduction factor indicating a current value relative to a normal peak operating current associated with the component. Advantageously, the control system may provide the peak electric current value as a reduction factor corresponding to a ratio between the determined peak electric current value and a normal rated peak electric current for the component. This provides a simple way to indicate a proportional reduction in the peak electric current value, facilitating graceful degradation of the component operation. Optionally, the one or more processors further configured to, in response to the value of the peak electric current being less than a normal peak operating current associated with the component, provide an indication to an operator of the vehicle of reduced operating capability associated with the component. Advantageously, when the control system determines that the peak electric current to be used by the component is reduced from a normal rated peak current, an indication of reduced operative status can be provided to the driver such that the driver is aware of the status of the vehicle. Optionally, the one or more processors further configured to obtain a value indicating a minimum current required by the component, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the value of peak electrical current to be used by the component further based on the value indicating the minimum current required. The component may require a minimum current to operate at all. Advantageously, this minimum value may be taken into account by the control system when determining the peak electrical current to be used by the component to allow a decision to be made to maintain at least the minimum functionality of the component. According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a vehicle comprising an electrically powered component, a power distribution unit (PDU) to distribute electrical power to the component, a temperature sensor associated with the PDU, and the control system as described above communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor and the component, the control system to obtain the signal representative of the temperature from the temperature sensor and to provide the indication of the value of the peak electric current to the component. According to embodiments the component comprises one of: an electric power steering system of the vehicle; a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system; or an electrically assisted brake system. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program instructions that when executed on a processor of a control system of a battery electric vehicle including an electrically powered component and a power distribution unit to distribute electrical power to the component, causes the control system to perform the method as described above. Within the scope of this application it is expressly intended that the various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set out in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and / or in the following description and drawings, and in particular the individual features thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. That is, all embodiments and / or features of any embodiment can be combined in anyway and / or combination, unless such features are incompatible. The applicant reserves the right to change any originally filed claim or file any new claim accordingly, including the right to amend any originally filed claim to depend from and / or incorporate any feature of any other claim although not originally claimed in that manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a system suitable for implementing embodiments of the invention; Figure 2 illustrates a vehicle including the system of Figure 1 and suitable for implementing embodiments of the invention; Figure 3 shows a method of controlling a value of a peak electric current to be used by a component of a vehicle according to embodiments of the invention; Figure 4 shows a further method of controlling a value of a peak electric current to be used by a component of a vehicle according to embodiments of the invention; and Figure 5 illustrates a control system suitable for performing the method of Figure 4, according to embodiments of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION According to embodiments of the invention, a control system may control a maximum, or peak, electrical current that can be used by a component of a vehicle based on a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) that distributes electrical power to the component. In particular, the temperature may be associated with one or more temperature sensitive fuses present in the PDU and coupled to the component. By limiting the maximum current used by the component, an amount of heat generated in the PDU associated with the distribution of electrical power to the component may be reduced, which may eliminate, or at least reduce, the occurrence of overheating and other unwanted thermal effects in the PDU. With reference to Figure 1, there is illustrated a control system 100 for a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The control system 100 comprises one or more controller 110 that is communicatively coupled to a power distribution unit (PDU) 102 to receive a signal 108 representative of a temperature associated with the PDU 102. The one or more controller 110 is further communicatively coupled to least one component 104 of the vehicle that receives electrical power 106 from the PDU and is operable to provide a control signal 116 to the at least one component 104. The control system 100 as illustrated in Figure 1 comprises one controller 110, although it will be appreciated that this is merely illustrative. The controller 110 comprises processing means 112 and memory means 114. The processing means 112 may be one or more electronic processing device 112 which operably executes computer-readable instructions. The memory means 114 may be one or more memory device 114. The memory means 114 is electrically coupled to the processing means 112. The memory means 114 is configured to store instructions, and the processing means 112 is configured to access the memory means 114 and execute the instructions stored thereon. The controller 110 comprises an input means and an output means. The input means may comprise an electrical input of the controller 110. The output means may comprise an electrical output of the controller 110. The input is arranged to receive a temperature signal 108 from a temperature sensor associated the PDU 102. The temperature signal 108 is an electrical signal which is indicative of a temperature of the PDU 102. The output is arranged to output a peak current control signal 116 is indicative of a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component 104. Upon receiving the peak current control signal 116, including an indication of the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component, 104, the component 104 may modify its operation to ensure that the received value of peak electric current is not exceeded. For example, the component 104 may “clip” an operating envelope such that operation is not affected unless the current demand would exceed the peak electric current value for example by limiting the maximum assistance that can be provided by an actuator in the component 104. In an alternative embodiment, the component 104 may scale its operating capability, for example by scaling the assistance provided by the actuator across its operating range by a scaling factor corresponding to the ratio of the received value of peak electric current to a normal operating peak electric current value that may be used by the component 104 during normal, unrestricted, operation. Figure 2 illustrates a vehicle 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle 200 comprises a control system 100 as illustrated in Figure 1. The vehicle comprises a power source 202 capable of providing electrical power to supply one or more components of the vehicle 200. For example, the power source 202 may comprise a traction battery of an electric vehicle, or may comprise a generator, or alternator, coupled to an internal combustion engine. The power source 202 is coupled to the power distribution unit (PDU) 102 which receives electrical power from the power source 202 and distributes electrical power to one or more components 104, 204 of the vehicle 200. The PDU 102 may comprise one or more fuse elements to protect the electrical system of the vehicle 200 and the one or more components 104, 204 from excess current draw, for example as may be caused by a short circuit fault in the component 104. As will be recognised, a fuse is a circuit element that operates to disconnect, or break, a power supply connection in order to provide overcurrent protection, for example when an electrical fault occurs. Traditionally, a fuse comprised a piece of wire sized to heat up and melt, commonly known as blowing the fuse, due to resistive effects when a current of greater than a predetermined value passes through the wire. More recently, intelligent processor controlled resettable fuses based on metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have been used to avoid the inconvenience of having to replace a traditional fuse once melted. Resettable fuses have been found to be susceptible to thermal overload caused by local temperature heating and / or by the heat dissipated by passing the current to the load through the fuse device. However, user experience may be improved by avoiding interruptions to the electrical power provided to components of the vehicle 200, except where necessary due to the presence of a fault or extreme thermal conditions. Similarly, as described above, traditional fuses may be sensitive to high temperatures due to the method of operation of those traditional fuses. Some electrically powered components 104 of the vehicle 200 may have power requirements that fluctuate significantly during use. For example, electrical power steering systems (ERAS) may require minimal power when driving along a relatively straight road, but may have significant peak requirements, for example in response to steering input when stationary. Some example EPAS systems are capable of using a current of up to 75 Amps under certain conditions, representing a significant electrical current to be supplied via the PDU 102. Similarly, electrically actuated brakes may only require significant power when actuated. In periods where the component 104 requires the peak power to be provided, this can lead to significant heat being generated in the PDU 102 due to a large current flow to supply the component 104. According to embodiments of the invention, a temperature associated with the PDU 102 is obtained and based on the obtained temperature a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component 104 is determined. The determined value of the peak electric current may be less than a normal, or design, maximum current that the component 104 is able to use during normal operation. The determined value of the peak electric current is then provided to the component 104, causing the component 104 to limit the maximum amount of electrical current to be drawn via the PDU 102, thereby reducing further heating in the PDU 102 due to the current supplied to the component. While the reduction in peak electrical current used by the component may result in reduced capability for a short period, by reducing the further heating in the PDU 102 caused by the current supplied by the component 104, the likelihood of thermal overload of the one or more fuses present within the PDU 102 may be significantly reduced, thereby reducing the potential for complete removal of power from the component 104 due to excess temperatures in the PDU 102. Thus, the control system 100 allows fora graceful degradation of the component capability to avoid, or at least reduce the risk of, sudden removal of electrical power. In some embodiments, a future temperature associated with the PDU 102 may be predicted based on the temperature signal 108 received by the control system 110. The determined value of the peak electric current value may be based on the predicted temperature, allowing mitigating action to be taken based on the predicted temperature priorto the actual temperature reaching a particular threshold. For example, a plurality of temperature signals 108, representing multiple temperature measurements taken over a predetermined period of time, may be obtained and used to determine a rate of change, or trend, for the temperature associated with the PDU 102. A future temperature value, fora predetermined period of time in the future, may then be predicted based on a current temperature and the determined rate of change. The temperature, or predicted temperature, associated with the PDU 102 may be compared against a threshold temperature value that may represent an upper bound of a desired operating temperature for the PDU 102. If it is determined that the temperature, or predicted temperature, exceeds the temperature threshold, action may betaken to reduce the peak current to be used by the component 104, i.e. by determining a value of the peak electric current to be used by the component 104 that is less than a normal, or rated, maximum current of the component, thereby limiting the amount of heat generated in the PDU 102 due to the current supplied to the component 104. Figure 3 illustrates a method 300 according to an embodiment of the invention. The method 300 is a method of controlling a maximum amount of electric power used by a component of a vehicle 200, such as the vehicle 200 illustrated in Figure 2. The method 300 may be performed by the system 100 illustrated in Figure 1. In particular, the memory 114 may comprise computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor 112, perform the method 300 according to an embodiment of the invention. According to the illustrated method 300, at block 302 a temperature associated with a power distribution unit 102 of a vehicle 200 is obtained. The obtained temperature is provided to block 304 where the obtained temperature value is checked to determine if action should be taken to avoid excess temperature in the PDU 102, for example based on a comparison of the obtained temperature value with a threshold temperature value. The obtained temperature is further provided to PDU temperature prediction block 306, which operates to predict a temperature of the PDU 102 a certain period of time into the future, for example as discussed above. The predicted future temperature value is then provided to determination block 304 and may be used to determine if action should be taken to avoid excess temperature in the PDU 102. At block 308, it is determined based on an output of block 304 whether a reduction in peak current use by the component 104 should be applied. If no reduction is indicated, the method returns to determination block 304 where further temperature values for the PDU 102 are obtained and used to determine a further value of the peak electric current to be used by the component 104. If it is determined at block 308 that a reduction in peak current use by the component 104 should be applied, the method moves to block 310 where the reduced value of peak current to be used by the component is determined based on the determination that the value of peak current should be reduced, and on a minimum power level required for the component 104 received from block 314. The determined value of the peak electric current is then provided to the component 104. The determined value of peak electric current to be used by the component 104 is further provided to blocks 304 and 306 and may be used in determining whether a reduction in peak current use is desired, and to predict further temperatures, for example by including knowledge of expected current flows to the component 104, respectively. A further output from block 310 may be a signal to a human-machine interface (HMI) 312 to provide an indication to an operator of the vehicle 200 of a reduced operating capability of the component associated with the reduction in the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component. Figure 4 illustrates a method 400 of controlling a maximum amount of electrical power used by a component 104 of a vehicle 200. According to the illustrated method 400, a signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) 102 of the vehicle is obtained 402. Based on the obtained signal, a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component 104 is determined 404. An indication of the value of the peak electric current value to be used by the component 104 is then provided 406 to the component. In some embodiments, the indication of the value of the peak electric current may comprise a reduction factor indicating a current value relative to a normal, or rated, peak operating current associated with the component. Optionally, the reduction factor may be applied to operation of the component such that electrical power use by the component across its full operational range is scaled by the reduction factor, for example for an actuator of the vehicle, in response to an actuation that would normally cause the component to use 50% of the peak electric current this may be further reduced by the reduction factor to cause the component to use 50% of the reduced value of the peak electric current to be used by the component 104. In some embodiments, a minimum current required by the component to allow operation of the component may be obtained by the control system 110 and the determination of the value of the peak electric current may be further based on the minimum current required. For example, if it would be determined that the peak current would be reduced below the minimum current, a determination may be made to maintain the level of the peak electric current at the minimum level to maintain a minimum operation capability for the component. Alternatively, it may be determined to remove power from the component to thereby influence the temperature of the PDU 102. In some embodiments, the component 104 may comprise an actuator of the vehicle, such as an electric power steering system or an electrically assisted brake system. In embodiments, the component may comprise any subsystem that is a significant user of electrical power present on the vehicle, for example a ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Certain methods and systems as described herein may be implemented by one or more processors that processes program code that is retrieved from a non-transitory storage medium. Figure 5 shows an example 500 of a device comprising a computer-readable storage medium 520 coupled to at least one processor 510. The computer-readable media 520 can be any media that can contain, store, or maintain programs and data for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. Computer-readable media can comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of suitable machine-readable media include, but are not limited to, a hard drive, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory, or a portable disc. In Figure 5, the computer-readable storage medium comprises program code to perform a method corresponding to the embodiment shown in Figure 4, that is: obtaining 402 a signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution unit (PDU) of the vehicle, the PDU configured to distribute electrical power to the component of the vehicle; determining 404, based on the obtained signal, a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component; and providing 406, to the component, an indication of the value of the peak electric current value to be used by the component. In embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may comprise program code to perform a method corresponding to the embodiment of Figure 3. It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a maximum value of electrical power used by a component of a vehicle, the method comprising:obtaining a signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution unit, PDU, of the vehicle, the PDU configured to distribute electrical power to the component of the vehicle;determining, based on the obtained signal, a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component; andproviding, to the component, an indication of the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the PDU comprises one or more fuses; and wherein the temperature associated with the PDU is indicative of a temperature of the one or morefuses.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the temperature is associated with one of the one or more fuses electrically coupled to the component.

4. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising predicting a future temperature associated with the PDU based on the obtained signal, wherein the determining the value of the peak electric current is based on the predicted future temperature.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein predicting the future temperature comprises:obtaining a plurality of signals representative of the temperature associated with the PDU over a predetermined period of time;determining a rate of change of the temperature associated with the PDU based on the plurality of signals; andpredicting the future temperature based on the determined rate of change.

6. The method of claim 4 or claim 5, wherein determining the value of the peak electric current comprises:comparing the predicted future temperature with a threshold temperature value; andin response to the predicted future temperature being greater than the threshold temperature value reducing the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component.

7. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising:obtaining a value indicating a minimum current required by the component; and wherein determining the value of peak electrical current to be used by the component is further based on the value indicating the minimum current required.

8. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the component comprises one of: an electric power steering system of the vehicle; a heating, ventilation and air conditioning, HVAC, system; or an electrically assisted brake system.

9. A control system for controlling a maximum value of electrical power used by a component of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to:obtain a signal representative of a temperature associated with a power distribution unit, PDU, of the vehicle, the PDU configured to distribute electrical power to the component of the vehicle;determine, based on the obtained signal, a value of a peak electric current to be used by the component; andprovide, to the component, an indication of the value of the peak electric current to be used by the component.

10. The control system of claim 9, wherein the temperature associated with the PDU is indicative of a temperature of one or more fuses of the PDU, the one or more fuses electrically coupled to the component.

11. The control system of claim 9 or claim 10, the one or more processors further configured to predict a future temperature associated with the PDU based on the obtained signal, wherein the one or more processors to determine the value of the peak electric current is based on the predicted future temperature.

12. The control system of any of claims 9 to 11, the one or more processors further configured to: obtain a value indicating a minimum current required by the component; and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the value of peak electrical current to be used by the component further based on the value indicating the minimum current required.

13. A vehicle comprising:an electrically powered component;a power distribution unit, PDU, to distribute electrical power to the component;a temperature sensor associated with the PDU; andthe control system of any of claims 9 to 12 communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor and the component, the control system to obtain the signal representative of the temperature from the temperature sensor and to provide the indication of the value of the peak electric current to the component.

14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the component comprises one of: an electric power steering system of the vehicle; a heating, ventilation and air conditioning, HVAC, system; or an electrically assisted brake system.

15. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions that when executed on a processor of a control system of a vehicle including at least one environment sensor causes the control system to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 8.14

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