Vehicle supply equipment communication apparatus and method

Abstract

Disclosed is a control system (100) for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment (200). The control system (100) comprises one or more processors (120) collectively configured to: in response to receiving, over a first wireless connection (450), an authorised vehicle identification signal (418) indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle (50) in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment, output (414) a wireless connection request signal (416) to initiate a second wireless connection (460) between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, the second wireless connection being different to the first wireless connection and being configured to securely transmit control signalling (462) between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle.

Description

[0001] VEHICLE SUPPLY EQUIPMENT COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND METHOD

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to vehicle communication with an electric vehicle supply equipment. Aspects of the invention relate to a control system for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, to an electric vehicle supply equipment, to a computer-implemented method for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment and to computer readable instructions.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] It is known to provide an electric vehicle supply equipment at a home address, and a vehicle can be connected to the supply equipment and receive charge therefrom to charge an energy store of the vehicle. Managing communication between an electric vehicle supply equipment and a connected vehicle, and providing functionality in the supply equipment and the vehicle can be challenging. Managing connectivity between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the vehicle in a way which is reliable and secure, is desirable.

[0006] It is an aim of the present invention to address one or more of the disadvantages associated with the prior art.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Aspects and embodiments of the invention provide a control system, an electronic vehicle supply equipment, a computer-implemented method, and computer-readable instructions as claimed in the appended claims.

[0009] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a control system for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, the control system configured to: establish a wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and an authorised vehicle, the wireless connection configured to transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle for control of functionality of one or more of the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle. Advantageously, a wireless connection can be established to allow for control signalling to be sent between the supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, to allow for functionality to be controlled at the supply equipment from the vehicle, and vice versa.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a control system for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: in response to receiving, over a first wireless connection, an authorised vehicle identification signal indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment, output a wireless connection request signal to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, the second wireless connection being different to the first wireless connection and being configured to securely transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle. Advantageously, a second wireless connection can be established to allow for control signalling to be sent between the supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, triggered by the establishment of the vehicle being an authorised vehicle via the first wireless connection. The control signalling sent over the second wireless connection can allow for functionality to be controlled at the supply equipment from the vehicle, and vice versa, in a convenient and secure way.

[0011] 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: in response to receiving, over a first wireless connection, the authorised vehicle identification signal indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment, output a wireless connection request signal to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, the second wireless connection being different to the first wireless connection and being configured to securely transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle.

[0012] The wireless connection request signal may comprise a request to form a peer to peer wireless connection as the second wireless connection. The peer to peer wireless connection may be a private peer to peer wireless connection. Therefore, the second wireless connection may be secure and permit control of the vehicle and the supply equipment over a secure network, providing the benefit of convenient functionality control with the safety of mitigating against authorised access to the communication channel by way of the connection being a secure peer-to-peer connection.

[0013] The control system may be configured to: receive, following output of the wireless connection request signal, a wireless connection response signal from the authorised vehicle, the wireless connection response signal indicative of acceptance of initiation of the second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle; wherein the second wireless connection is established following receipt of the wireless connection response signal from the authorised vehicle. Advantageously, confirmation of establishment of the second wireless connection may be sent to the control system, for example to allow for subsequent control signalling to be transmitted between the supply equipment and the vehicle.

[0014] The control system may be configured to: compare a received vehicle identifier to a stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers; and if the received vehicle identifier matches one of the stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers, retrieve a security credential associated with the authorised vehicle and initiate the second wireless connection in dependence on the security credential. Advantageously, only vehicles which have been logged as authorised vehicles can form connections with electric vehicle supply equipment.

[0015] If the received vehicle identifier does not match one of the stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers, the control system may inhibit output of a wireless connection request signal to initiate a second wireless connection. Advantageously, vehicles which are not recognised as being authorised cannot be communicated with over the second wireless connection. The security credential may comprise a public key to be transmitted to the authorised vehicle, the public key forming a pair with a private key held at the electric vehicle supply equipment. Advantageously, the second wireless connection may be encrypted for security.

[0016] The control system may be configured to transmit control signalling from the electric vehicle supply equipment to the vehicle over the second wireless connection to cause one or more of: a charger flap of the vehicle to be unlocked; a charger flap of the vehicle to open; a charger flap of the vehicle to be locked; a charger flap of the vehicle to close; switch one or more lights of the vehicle on; switch one or more lights of the vehicle off; share a unique vehicle identifier of the vehicle with an external electronic device; start and / or stop vehicle cabin preconditioning, and start and / or stop battery preconditioning. Advantageously, various different supply equipment functionality can be controlled by the vehicle in a convenient and secure way over the second wireless connection.

[0017] The control system may be configured to receive control signalling transmitted from the vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment over the second wireless connection to cause one or more of: a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be unlocked; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to open; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be locked; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to close; a charger hose of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be released; a charger hose of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be retracted; one or more lights of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be switched on; one or more lights of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be switched off; charging parameters used in charging an energy store of the vehicle to be shared with the external electronic device; state of charge data of an energy store of the vehicle to be shared with the external electronic device; a unique vehicle identifier of the vehicle to be shared with an external electronic device; and the electric vehicle supply equipment to be set for immediate charge. Advantageously, various different vehicle functionality can be controlled by the supply equipment in a convenient and secure way over the second wireless connection.

[0018] The control system may be configured to determine a vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment to be an authorised vehicle by: receiving, over the first wireless connection, a vehicle identifier of a vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment; comparing the received vehicle identifier to a stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers; and if the received vehicle identifier matches one of the stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers, determining the vehicle is an authorised vehicle. Advantageously, the vehicle may be authorised over the first wireless connection, to allow for subsequent connection over the second wireless connection.

[0019] The electric vehicle supply equipment may comprise a Wi-Fi sniffing module configured to receive the authorised vehicle identification signal over the wireless connection and provide the authorised vehicle identification signal to the control system. Advantageously, the first wireless connection may be established without a user needing to perform any connection action to cause it to be established. The authorised vehicle identification signal transmitted by the authorised vehicle may comprise a portion of a Vehicle Identification Number, VIN, of the authorised vehicle. Advantageously, the unique VIN which the vehicle already has may be used as an authorisation indicator.

[0020] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an electronic vehicle supply equipment comprising any control system disclosed herein.

[0021] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer-implemented method for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, the method comprising: in response to receiving, over a first wireless connection, an authorised vehicle identification signal indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment, outputting a wireless connection request signal to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, the second wireless connection being different to the first wireless connection and being configured to securely transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle.

[0022] According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer-readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform any method disclosed herein.

[0023] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0025] Figure 1 shows electric vehicle supply equipment according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0026] Figure 2 shows a control system according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0027] Figure 3 shows a flow chart showing a method which control systems disclosed herein are configured to perform for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0028] Figure 4 shows a process which control systems disclosed herein are configured to perform for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0029] Figure 5 shows a process which control systems disclosed herein are configured to perform for facilitating communication between a vehicle and an electric vehicle supply equipment according to an embodiment of the invention; and

[0030] Figure 6 shows an example method which control systems disclosed herein are configured to perform for facilitating communication between a vehicle and an electric vehicle supply equipment according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0031] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] It is known to provide an electric vehicle supply equipment at a home address, and a vehicle can be connected to the supply equipment and receive charge therefrom to charge an energy store of the vehicle. Discussion herein of supply of electrical charge to the vehicle should be understood as a supply of electrical charge from an electric vehicle supply equipment to an energy storage means of the vehicle e.g. a rechargeable battery.

[0033] An electric vehicle supply equipment (or simply supply equipment) may be understood to be a “charger” or “home charger”, i.e. an apparatus which can be connected to a vehicle (and the electrical energy storage of that vehicle) for the provision of charge from the supply equipment to the vehicle, to recharge the electrical energy storage. The vehicle may be a battery electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, for example.

[0034] There is a problem in the art that home chargers do not communicate with other devices in a well-connected and integrated manner. For example, it is desirable that an event / action taking place on a home charger triggers actions on the vehicle, and vice versa. While the vehicle and the home charger are two separate elements, it may be useful for an action at one to control some function at the other. For example, it may be desirable to use a button on a charging gun (e.g. when taking the charging gun out from the home charger to bring it to the vehicle for connection to the vehicle) as a trigger to open a vehicle’s charging flap, to trigger illumination of a light at the vehicle, to cause information exchange such as transmitting the vehicle’s battery status, or state of charge, to the supply equipment, or other function. Currently, the exchange of information, which could enable such connected functionality, is limited to using a specific wired connection between the home charger and the vehicle. However, wires in such a wired connection are not standard across the world, and the amount of information that can be exchanged through such wires is limited. Therefore, functionality between a charger is not universally available and is limited when it is available.

[0035] Examples disclosed herein build on the functionality of detecting an authorised vehicle at a supply equipment through wireless connection, such as Wi-Fi sniffing, to detect the vehicle within a particular distance of a supply equipment to enable charging, whereby unauthorised vehicles are unable to use the charger. Examples disclosed herein allow additional functionality to be performed between the supply equipment and the vehicle through establishing a secure wireless connection configured to transmit control commands between the vehicle and the supply equipment. For example, by establishing a secure communication network, such as a secure peer-to-peer network, between the supply equipment and the vehicle, additional functionality can be performed. The communication channel may permit a higher amount of information to be exchanged and / or a higher rate of information exchange than over a known specific wired connection. Allowing more information, and / or a higher rate of information, to be transmitted, can allow for advantageous functionality to be performed. Examples disclosed herein provide a secure connection which is advantageous over non-secure connections which may be hijacked by malicious actors to control a vehicle’s functions.

[0036] Examples disclosed herein provide ways in which a secure communication channel can be established, even without specific user input to cause the communication channel to be established. This facilitates enabling additional functionality which can, for example, cause an effect at the vehicle following an action at the supply equipment. The presence of the vehicle proximal to the charger may be detected wirelessly in some examples, for example via Wi-Fi sniffing by the supply equipment to detect an authorised Wi-Fi transmission signal from an unauthorised vehicle. Following communication between the supply equipment and the vehicle and establishing that the vehicle is authorised to use the supply equipment, a secure communication channel may be established to permit improved communication to facilitate added functionality.

[0037] Advantageously, the user need not provide any specific credentials consciously to demonstrate authorisation and establish a secure communication channel via establishment of the secure communication channel following recognition of an authorised vehicle proximal to the supply equipment.

[0038] Figure 1 shows a block diagram of an electric vehicle supply equipment 200 according to embodiments of the invention. The electric vehicle supply equipment 200 comprises a control system 100 as discussed in relation to Figure 2. The electric vehicle supply equipment 200 comprises a charging gun 202 which can be connected to an electric vehicle and used to provide electrical charge from the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 to the vehicle (i.e. to a rechargeable energy store of the vehicle). In some examples the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may comprise an output device 204 such as a display screen or visual indicator to indicate information to a user. In some examples the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may comprise a Wi-Fi sniffing module 206.

[0039] Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a control system 100 according to embodiments of the invention which is for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The control system 100 as illustrated in Figure 2 comprises one controller 110, although it will be appreciated that this is merely illustrative. The controller 110 comprises processing means 120 and memory means 130. The processing means 120 may be one or more electronic processing device 120 which operably executes computer-readable instructions. The memory means 130 may be one or more memory device 130. The memory means 130 is electrically coupled to the processing means 120. The memory means 130 is configured to store instructions, and the processing means 120 is configured to access the memory means 130 and execute the instructions stored thereon.

[0040] The control system 100 is configured to, in response to receiving, over a first wireless connection 165, an authorised vehicle identification signal 160 indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200, output a wireless connection request signal 155 to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50. In other words, the control system 100 is able to establish a second wireless connection with a vehicle once the vehicle is determined to be an authorised vehicle and in operational proximity to the supply equipment 200.

[0041] The second wireless connection is different to the first wireless connection. The first wireless connection may be configured to allow for transmission of security credentials from the vehicle 50 to the supply equipment 200 to indicate that the vehicle 50 is an authorised vehicle. The second wireless connection is configured to (e.g. securely) transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 100. The wireless connection request signal 155 to establish the second wireless connection may comprise a request to form a peer to peer wireless connection as the second wireless connection. The second wireless connection may thus be a peerto peerwireless connection, for example a private peerto peerwireless connection. The second wireless connection may be Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, PC5 (a cellular vehicle-to-everything (V2X) point to point connection communication method, which is based on mobile technology but does not rely on a cellular base station), or other wireless communication technology.

[0042] That is, the authorised vehicle 50 has been determined to be in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 (and that it is authorised to use the supply equipment) via the first wireless connection, and then the control system 100 can initiate the second wireless connection between the supply equipment 200 and the vehicle 50. Therefore the first wireless connection may have a first level of security and be configured to allow a first level of data to be transmitted between the vehicle 50 and the supply equipment 200, for example to establish a secure connection between the two. The second wireless connection may have a second level of security which is more secure than the first level of security, and may be configured to allow a second level of data, which is larger and / or more complex than the first level of data, to be transmitted between the vehicle 50 of the supply equipment 200, for example to allow for control signalling to be provided from the vehicle 50 to the supply equipment 200 and / or vice versa.

[0043] In some examples, the control system 100 receives the authorised vehicle identification signal 160 and the process of determining the presence of an authorised vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the supply equipment 100 over a first wireless connection is performed elsewhere (e.g. by a different control system). In some examples, the same control system 100 may determine the presence of the authorised vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the supply equipment 100 over the first wireless connection and establish the second wireless connection as disclosed herein. In some examples, the first wireless connection may be a Wi-Fi connection established through Wi-Fi sniffing. The electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may comprise a WiFi sniffing module 206 as indicated in Figure 1 (in other examples a Wi-Fi sniffing module may be present separate from and in communication with the supply equipment 200).

[0044] The Wi-Fi sniffing module 206 may be configured to receive an authorised vehicle identification signal over the first wireless connection, and provide the authorised vehicle identification signal to the control system 100 (in examples of a separate Wi-Fi sniffing module 206 to the supply equipment 200). The control system 100 may be configured to authorise the vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 as an authorised vehicle by: receiving, over the first wireless connection, a vehicle identifier of the vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200; then comparing the received vehicle identifier to a stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers. If the received vehicle identifier matches one of the stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers, the control system 100 may determine the vehicle is an authorised vehicle 50. The authorised vehicle identification signal transmitted by the authorised vehicle 50 may comprise at least a portion of a Vehicle Identification Number, VIN, of the authorised vehicle 50.

[0045] Operational proximity of the authorised vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may be defined in a number of ways, some examples of which are discussed herein. Operational proximity of the authorised vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may be understood to be a Wi-Fi transmission range proximity within which Wi-Fi signalling can be transmitted from the authorised vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. This may be considered an operational proximity because Wi-Fi communications can take place between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and a Wi-Fi communication module of the vehicle, for example to communicate a vehicle identifier from the vehicle to the supply equipment. Operational proximity of the authorised vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment may be understood to be an electric vehicle supply equipment charging cable length proximity within which the charging cable 202 can be connected to a charging port of the authorised vehicle. This may be considered an operational proximity because within this distance, the vehicle by operationally connected to the supply equipment 200 via the charging cable 202 of the supply equipment 200 so the vehicle can receive charge from the supply equipment 200. The operational proximity of the authorised vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may be understood to be the lesser of these two factors. The operational proximity of the authorised vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may in other examples be determined using geofencing, such that when the vehicle is detected to be located within a predetermined geofence perimeter, it is deemed to be within operational proximity (e.g. within a 10 m radius of the supply equipment 200). The operational proximity of the authorised vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment may in other examples be determined using Bluetooth, such that when the vehicle is detected to be located within Bluetooth communication range of the supply equipment (or other Bluetooth communication device located with the supply equipment, or for example in the house where the supply equipment is located), the vehicle is deemed to be within operational proximity (e.g. within a 10 m radius of the supply equipment 200). Advantageously, the approach of a vehicle within meaningful operational distance from the supply equipment 200 (e.g. communication range and / or charging cable connection distance) triggers the provision of functionality for the authorised vehicle.

[0046] The controller 110 comprises an input means 140 and an output means 150. The input means 140 may comprise an electrical input 140 of the controller 110. The output means 150 may comprise an electrical output 150 of the controller 110. The input 140 is arranged to receive the authorised vehicle identification signal 165 indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment over a first wireless connection. The authorised vehicle identification signal 165 is an electrical signal which is indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle in operational proximity to an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The output 150 is arranged to output the wireless connection request signal 155 to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50. The second wireless connection is configured to securely transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50.

[0047] Advantageously, on approach of the vehicle 50 to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200, through wireless detection over the first wireless connection, it is determined that there is a vehicle 50 proximal to the supply equipment which is authorised to be used with the supply equipment. The control system 100 then, on receiving the authorised vehicle identification signal 165 to indicate the presence of the authorised vehicle 50, causes the transmission of the wireless connection request signal 155 to establish the second wireless connection between the vehicle 50 and the supply equipment 200. The second wireless connection may be used for control signalling between the vehicle 50 and the supply equipment 200 in recognition of the presence of an authorised vehicle 100. The second wireless connection is set up in dependence on it being established that the vehicle is authorised and is in operational proximity to the supply equipment 200, so for example control signalling may be transmitted over the second wireless connection to enable improved functionality wherein an action at the vehicle 50 can cause a corresponding action at the supply equipment 200 via control signalling sent over the second wireless connection. The second wireless connection (and the first wireless connection) may be established without necessarily requiring a user input, thereby providing contextually relevant convenient connectivity between the vehicle 50 and the supply equipment 200 without a user manually intervening to trigger the first and / or second wireless connection other than locating the vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the supply equipment 200.

[0048] Figure 3 shows a flow chart showing a computer-implemented method 300 which control systems 100 disclosed herein are configured to perform for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The method 300 may be performed by one or more processors executing computer-readable instructions. The method 300 comprises, in response to receiving 302, over a first wireless connection, an authorised vehicle identification signal 310 indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200, and outputting 304 a wireless connection request signal 320 to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50. The second wireless connection is different to the first wireless connection, and is configured to securely transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle.

[0049] Examples will be discussed in more detail with reference to Figures 4 to 6. Figure 4 shows a process 400 which control systems 100 disclosed herein are configured to perform for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The control system 100 may be part of the supply equipment 200. Figure 4 shows a vehicle 50 connected to a supply equipment 200 via a first wireless connection 450 and a second wireless connection 460.

[0050] In this example, the control system 100 is configured to authorise a vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. The electric vehicle supply equipment 200 may comprise a Wi-Fi sniffing module which is configured to receive the authorised vehicle identification signal 418 over the first wireless connection 450, and provide the authorised vehicle identification signal 418 to the control system 100. Advantageously, the vehicle 50 can be automatically detected through Wi-Fi sniffing, and information about the vehicle 50, such as a vehicle identifier (e.g. a portion of a Vehicle Identification Number, VIN), can automatically be provided to the control system 100 via the Wi-Fi sniffing module 402 without requiring any explicit input from the driver of the vehicle. In other examples as above, this process may be done elsewhere and the control system 100 may receive a signal to indicate this process has been done.

[0051] In this example, the control system 100 is configured to authorise the vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 as an authorised vehicle by first receiving 402, over the first wireless connection 450, a vehicle identifier of the vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the supply equipment 200. The control system 100 compares the received vehicle identifier to a stored list 404 of authorised vehicle identifiers. The stored list, which may be called an authorisation list storage means 404, may be communicated with by the control system 100 and has stored therein information about one or more authorised vehicles which are authorised to use the functionality of the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. If the received vehicle identifier matches one of the stored list 404 of authorised vehicle identifiers, the control system 100 determines the vehicle 50 is an authorised vehicle 50. Advantageously, only authorised vehicles 50 may automatically be provided with functionality from the supply equipment 200, automatically through the WI-FI recognition procedure, which is beneficial from a security perspective to ensure only authorised vehicles are able to use the supply equipment without undue effort from the vehicle occupant I driver in entering I providing authorisation credentials.

[0052] If the received vehicle identifier is not found to match one of the stored list 404 of authorised vehicle identifiers, the control system 100 may not be able to determine the vehicle 50 is an authorised vehicle (and some other action may take place such as alerting a user, or retrying the authorisation process). Advantageously, unauthorised vehicles are automatically prevented from accessing any functionality from the supply equipment, which is beneficial from a security perspective to ensure only authorised vehicles are able to use the supply equipment. A further authorisation may be made in some examples to gain access to the functionality, such as a manual authorisation by a user.

[0053] The control system 100 is configured to output 414 a wireless connection request signal 416 to initiate a second wireless connection 460 between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50 in response to receiving, over the first wireless connection 450, an authorised vehicle identification signal 418 indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle 50 in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. This authorised vehicle identification signal 418 may be a signal sent following authorisation of the vehicle 50 proximal to the supply equipment 200. The authorised vehicle identification signal 418 in some examples may be, or comprise, the vehicle identifier provided in the initial authorisation stage. The second wireless connection 460 is different to the first wireless connection 450. The second wireless connection 460 is configured to securely transmit control signalling 462 between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50. The second wireless connection 460 may be a peer-to-peer connection, for example a private peer-to-peer connection.

[0054] As an example, as part of an on-boarding process when a user newly intends to register a vehicle as an authorised vehicle 50 in relation to a supply equipment 200 (e.g. they have bought a new vehicle to be charged using a home charger), the user may register the vehicle 50 (e.g. using a smartphone app). Part of this onboarding process may be that the vehicle’s Wi-Fi access / security credentials, and / or internal Wi-Fi hotspot SSID, are registered. This registration may then allow the vehicle’s Wi-Fi access / security credentials, and / or internal Wi-Fi hotspot SSID to be provided to the supply equipment 200 for inclusion in the authorisation list 404 maintained at the supply equipment 200.

[0055] Subsequently, when the vehicle 50 approaches the supply equipment 200, the supply equipment 200 is able to detect the vehicle 50 as an authorised vehicle (for example by detecting a Wi-Fi access / security credential, and / or internal Wi-Fi hotspot SSID received from the vehicle and matching it with the corresponding data logged in the authorisation list 404) in order to establish the first wireless connection 450 and establish the second wireless connection 460 (i.e. by the control system 100 outputting 414 a wireless connection request signal 416 to initiate the second wireless connection 460 between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50). The control system 100 may select appropriate external Wi-Fi access / security credentials from storage such as the authorisation list 404 and establishes the second wireless connection

[0056] 460 (e.g. a secure peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection) between the vehicle 50 and the supply equipment 200.

[0057] That is, the control system 100 may be configured to compare a received vehicle identifier 418 to a stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers 404, and if the received vehicle identifier 418 matches one of the stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers 404, the control system 100 may be configured to retrieve a security credential associated with the authorised vehicle 50 and initiate the second wireless connection 460 in dependence on the security credential. If the received vehicle identifier does not match one of the stored list 404 of authorised vehicle identifiers, the control system 100 may inhibit output of a wireless connection request signal 416 to initiate the second wireless connection 460. In some examples, the security credential may comprise a public key to be transmitted to the authorised vehicle 50, the public key forming a pair with a private key held at the electric vehicle supply equipment 200. In this way a secure second connection 460 may be established.

[0058] The control system 100 is configured to output 414 the wireless connection request signal 416 (e.g. to the vehicle 50) to initiate the second wireless connection 460. The control system 100 may be configured to: receive 422, following output 414 of the wireless connection request signal 416, a wireless connection response signal 420 from the authorised vehicle 50. The wireless connection response signal 420 is indicative of acceptance of initiation of the second wireless connection 460 between the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 and the authorised vehicle 50. The second wireless connection 460 in this case is established following receipt of the wireless connection response signal 420 from the authorised vehicle 50.

[0059] Once the second wireless connection 460 is established, the vehicle 50 and the supply equipment 200 may be able to exchange messages and / or commands, to provide a wide range of functionality in a secure way. The vehicle 50 may transmit a message to the supply equipment 200 to cause functionality at the supply equipment 200 to be performed. The supply equipment 200 may transmit a message to the vehicle 50 to cause functionality of the vehicle 50 to be performed. Advantageously, establishing the first and the second wireless connections to allow for secure messaging between the vehicle 50 on the supply equipment 200 may be achieved automatically simply by the vehicle 50 approaching operational proximity of the supply equipment 200, without a user needing to provide any specific input to establish the connections.

[0060] In a specific example, a vehicle 50 may have a first Wi-Fi connectivity mode (which is an internal Wi-Fi hotspot) which may be used predominantly for an infotainment purpose for example, and may have a second Wi-Fi connectivity mode which may be used for external vehicle connectivity. The internal Wi-Fi hotspot may be detected by Wi-Fi sniffing to establish the first wireless connection, and this process may then trigger establishment of the second wireless connection using the second Wi-Fi connectivity mode which may otherwise usually require manual intervention to establish. In other examples, the second wireless connection may be established over Bluetooth, PC5 (LTE V2X), or other wireless protocol.

[0061] Figure 5 shows a process which control systems 100 disclosed herein are configured to perform for facilitating communication between a vehicle 50 and an electric vehicle supply equipment 200. It will be appreciated that elements discussed in relation to Figure 4 may also be present in the example of Figure 5 but are not discussed again here. The control system 100 may be configured to transmit control signalling 462a from the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 to the vehicle 50 over the second wireless connection 460 to cause one or more of: a charger flap of the vehicle to be unlocked 508; a charger flap of the vehicle to open 510; a charger flap of the vehicle to be locked 512; a charger flap of the vehicle to close 514; one or more lights of the vehicle to be switched on 516; one or more lights of the vehicle to be switched off 518; and share a unique vehicle identifier of the vehicle with an external electronic device 520. Other possible functions which may be enabled from the supply equipment 200 to take place at the vehicle 50 include starting and / or stopping vehicle cabin preconditioning (for example, warming or cooling the vehicle cabin, defrosting the windscreen, warming the steering wheel, warming a seat in the cabin), and starting and / or stopping battery preconditioning (e.g. warming or cooling an energy store of the vehicle). The supply equipment 200 is also configured to provide core charging functions 502 to the vehicle, e.g. providing charge to an energy store of the vehicle 50. The secure second wireless connection 460, configured to carry control signalling to allow for such functionality to be controlled, allows for improved operation of the supply equipment 200 which can send commands to the vehicle 50 to control functions which may be associated with use of the vehicle 50 with the supply equipment 200. Use of a secure connection, for example one set up using a cryptographic key system, mitigates against malicious actors who may wish to gain access to controlling vehicle functionality via the second wireless connection, for example to access the vehicle or parts of the vehicle.

[0062] The control system 100 may be configured to receive control signalling 462b transmitted from the vehicle 50 to the electric vehicle supply equipment 200 over the second wireless connection 460 to cause one or more of: a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be unlocked 530; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to open 532; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be locked 534; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to close 536; a charger hose of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be released 538; a charger hose of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be retracted 540; one or more lights of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be switched on 542; one or more lights of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be switched off 544; charging parameters used in charging an energy store of the vehicle to be shared with an external electronic device 546; state of charge data of an energy store of the vehicle to be shared with an external electronic device 548; and a unique vehicle identifier of the vehicle to be shared with an external electronic device 550. Other possible functions which may be enabled from the vehicle 50 to take place at the supply equipment 200 include setting the supply equipment for immediate charge provision (as opposed to waiting for a scheduled charging event, i.e. overriding a charging schedule), switching one or more lights on the vehicle on and / or off, such as a puddle light, or releasing the charging gun from the supply equipment (e.g. unlocking the charging gun, opening a door / flap covering the charging gun). The secure second wireless connection 460, configured to carry control signalling to allow for such functionality to be controlled, allows for improved operation of the supply equipment 200 which can receive commands from the vehicle 50 to control functions which may be associated with use of the vehicle 50 with the supply equipment 200. Use of a secure connection, for example set up using a cryptographic key system, mitigates against malicious actors who may wish to gain access to controlling vehicle functionality via the second wireless connection, for example to access the vehicle or parts of the vehicle. Figure 6 shows an example method 600 which control systems 100 disclosed herein are configured to perform for facilitating communication between a vehicle and an electric vehicle supply equipment according to embodiments of the invention. The illustrated entities in this example 600 are: an application 602, for example installed on a smartphone of a user of the vehicle 606 and which may be used to control functions of the vehicle 606 and / or of the supply equipment 612; a data platform 604, which may be called a vehicle collected data platform 604 and which acts to transmit information between the application 602 and the vehicle 606; a digital communication platform 608 configured to communicate with at least the data platform 604; charging software 610; and a supply equipment 612. In such an example, instructions may be provided by the application 602 to the vehicle 606 and in turn to the supply equipment 612 via the illustrated data platforms and software.

[0063] The method 600 shows an example process as follows: a pairing request 620 is transmitted from the application 602 to the data platform 604 (for example a user may provide input to their app 602 to request secure connection between the vehicle 606 and the supply equipment 612). A signal 622 requesting vehicle Wi-Fi credentials is transmitted from the data platform 604 to the vehicle 606, and a signal 624 providing the vehicle Wi-Fi credentials is sent in response back to the data platform 604. The vehicle Wi-Fi credentials are notified 626 to the digital communication platform 608 from the data platform 604. The vehicle Wi-Fi credentials are then transmitted 628 from the digital communication platform 608 to the charging software 610 and in turn 630 to the supply equipment 612. This process overall provides the wireless communication credentials of the vehicle 606 to the supply equipment 612. These steps 622, 624, 626, 628, 630 may be likened to the transmission of the authorised vehicle identification signal 418 from the vehicle 50 / 604 to the supply equipment 200 / 612 in Figure 4.

[0064] The supply equipment 612 then stores the Wi-Fi credentials 632 (for example in a data store 404 as in Figure 4). A peer to peer connection request is transmitted 634 from the supply equipment 612 to the vehicle 606, and the vehicle 606 then accepts 636 the connection request. This connection request may be likened to the wireless connection request signal 416 to initiate the second wireless connection as discussed in relation to Figure 4. A peer-to-peer connection response indicating connection is transmitted 638 from the vehicle 606 to the supply equipment 612 and then a peer-to-peer connection established signal 640 is transmitted from the vehicle 606 to the data platform 604, and pairing request response 642 is transmitted from the data platform 604 back to the app 602, to indicate that the vehicle 606 and the supply equipment 612 have been successfully paired over a secure peer-to-peer communication network. At this point the vehicle 606 and the supply equipment 612 may now communicate via the established secure peer-to-peer connection to allow for functions to be controlled at the vehicle 606 and / or at the supply equipment 612 as discussed in relation to Figure 5.

[0065] 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

CLAIMS1 . A control system for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: in response to receiving, over a first wireless connection, an authorised vehicle identification signal indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment, output a wireless connection request signal to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, the second wireless connection being different to the first wireless connection and being configured to securely transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle.

2. The control system of claim 1 , wherein: the wireless connection request signal comprises a request to form a peer to peer wireless connection as the second wireless connection.

3. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the control system is configured to: receive, following output of the wireless connection request signal, a wireless connection response signal from the authorised vehicle, the wireless connection response signal indicative of acceptance of initiation of the second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle; wherein the second wireless connection is established following receipt of the wireless connection response signal from the authorised vehicle.

4. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the control system is configured to: compare a received vehicle identifier to a stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers; and if the received vehicle identifier matches one of the stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers, retrieve a security credential associated with the authorised vehicle and initiate the second wireless connection in dependence on the security credential.

5. The control system of claim 4, wherein the security credential comprises a public key to be transmitted to the authorised vehicle, the public key forming a pair with a private key held at the electric vehicle supply equipment.

6. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the control system is configured to transmit control signalling from the electric vehicle supply equipment to the vehicle over the second wireless connection to cause one or more of: a charger flap of the vehicle to be unlocked; a charger flap of the vehicle to open; a charger flap of the vehicle to be locked; a charger flap of the vehicle to close; switch one or more lights of the vehicle on; switch one or more lights of the vehicle off; share a unique vehicle identifier of the vehicle with an external electronic device;start vehicle cabin preconditioning; stop vehicle cabin preconditioning; start battery preconditioning; and stop battery preconditioning.

7. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the control system is configured to receive control signalling transmitted from the vehicle to the electric vehicle supply equipment overthe second wireless connection to cause one or more of: a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be unlocked; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to open; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be locked; a charger gun door of the electric vehicle supply equipment to close; a charger hose of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be released; a charger hose of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be retracted; one or more lights of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be switched on; one or more lights of the electric vehicle supply equipment to be switched off; charging parameters used in charging an energy store of the vehicle to be shared with the external electronic device; state of charge data of an energy store of the vehicle to be shared with the external electronic device; a unique vehicle identifier of the vehicle to be shared with an external electronic device; and the electric vehicle supply equipment to be set for immediate charge.

8. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the control system is configured to determine a vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment to be an authorised vehicle by: receiving, over the first wireless connection, a vehicle identifier of a vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment; comparing the received vehicle identifier to a stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers; and if the received vehicle identifier matches one of the stored list of authorised vehicle identifiers, determining the vehicle is an authorised vehicle.

9. An electronic vehicle supply equipment comprising the control system of any preceding claim.

10. A computer-implemented method for controlling an electric vehicle supply equipment, the method comprising: in response to receiving, over a first wireless connection, an authorised vehicle identification signal indicative of the presence of an authorised vehicle in operational proximity to the electric vehicle supply equipment, outputting a wireless connection request signal to initiate a second wireless connection between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle, the second wireless connection being different to the first wireless connection and being configured to securely transmit control signalling between the electric vehicle supply equipment and the authorised vehicle.11 . Computer-readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to claim 10.

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