WO2023007106A1

WO2023007106A1 - An electric vehicle charging scheme determining method and system

Info

Publication number: WO2023007106A1
Application number: PCT/GB2021/051917
Authority: WO
Inventors: Manoj LAD; Gireesh GOPALAKRISHNAN; Paul DARNELL
Original assignee: 3S Knowledge Limited
Priority date: 2021-07-26
Filing date: 2021-07-26
Publication date: 2023-02-02
Also published as: GB202402638D0

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of determining a charging scheme for an electric vehicle (2), the method including: obtaining a proposed route to a destination location(72); determining an energy deficit for the electric vehicle (2) to reach the destination location; identifying a plurality of charging points (31) associated with the proposed route; selecting one of the plurality of charging points (31) based, at least in part, on data representative of a maximum charge rate for each charging point (31) at a predicted state of charge of the electric vehicle (2) at that charging point (31); and generating the charging scheme including planned charging of the electric vehicle (2) at the selected charging point (31) to reduce the energy deficit.

Description

AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING SCHEME DETERMINING METHOD AND

SYSTEM

FIELD The technology presented herein relates to navigational route planning for electric vehicles, including the determining of a charging scheme for the electric vehicle travelling on a proposed route for a journey.

BACKGROUND Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular and this is a trend which is expected to continue.

Such vehicles typically include a battery which provides electrical power to one or more motors which drive the motion of the vehicle. The battery may also provide electrical power for one or more accessories of the vehicle (including, for example, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems). During operation of the vehicle the battery discharges and requires charging. The charging process can be time consuming when compared to the time required to refuel a vehicle operating with an internal combustion engine. Moreover, charging stations (at which an electric vehicle may be charged) are not as commonplace as stations for refuelling internal combustion engine operated vehicles (i.e. petrol or gas stations). The maximum range of an electric vehicle may also be considerably less than the maximum range of a comparable vehicle operating using an internal combustion engine.

As a result, it is necessary - particularly for longer journeys (in terms of time taken and/or distance travelled) - to plan charging stops into any journey route plan for an electric vehicle. In general terms, users must identify charging stations for their electric vehicle, at which they can charge their vehicle along a particular journey route, which are spaced such that the vehicle’s charge level does not drop below a level at which the user is comfortable. User anxiety about whether an electric vehicle will make it successfully to a desired destination without running out of charge is generally known as “range anxiety”.

However, if an electric vehicle stops too frequently to charge, then the total journey time will increase and/or users will become annoyed.

As a result, there is need to provide systems and methods of optimising routes for electric vehicles which take into account the need to charge the vehicle during the journey. Ideally such systems would operate in such a manner as to alleviate, to some extent, user range anxiety, improve user comfort, and allow the electric vehicle to reach its destination according to an optimised journey plan.

Versions of the present technology seek to alleviate one or more problems associated with the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A version of the present technology includes a computer-implemented method of determining a charging scheme for an electric vehicle, the method including: obtaining a proposed route to a destination location; determining an energy deficit for the electric vehicle to reach the destination location; identifying a plurality of charging points associated with the proposed route; selecting one of the plurality of charging points based, at least in part, on data representative of a maximum charge rate for each charging point at a predicted state of charge of the electric vehicle at that charging point; and generating the charging scheme including planned charging of the electric vehicle at the selected charging point to reduce the energy deficit.

The data representative of the maximum charging rate for each charging point may be further based, at least in part, on a predicted temperature of a battery of the electric vehicle.

The predicted temperature of the battery may be determined based on one or more of a discharge requirement for the battery according to the proposed route prior to the charging point, an environmental factor, and a planned charging of the battery prior to the charging point.

The computer-implemented method may further include determining for each of the plurality of charging points the data representative of the maximum charging rate for each of a range of states of charge of the electric vehicle.

The range of states of charge for each charging point may be determined by the possible range of states of charge of the electric vehicle at the charging point according to one or more of the proposed route, an initial state of charge of the electric vehicle, a planned charging of the battery prior to that charging point.

The data representative of the maximum charging rate may include a time required to charge the electric vehicle with a predetermined amount of energy.

The predetermined amount of energy may be less than or equal to the energy deficit for the electric vehicle.

Selecting one of the plurality of charging points may further include allocating the predetermined amount of energy to the charging point with the shortest time to charge the electric vehicle by the predetermined amount of energy and deducting that predetermined amount of energy from the energy deficit.

The computer-implemented method may further include: selecting one of the plurality of charging points based, at least in part, on the data representative of the maximum charge rate for each charging point at a predicted state of charge of the electric vehicle at that charging point; and updating the charging scheme to include planned charging of the electric vehicle at the selected one or more charging points to reduce the energy deficit.

The computer-implemented method may further include repeating the selecting and updating steps until the energy deficit has been reduced to zero or below zero. The data representative of a maximum charge rate for each charging point may include a cost function and the cost function may represent one or more factors including one or more of: characteristics of the charging point, a price for use of the charging point, and an interruption factor for using the charging point.

The characteristics of the charging point may include the presence of one or more user infrastructure components associated with the charging point. The one or more user infrastructure components associated with the charging point may include one or more of toilet facilities, a restaurant, a cafe, and an entertainment facility.

The characteristics of the charging point may include one or more of the availability of the charging point, the suitability of the charging point for the vehicle, and the presence of a booking system for the charging point.

The interruption factor may include a factor to compensate for the effects caused by an interruption of the journey to stop at that charging point.

The computer-implemented method may further include receiving the destination location and a start location, and determining the proposed route.

The computer-implemented method may further include updating the proposed route to include a waypoint for the selected charging point and/or updating a journey duration for the proposed route.

The computer-implemented method may further include sending the updated proposed route to a user interface system for presentation to a user.

The computer-implemented method may further include providing the user with one or more navigation instructions according to the updated proposed route. The computer-implemented method may further include sending the updated proposed route to an autonomous vehicle navigation system for use by the autonomous vehicle navigation system to navigate an autonomous vehicle.

Sending the updated proposed route may include sending the updated proposed route via a computer network.

Sending the updated proposed route may include sending the updated proposed route to a local computing device.

The computer-implemented method may further include one or more of: booking the selected charging point for use; booking a user infrastructure component associated with the selected charging point; and placing an order with a user infrastructure component associated with the selected charging point.

Another version provides a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the operation of the computer-implemented method as above.

Another version provides an electric vehicle including one or more computing devices configured to perform the above computer-implemented method.

Another version provides a system configured to execute instructions which cause the system to perform the above computer-implemented method.

The system may be a server or user computing device.

Another version provides a method of operating an electric vehicle, the method including: performing the above computer implemented method to generate a charging scheme; and navigating the electric vehicle based at least in part on the charging scheme. Another version provides a computer-implemented method of generating data representative of the maximum charging rate of an electric vehicle at a charging point for use in determining a charging scheme, the method including: determining for the charging point data representative of the maximum charging rate for each of a range of states of charge of the electric vehicle; and storing the determined data.

Another version provides a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the operation of the above computer-implemented method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In order that the present disclosure may be more readily understood, preferable embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of an electric vehicle, embodying the present disclosure; FIGURE 2 is a view of a charging station, embodying the present disclosure; FIGURE 3 is a view of a various communicatively coupled components, embodying the present disclosure;

FIGURE 4 is a view of a map;

FIGURE 5 is a view of the map of figure 4 including a proposed route (the wide line);

FIGURE 6 is a view of the map of figure 5, including an indication of a plurality of journey segments;

FIGURE 7 is a view of the map of figure 5, including an indication of a plurality of journey phases;

FIGURE 8 is a view of a user interface system of an electric vehicle presenting an optimised route for journey including one or more waypoints for charging of the vehicle;

FIGURE 9 is a graph showing how the maximum rate of charge of an example battery varies with the battery state of charge; FIGURE 10 is a graph showing how the maximum rate of charge of an example battery varies with the battery state of charge and battery temperature;

FIGURE 11 is a graph showing the power requirements for a vehicle and the speed of the vehicle over the course of a journey; FIGURE 12 is a graph showing the energy required by a vehicle for each journey segment along with the cumulative energy requirements for the journey;

FIGURE 13 is a graph showing, for an example scenario, the theoretical state of charge of a battery of a vehicle over the course of a journey along with the vehicle speed; FIGURE 14 is a graph showing, for an example scenario, the theoretical state of charge of a battery of a vehicle over the course of a journey along with the locations of charging points associated with a proposed route for the journey; FIGURE 15 is a graph showing, for an example scenario, the theoretical state of charge of a battery of a vehicle over the course of a journey along with the locations of charging points associated with a proposed route for the journey and a proposed charging scheme;

FIGURE 16 is a graph showing the power requirements for a vehicle and the speed of the vehicle over the course of a journey;

FIGURE 17 is a graph showing the energy required by a vehicle for each journey segment along with the cumulative energy requirements for the journey;

FIGURE 18 is a graph showing, for an example scenario, the theoretical state of charge of a battery of a vehicle over the course of a journey along with the vehicle speed;

FIGURE 19 is a graph showing, for an example scenario, the theoretical state of charge of a battery of a vehicle over the course of a journey along with the locations of charging points associated with a proposed route for the journey; FIGURE 20 is a graph showing, for an example scenario, the theoretical state of charge of a battery of a vehicle over the course of a journey along with the locations of charging points associated with a proposed route for the journey and a proposed charging scheme; and

FIGURE 21 is a view of a computing device, embodying the present disclosure; FIGURE 22 is a view of a various communicatively coupled components, embodying the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Versions of the present technology include a charging scheme determining system 1 and method. This charging scheme determining system 1 and method operate to generate an optimised route for an electric vehicle 2 (see figure 1 , for example) which takes into account the need to charge a battery 21 of the electric vehicle 2. The charging scheme determining system 1 and method, as described herein, may take into account charging characteristics of the battery 21 in determining the route. The optimised route may equally be referred to as a route including a charging scheme. The charging scheme includes the locations of one or more charging points 31 at which charging of the vehicle 2 is planned to occur, and may include the duration (in time) of the stop for charging the vehicle 2 at each the or each charging point 31 and/or the amount of energy to be provided to the battery 21 at each or each charging point 31. In other words, the charging scheme represents the planned charging for the vehicle 2 to complete a journey along the route of the journey.

Accordingly, the electric vehicle 2 with which versions of the present technology may be implemented could take a number of different forms. The electric vehicle 2 includes a battery 21. This battery 21 is configured to provide electrical power to one or more electric motors 22 of the vehicle 2 which drive operation of the vehicle 2.

Versions of the present technology will be described, by way of example, with reference to an electric car. However, it will be appreciated that the technology could equally be applied to a wide variety of electric vehicles 2 and the present description and claims should be construed accordingly. The electric vehicle 2 may be a ground travelling vehicle and may, therefore, include one or more ground engaging wheels, tracks, rollers, or the like (the rotation of at least one of which may be drivable by the one or more electric motors 22 in order to propel the vehicle 2 across the ground). The electric vehicle 2 may be a car, a van, a camper van (i.e. mobile home), a lorry, a truck, a bus, a coach, a motorcycle, a scooter, a bicycle, a tractor, a train, a tram, a tank, or the like. In some versions, the vehicle 2 may be self-propelled (i.e. the vehicle 2 includes the or each electric motor 22 and/or battery 21 ). In some versions, the vehicle 2 may be a towed vehicle 2 which may still have a need for electrical power for its operation (e.g. to power devices within or associated with the towed vehicle 2). Versions of the present technology may be implemented with such vehicles 2 which may include, for example, trailers and caravans.

In some versions, the vehicle 2 may be self-propelled but at least part of the battery 21 may be provided in the towed vehicle 2.

The electric vehicle 2 need not be a ground travelling vehicle, however, and the technology could equally be applied to electric vehicles 2 in the form of watercraft or aircraft.

The electric vehicle 2 may be an autonomous vehicle (i.e. which is configured to navigate and operate itself) or may be a non-autonomous vehicle (i.e. which is configured to be operated by a user). Such a vehicle 2 may, therefore, be described as self-driving in some versions but this does not need to be the case.

The or each electric motor 22 may be configured to propel the electric vehicle 2 and may use electrical power from the battery 21 for this purpose. In some versions, the electric vehicle 2 may also include an engine 23 which may be an internal combustion engine which may be configured, for example, for use in generating electrical power to charge the battery 21 and/or powering the or each electric motor 22. Such an electric vehicle 2 may still require - at least for optimal operation - charging of the battery 21 using an external power source rather than using the engine 23 of the electric vehicle 2. The electric vehicle 2 may include other systems and devices 24 which are configured to receive electrical power from the battery 21 for their operation. The other systems and devices 24 may include, for example, a heating system (which may be for heating a cabin of the vehicle 2), a cooling system (which may be for cooling a cabin of the vehicle 2), an air conditioning system (which may be for a cabin of the vehicle 2), an HVAC system (which may be for a cabin of the vehicle 2), a infotainment system, a navigation system, electrically operated seats, lights, a siren, one or more sensors and other electrical equipment of the vehicle. In some instances, the electric vehicle 2 may include a heating and/or cooling system for the battery 21 and this may be another example of another system or device 24. In some examples, the electric vehicle 2 may share a heating and/or cooling system (which may be an HVAC system) for use in relation to both a compartment of the vehicle 2 (or a part or zone of a compartment) and the battery 21. The compartment of the vehicle 2 may be, for example, a compartment of the vehicle 2 in which the user is located during operation of the vehicle 2 (e.g. a cabin) or may be a compartment used for the storage of goods or the performance of a task for which, for example, temperature control within the compartment is required.

The electric vehicle 2 may include one or more sensors which are configured to sense one or more parameters associated with the vehicle 2 and/or its operation. The or each sensor may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors associated with the battery 21 and configured to sense a temperature of the battery 21 or a part thereof. The or each sensor may include, for example, one or more vehicle speed sensors. The or each sensor may include, for example, one or more, vehicle inclination sensors (configured to determine a degree of inclination of the vehicle 2 and so, for example, whether the vehicle 2 is travelling up or down a slope and/or the gradient of the slope).

In some versions, the electric vehicle 2 includes a battery management system (BMS) 25. The BMS 25 may be configured to control (i.e. manage) the operation of the battery 21. This may include, for example, controlling one or more of: a maximum discharge rate, a maximum charge rate, a charging operation, a temperature, a maximum state of charge, and/or a minimum state of charge, of the battery 21 , and the like.

The BMS 25 may, therefore, be communicatively coupled to at least one of the one or more sensors and to the battery 21.

The electric vehicle 2 may include a charging port 26 which is configured to be coupled, in electrical communication, with a charging point 31 (see figure 2, for example). The charging point 31 may be configured to provide electrical power to the battery 21 , when coupled to the vehicle 2 (e.g. using the charging port 26), to charge the battery 21. The charging of the battery 21 may be controlled, at least in part, by the BMS 25.

The electric vehicle 2 may include or be associated with a user interface system 27 which is configured to receive input from the user and is configured to output information to the user. The user interface system 27 may include a display screen (which may be a touchscreen), speaker, a microphone, and/or one or more dials, switches, toggles, or the like. The user interface system 27 may be part of a navigation system 28 of the vehicle 2 or may be communicatively coupled thereto, such that the user can interact with the navigation system 28 via the user interface system 27 and receive one or more navigation instructions via the user interface system 27. The user interface system 27 may be communicatively coupled to other systems and/or components of the vehicle 2 such as the BMS 25. The user interface system 27 may include one or more of an infotainment system, a dashboard, a heads-up-display, and the like. The user interface system 27 may, as is described herein, be provided as part of a user computing device 9, for example. Autonomous vehicles 2, in particular, may not include but may be associated with the user interface system 27 which may be provided remotely to the vehicle 2. The electric vehicle 2 may include one or more computing devices 29 which may include, for example, a processor configured to execute instructions, a memory for storing instructions, and data, and the like. The or each computing device 29 may be communicatively coupled to various other systems and devices of the vehicle 2. Indeed, the BMS 25 may be provided as one of the one or more computing devices 29, as might the navigation system 28 and/or the charging scheme determining system 1 , for example. Such one or more computing devices 29 may be referred to as vehicle computing devices 29. The systems (e.g. the BMS 25, the navigation system 28 and/or the charging scheme determining system 1 ) may share one or more of the one or more vehicle computing devices 29.

The navigation system 28 may include a geographic location unit 281 which may be a radio navigation-satellite service receiver (such as a Global Positioning System receiver, a GLONASS receiver, a BeiDou receiver, or the like). The geographic location unit 281 may be configured to determine the geographic location of the vehicle 2 and to provide this information to other parts of the navigation system 28. The navigation system 28 may include or have access to a memory 282 which may store, for example, a map (the memory 282 may be a computer readable medium, for example). In some versions, the map may be remotely stored away from the vehicle 2 (e.g. on a server) and the navigation system 28 may be configured to receive the map or parts thereof from the remote location. The navigation system 28 may include or have access to a database or other data store of other information related to navigation planning and this may include one or more of, for example, traffic information, weather information, road closure and maintenance information, average speeds of vehicles for a plurality of roads (e.g. generated from historic records of vehicles travelling along the roads or predicted based on characteristics of the road), standard deviations of the speeds of vehicles for the plurality of roads, road gradients, speed limits for a plurality of roads, and the like. The navigation system 28 may include or have access to a database or other data store of other user-related information concerning navigation planning and this may include one or more predicted destination locations, one or more user-preferred routes, and/or one or more predicted waypoints. This other user-related information may be collated from records of previous journeys associated with the user (which may be journeys of the vehicle 2 but could be journeys of other vehicles involving the user and associated with the user in an account associated with both the user and the navigation system 28). The other user-related information may include a profile for the user which represents one or more characteristics of the user and which may be used to predict one or more behaviours of the user.

This other information may be stored, at least partially, in a memory (such as memory 282) of the navigation system 28 and/or may be accessed from a remote location (such as a server). The navigation system 28 may, therefore, be configured to communicate with one or more navigation servers 5 (see figure 3, for example) which may be configured to provide, for example, one or more of the map (or part thereof), the other information related to navigation planning, and route planning services.

The navigation system 28 may include or may have access to a communication system 283 which is configured to enable communication with remote locations such as those mentioned herein (e.g. such as servers mentioned herein). This communication system 283 may be a radio communication system and may use a cellular telephone network and/or a Wi-Fi network, for example. The communication system 283 need not be a part of the navigation system 28 but may be included elsewhere in the vehicle 2. The communication system 283 may be a shared communication system which different systems and components of the electric vehicle 2 may use for communication. The communication system 283 may provide communication between the vehicle 2, therefore, and one or more remote locations which may be remote computing devices (of which the servers, such as mentioned herein) are examples. The communication system 283 may provide communication between the vehicle 2 and the Internet.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be a part of the navigation system 28 or may be provided separately. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be communicatively coupled to the navigation system 28. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be communicatively coupled to the communication system 283. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be included as part of the vehicle 2. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be provided as one of the one or more computing devices 29. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be communicatively coupled to the user interface system 27 (to receive inputs therefrom (e.g. from the user) and/or to send outputs thereto (e.g. for delivery to the user)) and that coupling may be via the navigation system 28 or may be directly. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be communicatively coupled to a charging scheme server 6 (e.g. at a remote location - see figure 3, for example) which may be the one of the one or more navigation servers 5. The communicative coupling may be through the communication system 283, for example. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be provided on the route optimisation server 6 and communicatively coupled to the vehicle 1.

The battery 21 could take a number of different forms. The battery 21 may include a plurality of cells. The battery 21 may be divided into a number of battery packs and each battery pack may include a plurality of cells. The battery 21 may be a lithium ion battery but other battery chemistries may also be used. Moreover, the term “battery” 21 is used herein as a reference to an electrical energy storage device and could include, for example, a capacitor rather than an electrochemical device or a combination of different devices (including capacitors and/or electrochemical devices).

As mentioned herein, the battery 21 is managed by the BMS 25 and the BMS 25 is configured to control and/or determine and/or monitor one or more parameters associated with the battery 21. The or each parameter may include, for example, one or more of: a state of charge of the battery 21 (which may be referred to herein as the present or current state of charge of the battery 21 ); a maximum state of charge of the battery 21 ; a minimum state of charge of the battery 21 ; a maximum rate of charge of the battery 21 (which may include a maximum rate of charge profile for the battery 21 based on the state of charge and/or the temperature of the battery (such as generally depicted in figures 9 and 10 graphically); a maximum rate of discharge of the battery 21 ; a minimum operating temperature of the battery 21 ; a maximum operating temperature of the battery 21 ; a present rate of charge of the battery 21 ; a present rate of discharge of the battery 21 (such discharge may be the result of loads on the battery 21 other than for propulsion of the vehicle 2, for example); a present battery 21 electrical voltage; a present electrical current drawn from the battery 21 ; a state of health of the battery 21 ; and an indication of one or more faults.

The maximum rate of charge profile for the battery 21 may include a plurality of maximum rates of charge for the battery 21 , with each rate associated with a state of charge of the battery 21 (or range of states of charge) and/or a battery 21 temperature (or range of temperatures).

The maximum rate of charge for the battery 21 may depend on a state of health of the battery 21 and/or the presence of one or more faults, which may be determined by the BMS 25. In some versions, the state of health of the battery 21 and/or the one or more faults may, therefore, be included in the one or more parameters or may be accounted for in the maximum rate of charge included in the one or more parameters. Also as mentioned herein, one or more sensors may be provided to sense one or more of the parameters. Other parameters (such as the maximum or minimum values mentioned above) may be predetermined. These predetermined values may be set or changed, by the BMS 25 itself, under instruction from a remote location (e.g. a remote computing device), and/or under instruction from the user (e.g. using the user interface system 27).

The BMS 25 may be configured to determine an estimated range of the vehicle 2 and this may be a range of the vehicle until the state of charge of the battery 21 reaches the minimum state of charge of the battery 21 , for example. In some versions, another system may determine the estimated range (which may be the navigation system 28, or some other vehicle 2 system). The electric vehicle 2 is, as described herein, configured to be charged (e.g. so that the battery 21 is charged) at the charging point 31. The charging point 31 may be part of a charging station 3. A charging station 3 may include one or more charging points 31. The charging point 31 is configured to provide electrical power to the vehicle 2 when the vehicle 2 is connected to the charging point 31 - e.g. when the charging point 31 is connected to the charging port 26 of the vehicle 2. The charging point 31 may be configured to control the delivery of that electrical power and may include a user interface 311 through which the user can input commands to the charging point 31, which might include booking information, identification information, payment information, desired charge level, desired charge duration, and the like. Typically, a user would approach the charging point 31 having parked their vehicle 2 in close proximity, the user may then connect the charging point 31 to the vehicle 2 (e.g. using the charging port 26) and then use the user interface 311 to authorise the charging of their vehicle 2 (i.e. of the battery 21 , thereof). Charging of the vehicle 2 would then be undertaken under the combined control of the charging point 31 and a controller of the vehicle 2 (which may be part of the BMS 25), e.g. with the charging point 31 controlling the electrical power transferred to the vehicle 2 and the controller of the vehicle 2 controlling the delivery of that electrical power (or a part thereof) to the battery 21. In the case of an autonomous vehicle 2, for example, then the vehicle 2 may be configured to connect to and/or disconnect from the charging point 31 autonomously and this could be achieved in a number of different manners - such as through the use of charging pads, automatically extendable charging ports, ports which mate together on docking of the vehicle 2 to the charging point 31 , and the like.

The charging station 3 may include infrastructure components which may support the operation of the charging point 31 or points 31 of the station 3 (such as power converters and the like). The charging station 3 may include electrical power supply components, therefore.

The charging station 3 may include or be associated with one or more user infrastructure components 32 which might be considered to be user services, conveniences, or comforts (the or each user infrastructure components 32 may be associated with the charging point(s) 31 which may be the charging point(s) 31 of the charging station 3). These may include (and information about these components 32 may include), for example, toilet facilities (which may include whether they are suitable for use by a disabled person), a restaurant (which may include the cuisine served), a shop, a coffee shop, vending machines, entertainment facilities, baby changing facilities, and the like. The user infrastructure components 32 may, therefore, be referred to as user infrastructure facilities or services. In some instances, the or each user infrastructure component 32 may be associated with the charging station 3 but not necessarily part of the charging station 3 (for the avoidance of doubt, such components 32 which are part of the charging station 3 are associated with the charging station 3 in any event). This may include facilities which are adjacent the charging station 3.

In some versions of the technology, a charging point communication system may be provided which may connect the charging point 31 communicatively with one or more servers (e.g. at remote locations) and this connection may be over the Internet. The charging point communication system may be a computer network communication system using a wired or wireless communication network or both. The charging point communication system may enable the charging point 31 to be booked remotely for a predetermined time and/or date. This booking may be managed, for example, by a charging point server 4 (e.g. at a remote location - see figure 3, for example) which may be configured to administer the booking of a plurality of charging points 31 (which may or may not be of a plurality of charging stations 3). Therefore, a user may - for example - communicate via a computing device (which may be a personal computing device, such as a smartphone, or one of the one or more computing devices 29) with the charging point server 4 to book a charging point 31.

The charging point server 4 may include additional information about the charging point 31 and/or charging station 3. This additional information may include one or more of: a location of the charging point 31 ; a cost function for the charging point 31 (or factors of a cost function)

(which may be the cost function described hereinelsewhere); an availability of the charging point 31 (or of a charging point 31 at the charging station 3) (which may be the availability over one or more future time periods); a maximum charge rate of the charging point 31 ; a maximum charge current and/or voltage of the charging point 31 ; information about one or more user infrastructure components 32 associated with the charging point 31 (as mentioned herein); a suitability of the charging point 31 for a size and/or one or more characteristics of vehicle 2 (which may include a size of a parking bay associated with the charging point 31 and/or a type of charging port 26 supported by the charging point 31 and/or turning circle of the vehicle 2 and/or height of the vehicle 2) (which may be based on the availability of a charging point 31 associated with (e.g. near or adjacent) the charging point 31); and a price for use of the charging point 31. These may be referred to herein as characteristics of the charging point 31 , for example.

In some versions the above information is additionally or alternatively held in a database which may be stored on a server other than the charging point server 4. This database may store such data for a plurality of different charging points 31 which may or may not be for a plurality of different charging stations 3. Indeed, in some versions, this plurality of charging points 31 may be operated and/or owned by a plurality of different entities and the database may, therefore, be considered to be a third party database. This database may include, as such, collected information about the plurality of charging points 31. The server holding this database may or may not provide a booking functionality as described above. In some versions the server holding this database may provide access to booking functionality on a charging point server 4, for example. The database may be held on a plurality of servers. The database or a part thereof may be stored in the charging scheme determining system 1 and/or the navigation system 28. The database may be stored on one or more of the one or more navigation servers 5.

In some versions there is provided a booking system associated with a charging point 31 which may enable the booking of the charging point 31 for charging (e.g. at a specified time and/or date) and/or which may enable the booking of one or more user infrastructure components 32 associated with the charging point 31 , and/or which may enable the placement of an order with one or more user infrastructure components 32 associated with the charging point 31 (e.g. for a coffee, a meal, or the like). The booking system may be accessed by versions of the technology to make such bookings and/or orders and this may be based on an optimised route generated by versions of the technology, for example.

The operation of various versions of the technology is described in terms of methods. These methods may be computer implemented and may, therefore, be embodied as instructions which, when executed by one or more processors (e.g. of one or more computing devices (which may be the one or more computing devices 29 or any of the servers described herein) may cause the performance of the methods. The instructions may be stored on a tangible, non-transitory, computer readable medium or on media which collectively provide the instructions (which may, therefore, be for execution by a plurality of different computing devices in the performance of the methods). These methods may include, but are not limited to, methods of operation of the navigation system 28 and the charging scheme determining system 1.

A user as referred to herein is a user of the electric vehicle 2. In the case of a non-autonomous vehicle 2 this may be the driver or operator of the vehicle 2. In the case of an autonomous vehicle 2, this may be the person responsible for the operation of the vehicle 2 and/or a computer system configured to be responsible for the operation of the vehicle 2.

In a typical scenario, the user wishes the vehicle 2 to travel from a current location 71 of the vehicle 2 to a destination location 72. Figure 4 shows a simplified map including the current location 71 and the destination location 72. The map shows a road network which includes a motorway or freeway 73 and a number of minor roads 74. The map also shows some towns or cities 75, along with a plurality of charging points 31a-g.

The user may select (or otherwise identify) the destination location 72 from the map as presented to the user, e.g. using the user interface system 27, or may enter the destination location 72 (or the destination location 72 may be provided by some other system, such as a delivery management system in the case of a vehicle 2 used for a delivery operation). The current location 71 may be entered by the user in the same manner (or received in the same manner from the other system) or may be determined by the geographic location system 281 of the navigation system 28 of the vehicle 2. In some instances, the current location 71 is not the actual current location of the vehicle 2 but is a planned future location of the vehicle 2. Therefore, the current location 71 may equally be referred to as a start location 71 or initial location 71 for a journey to the destination location 72 (and may not represent the actual current location of the vehicle 71 ).

The map may be provided to the user by the navigation system 28, for example. It may be provided from locally stored information or may be provided using information from the navigation server(s) 5.

Following identification of the destination location 72 and the obtaining of the initial location 71 , the navigation system 28 may be commanded by the user (e.g. using the user interface system 27) to determine a route to the destination location 72 from the initial location 71. The navigation system 28 may then determine a route to the destination location 72 and may present this to the user (e.g. via the user interface system 27 - see figure 8, for example). In some versions, the navigation server(s) 5 may determine the route and provide this to the navigation system 28 (the navigation system 28 having sent the initial location 71 and destination location 72 to the navigation server(s) 5).

The determining of that route could be undertaken in a number of different manners and could be optimised for time or distance or total energy required for the journey or journey cost (which may be based on the total energy required), for example. The determining of the route may take into account one or more of: average speed of a number of vehicles traveling along the route, the standard deviation of the speed of vehicles traveling along the route, the gradient of the road along the route, traffic information, weather information, road closure and maintenance information, and the like.

Figure 5 shows, for example, a route as determined by the navigation system 28 and/or navigation server(s) 5 - see the wider line indicating the route.

Such a route may have been determined without any consideration for the range of the electric vehicle 2 (which may be the maximum range or the range at the current state of charge of the battery 21 , for example).

A user may be expected, conventionally, to obtain the estimated range of the vehicle 2 from the BMS 25 (or other system as described herein), which may be obtained using the user interface system 27, for example. This estimated range may then be compared with a distance of the route (which may be generated by the navigation system 28 and/or navigation server(s) 5). If the estimated range of the vehicle 2 is less than the distance of the route, then the vehicle 2 will need to be charged along the route to enable the destination location 72 to be reached.

Determining where to charge the vehicle 2 is a complex problem and a user will typically opt to select a charging point 31 (or multiple charging points 31 if required) which are generally located such that they coincide with the end (or near the end) of the range of the vehicle 2 (e.g. as estimated by the BMS). In other words, when proceeding in this manner, the vehicle 2 will travel until the state of charge of the vehicle 2 is at or close to the minimum state of charge of the vehicle 2 before the vehicle 2 is stopped at a charging point 31 for charging. The vehicle 2 will then typically need to stop for charging at the selected charging point(s) 31 for a long period of time for charging.

This behaviour is similar to the behaviour adopted in relation to the refuelling of vehicles with internal combustion engines. However, in relation to an internal combustion engine, the rate of delivery of the fuel during refuelling is generally constant and it takes a comparatively short period of time to refuel such vehicles. This is not the case in relation to electric vehicles 2.

In particular, the charging of the battery 21 of the electric vehicle 2, from a low state of charge, can take several hours. Moreover, the maximum rate at which the battery 21 can be charged is dependent on the state of charge of the battery 21 and on the battery temperature. The maximum charging rate of the battery 21 may be dependent on the battery state of health and/or one or more faults and/or a current rate of discharge of the battery 21. The maximum rate of charge of the battery 21 of the vehicle 2 may be determined and controlled by the BMS 25, for example, based on a number of criteria. These criteria may be set in order to reduce the risk of damage to the battery 21 and/or to try to ensure that the battery 21 has a service life (before replacement is needed) above a predetermined threshold. Figure 9 shows, for example, how the maximum rate of charge for a typical battery 21 (i.e. the charge power limit) varies with respect to the state of charge of the battery 21 (indicated as a percentage of the maximum state of charge of the battery 21 ). As can be seen, the maximum rate of charge for a typical battery 21 may be between about 40% and about 70% of the maximum state of charge of the battery 21. The maximum rate of charge for a highly discharged battery 21 may be relatively low and the maximum rate of charge of a battery 21 already at a high state of charge may also be relatively low. It will be appreciated that every battery type (and, indeed, every battery 21 even of the same type) will have a different characteristic curve and that this figure is merely an example. Moreover, the maximum rate of charge for the battery 21 may be determined by the BMS 25 and may change over time (e.g. as the battery 21 deteriorates over time, the maximum rate of charge may also change (or be changed by the BMS 25, for example)).

Accordingly, considering the state of charge of the battery 21 , the time required to charge the battery 21 by a predetermined amount (e.g. 0.1 kWh) will vary depending on the state of charge of the battery 21. Typically this variation means that the time required to charge the battery 21 by the predetermined amount increases significantly as the maximum state of charge of the battery 21 is reached. Generally, in relation to some batteries 21 , the time required to charge the battery 21 by the predetermined amount at low states of charge is greater than at the mid-point of the state of charge (e.g. 50% state of charge) but not as great as it is when the state of charge is close to the maximum state of charge of the battery 21. In other words, the maximum rate of charge of the battery 21 for a given state of charge of the battery 21 may be lowest at high states of charge.

The maximum rate of charge of the battery 21 is also dependent on the temperature of the battery 21. Figure 10 shows, for an example battery 21 , a three dimensional graph of the maximum rate of charge of the battery 21 (i.e. the charge power limit), the battery 21 temperature, and the state of charge of the battery 21 (i.e. the battery energy). Whilst this graph depicts these characteristics for a particular example battery 21 , it will be appreciated that similar characteristics will be seen in other batteries 21 and other battery 21 types. For example, in relation to the impact of battery 21 temperature on the maximum charging rate, it can be seen that the maximum charging rate is lowest at low temperatures. As the temperature increases the maximum charging rate increases. Flowever, in this and some other examples, the maximum charging rate will level off and then drop over a certain temperature.

The BMS 25 may be configured to provide some control over the temperature of the battery 21. This may include, for example, controlling the heating and/or cooling system for the battery 21 to seek to maintain the battery 21 temperature between the minimum and maximum operating temperatures of the battery 21. In this respect, the BMS 25 may seek to control the temperature of the battery 21 to an optimised temperature and that optimised temperature may be determined based on a desired discharge rate (which is also affected by battery temperature) and the desired discharge rate may be determined in order to seek a performance target for the vehicle 2 (such as a particular speed, acceleration, and/or range).

Therefore, the maximum rate of charge of the battery 21 is dependent on the state of charge of the battery 21 and the temperature of the battery 21 (and may be dependent on the state of health of the battery 21 and/or any faults with the vehicle 2 and/or battery 21 ).

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to use this dependency to seek to determine an optimised route which takes into account the need to charge the vehicle 2 (i.e. the battery 21 ). This may well mean, for example, that for a route determined (or optimised) in this manner the vehicle 2 will stop earlier in the journey to charge or partially charge and/or may stop on multiple occasions to perform partial charges rather than stopping once to perform a complete charge from a low state of charge.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may, as described, form part of the navigation system 28 or may be separate therefrom. Versions of the technology will be described as if the charging scheme determining system 1 is separate from the navigation system 28 but this is merely by way of example and the teachings apply equally to versions in which the two systems 1 ,28 are one and the same.

In some versions, therefore, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to receive a proposed route from the navigation system 28. This may be as a result of the user entering, for example, the destination location 72 (and maybe the initial location 71) into the navigation system 28 generally as described above. In some versions, however, the user may enter the destination location 72 (and maybe the initial location 71) into the charging scheme determining system 1 which then calls on the navigation system 28 (passing the destination location 72 and, if applicable, the initial location 71) to the navigation system 1 and requesting a route. In some versions, the initial location 71 is determined by the geographical location system 281. In any event, the charging scheme determining system 1 receives a proposed route from the navigation system 28.

This route may be, for example, the route as shown in figure 5. As will be appreciated, this route has a length and along that length there are roads with different speeds and/or gradients. For an electric vehicle 2 a large part of the electrical power required for a journey will be dependent on the speed at which the vehicle 2 is travelling and the gradient the vehicle 2 is traversing. In some instances, the electrical power required for a journey will also be dependent on any load the vehicle 2 is carrying or towing, for example.

Accordingly, figure 11 shows how the power required varies over the course of a journey and the speed of the vehicle 2 throughout the journey. It should be noted that this graph does not show the same route as shown in figure 5. The electrical power required at any moment during the journey (and so the energy needed for the journey or part thereof) will also depend on the energy needs of the vehicle 2 other than for propulsion and this may include, for example, the energy required to power the other systems and devices 24, the navigation system 28, the user interface system 27, the one or more computing devices 29, and/or the charging scheme determining system 1.

The navigation system 28 may separate the journey into a series of journey segments 81. Each segment 81 may, for example, define a section of the journey for which the vehicle speed is generally constant. This vehicle speed is the predicted vehicle speed. The predicted vehicle speed may be determined by the average speed of a number of vehicles traveling along that section, and/or use of the standard deviation of the speed of these vehicles, and/or the road gradient, and/or the road speed limit, and may take into account traffic information, weather information, road closure and/or maintenance information, for example. This information may be provided from the source(s) indicated herein.

Journey segments 81 are schematically shown in figure 6.

Figure 12 shows, for a different journey to that in figure 6, the energy required by the vehicle 2 for each segment over the length of the journey, and the cumulative energy required by the vehicle 2. Again, this is merely an example.

Each journey segment 81 may, therefore, be associated with a vehicle speed and/or a gradient and/or an energy requirement.

The cumulative energy requirement can be compared to the state of charge of the battery 21 (i.e. the battery energy) to determine if the vehicle 2 has adequate charge for the journey.

In some versions, the user may specify (or there may be otherwise provided as a predetermined value) an acceptable minimum state of charge for the vehicle 2 (i.e. for the battery 21 ). This may be different to the minimum state of charge of the battery 21 defined by the BMS 25, as the acceptable minimum state of charge may include a safety margin, with a view to avoiding the state of charge reaching the minimum state of charge defined by the BMS 25 and stranding the vehicle between charging points 31. This acceptable minimum state of charge can be taken into consideration when determining whether the vehicle 2 has adequate charge for the journey (and may be provided to the navigation system 28 and/or the charge scheme determining system 1).

In some instances, there is additionally (or as an example of the acceptable minimum state of charge) a specific state of charge at the destination location 72. In other words, a state of charge (or minimum state of charge) that the user would like when they reach the destination location 72. This may be a state of charge which, for example, allows for some further travel at the destination location 72 in the absence of a charging point 31. This state of charge may be referred to as a target state of charge (i.e. a target state of charge at the destination location 72) (and may be provided to the navigation system 28 and/or the charge scheme determining system 1).

In some versions, the target state of charge at the destination location 72 may be, or include as a factor, a distance from the destination location 72 to a charging point 31 , which may be the closest charging point to the destination location 72, for example.

In some versions, the target state of charge includes as a factor a margin for error (i.e. an additional state of charge over and above what is otherwise determined).

Accordingly, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to receive the proposed route for the journey from the navigation system 28. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to determine the cumulative energy required for the route and to compare this to the state of charge of the battery 21 to determine whether the vehicle 2 can reach the destination location 72 without requiring a charge of the vehicle 2. This may include, for example, reaching the destination location with the acceptable minimum state of charge of the vehicle 2. This may be done through the receipt, from the navigation system 28 of the route as well as information associated with the journey segments. This information associated with the journey segments may include the average vehicle speed through each segment (which may be a typical average speed and/or which may account for traffic, road closures, and/or maintenance), and/or the standard deviation of vehicle speeds, and/or the gradient in each segment, and/or one or more energy consumption requirements (such as the energy required by the vehicle 2 for the operation of the other systems and devices 24, the BMS 25, the user interface system 27, the navigation system 28, the charging scheme determining system 1 , and/or the or each computing device 29) and/or one or more vehicle 2 characteristics (such as vehicle 2 mass, information about the vehicle 2 aerodynamics, and/or a declared energy consumption for the vehicle 2). The information may include weather information. This information may include information about any load the vehicle 2 is carrying or towing, for example (which may be considered to be one of the one or more vehicle 2 characteristics, for example).

In some versions, the acceptable minimum state of charge may be, or include as a factor, a state of charge required to power the vehicle 2 to a charging point 31 , which may be the closest charging point to the vehicle 2, for example.

In some versions, the acceptable minimum state of charge includes as a factor a margin for error (i.e. an additional state of charge over and above what is otherwise determined).

The charging scheme determining system 1 may receive information about the vehicle 2, and/or battery 21 , and/or BMS 25. This information may include, for example the state of charge of the battery 21 (which may be the current state of charge of the battery 21 ). This information may include information about how much energy the vehicle 2 requires to maintain one or more speeds (which may include one or more of the vehicle 2 mass (which may include any load the vehicle 2 is towing or carrying), aerodynamic information for the vehicle 2 (which may include such information in light of a load the vehicle is towing or carrying), and a declared energy consumption for the vehicle 2). This information may include information about the energy required by the vehicle 2 for the operation of the other systems and devices 24, the BMS 25, the user interface system 27, the navigation system 28, the charging scheme determining system 1, and/or the or each computing device 29 (i.e. the energy overhead in operating the vehicle 2) - this information may include the declared energy consumption of the vehicle 2, for example. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be communicatively coupled to a database which stores at least some of such information about the vehicle 2, battery 21 , and/or BMS 25. This information may provide a vehicle model which the charging scheme determining system 1 may use to determine the energy required for a journey or part thereof.

In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to update the vehicle model based on measured energy consumption of the vehicle 21 (e.g. as a result of information provided to the charging scheme determining system 1 by the BMS 25), with a view to improving estimates of the cumulative energy required for the route.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured, therefore, to use the available information (e.g. the vehicle model) to determine the cumulative energy required for the journey, according to the proposed route, and to compare this to the state of charge of the battery 21. The energy required for a journey segment 81 may be determined by integrating the power requirements for the vehicle 2 over the time the vehicle 2 is travelling along that journey segment 81. The energy requirements for the journey may then be determined by accumulating (i.e. summing) the energy required for all of the journey segments 81.

If the journey can be completed without the predicted state of charge reaching the minimum state of charge and/or the acceptable minimum state of charge and/or the target state of charge at the destination location 72, then the charging scheme determining system 1 may confirm the proposed route which may then be presented to the user (e.g. using the user interface system 27). In some versions, the confirmation is passed to the navigation system 28 which then presents (or causes the presentation of) the route to the user. In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 presents (or causes the presentation of) the route to the user.

Figure 13 shows the predicted state of charge of the vehicle 2 over the course of a journey (with the speed of the vehicle 2 also shown). From this figure, which is shown as an illustrative example, it can be seen that the predicted state of charge of the vehicle 2 is insufficient to allow the vehicle 2 to reach the destination location 72. Such journeys are, of course, relatively straightforward and charging is not required. Versions of the technology, however, operate to seek to provide optimised routes (an optimised route includes, for example, an optimised charging scheme) in which charging of the vehicle 2 is required in order to reach (or seek to reach) the destination location 72 and/or to reach the destination location 72 with the minimum or acceptable minimum or target state of charge.

Accordingly, the charging scheme determining system 1 may determine that the cumulative energy required for the journey, compared to the state of charge of the vehicle, means that charging of the vehicle 2 is required. In some versions, the navigation system 28 may make this determination and then only pass routes requiring charging to the charging scheme determining system 1 for optimisation (i.e. for determining a charging scheme).

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to receive the information discussed above, if not already received.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to obtain information about one or more charging points 31 associated with the proposed route. A charging point 31 may be associated with the proposed route if it is within a predetermined distance or travel time from the proposed route. The predetermined distance or travel time may be changed to encompass one or more additional charging points 31 and this adjustment may be made by a user (e.g. via the user interface system 27) or may be automatically performed by the optimisation system 1 if, for example, there are no solutions for charging found by the charging scheme determining system 1 (i.e. it is determined that the destination location 72 cannot be reached because there are insufficient charging points 31 associated with the proposed route and/or there is insufficient availability of charging points 31 associated with the proposed route (e.g. because they are already booked)). In some versions, therefore, charging points 31 associated with a proposed route (which may be those within the predetermined distance or travel time from the proposed route) may be referred to as candidate charging points 31 , as they are charging points 31 at which a charging scheme may include a stop for charging (but which may not form part of the charging scheme). The information about the one or more charging points 31 may be obtained from a database which may be stored on the charging scheme server 6 or the charging point server 4 or which may be the third party database referred to herein. The information about the one or more charging points 31 which is obtained by the charging scheme determining system 1 may include one or more of a location of the charging point 31 , cost function for the charging point 31 , an availability of the charging point 31 (or of a charging point 31 at the charging station 3), a maximum charge rate of the charging point 31 , a maximum charge current and/or voltage of the charging point 31 , information about one or more user infrastructure components 32 associated with the charging point 31 , and a price for use of the charging point 31.

The location of the charging point 31 may enable the charging scheme determining system 1 to determine the position along the proposed route at which the charging point 31 is located. In some versions, the charging point 31 may not be on the proposed route and/or may require additional travel to reach the charging point 31. The cost function for the charging point 31 may include a penalty cost which is applied to an optimisation process in relation to use of the charging point 31 (which may be a cost which is applied universally for every charging point 31 or may be determined individually for each charging point 31) and which generally represents the inconvenience of stopping at the charging point 31 to charge the vehicle 2. This may be referred to as an interruption factor, for example. The cost function may also or alternatively be used for a number of different purposes as explained herein and may, therefore, include a plurality of cost factors (each use may be represented by a different factor in the cost function, for example). In some versions, the cost function includes a factor dependent on the additional travel required to reach the charging point 31 from the proposed route and may, therefore, be determined and/or updated by the charging scheme determining system 1 to include this factor. In some version, the cost function (or factors used in the cost function) may be obtained from the charging point server 4 or may be determined by the charging scheme determining system 1). The availability of the charging point 31 may be determined from a booking system for the charging point 31 , for example. In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to determine charging schemes for a plurality of vehicles 2 (which may be referred to as a fleet of vehicles 2, for example). In some such versions, the availability of the charging point 31 may be based, at least in part, on information about the use of the charging point 31 by the plurality of vehicles 2 and may be determined by the charging scheme determining system 1.

The maximum charge rate of the charging point 31 may be a maximum power the charging point 31 is configured to deliver to the vehicle 2. The maximum charge current and/or voltage may be the maximum electrical current and/or voltage which the charging point 31 is configured to deliver to the vehicle 2. Information about one or more user infrastructure components 32 may be information about the availability of, for example, facilities which the user may use whilst stopped for charging the vehicle 2 (such as toilet facilities, restaurants, cafes, shops, and the like, see other examples herein). The price for use of the charging point 31 may include a fixed price for its use and/or a price per unit of energy (e.g. kWh) delivered by the charging point 31 to an electric vehicle 2.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to compile (or obtain) a model of each charging point 32 associated with the proposed route based on the aforementioned information obtained about the charging points 32 including, for example, a distance of each charging point 32 along the proposed route (which may be a distance from the initial location 71 (for all or one of the charging points 32) or from the preceding charging point 32). The model may include some or all of the information about the one or more charging points 31 which is obtained by the charging scheme determining system 1.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to divide the proposed route into a plurality of journey phases 82, with each journey phase 82 being defined, for example, as a part of the proposed route to the next charging point 31 associated with the proposed route. So, for example and looking at figure 7, there may be a first journey phase 82 from the initial location 71 to a first charging point 31a. There may be a second journey phase 82 from the first charging point 31 a to a second charging point 31 b. There may be a third journey phase 82 from the second charging point 31 b to a third charging point 31 c. There may be a fourth journey phase 82 from the third charging point 31c to a fourth charging point 31 b. There may be a fifth journey phase 82 from the fourth charging point 31a to the destination location 72. Of course, the number of charging points 31 will determine the number of journey phases. There would, in some versions, be at least a first journey phase 82 from the initial location 71 to a first charging point 31 and final journey phase 82 from the final charging point 31 to the destination location 72. There may then be one or more additional journey phases 82 between the first and final journey phases 82. The journey phases 82 may or may not match the journey segments 81. If the journey phases 82 do not match the journey segments 81 , then the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to interpolate (which may be a simple linear interpolation) data associated with the journey segments 81 to match the journey phases 82. This data may include, for example, the vehicle speed and/or the gradient and/or the energy requirement.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to associate each journey phase 82 with information about that phase of the proposed route. This information may include one or more of: an accumulated distance from the initial location 71 to the start of the journey phase 82, an accumulated distance from the initial location 71 to the end of the journey phase 82, an energy required by the vehicle 2 to reach the start of the journey phase 82, an energy required by the vehicle 2 to reach the end of the journey phase

82, an accumulated energy for the vehicle 2 at the start of the journey phase 82 from the initial location 71, an energy for the vehicle 2 to traverse the journey phase, an accumulated energy for the vehicle 2 at the end of the journey phase 82, and an energy required for the vehicle 2 to complete the journey from the end of the journey phase 82.

The charging scheme determining system 1 may obtain one or more parameters associated with the battery 21. The one or more parameters (see the list herein) may be obtained from the BMS 25 or may be obtained from a database which stores the one or more parameters in association with a record for the battery 21 and/or vehicle 2 and/or vehicle type (e.g. make and model) and/or may be obtained from the one or more computing devices 29 of the vehicle 2.

If the one or more parameters are obtained from a database, then the or each parameter may be associated with a record which is also associated with an age of the battery 21 and/or vehicle 2 and/or with a number of charging cycles of the battery 21 and/or with some other measure of the state of health (or likely state of health) of the battery 21.

The information from the BMS 25 (and/or one or more computing devices 29 of the vehicle 2) may include the state of health of the battery 21 or the indication of one or more faults. The BMS 25 (one or more computing devices 29 of the vehicle 2) or the charging scheme determining system 1 may adjust the one or more parameters based on the state of health of the battery 21 and/or the indication one or more faults.

Accordingly, the charging scheme determining system 1 may have or have access to models for each charging point 32, may have journey phase 82 information, and may have one or more parameters associated with the battery 21. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to use the charging point 32 models, the journey phase 82 information, and the one or more parameters, to determine, for each charging point 32, data representative of a maximum charging rate of the electric vehicle 2. This data representative of the maximum charging rate of the vehicle 2 may include the time required to add a predetermined amount of energy to the battery 21 of the vehicle 2 (i.e. to charge the battery 21 by a predetermined amount). This time required may be determined for a plurality of different states of charge of the battery 21. The time required may be dependent (e.g. capped by), at least in part, on the capabilities of the charging point 32, including its maximum charge rate, for example. In some instances, the maximum charging rate of the vehicle 2 may be dependent on one or more electric discharge loads for the vehicle 2 at the time of charging (which may include the energy required to power one or more of: the other systems and devices 24, the BMS 25, the user interface system 27, the navigation system 28, the charge scheme determining system 1 , and the one or more computing devices 29).

The charging scheme determining system 1 may determine the time required, for each charging point 32, to add a predetermined amount of energy to the battery 21 of the vehicle 2 (i.e. to charge the battery 21 by a predetermined amount), which may be the time required for a plurality of different states of charge of the battery 21. In other words, the data representative of the maximum charging rate of the vehicle 2 may be determined for a plurality of different states of charge of the battery 21 (i.e. of the vehicle 2). These times may be referred to herein as the charge model.

The predetermined amount of energy may be less than a total energy deficit for the journey (i.e. an energy deficit for the electric vehicle 2 for the journey) - see herein for an explanation of the total energy deficit. The predetermined amount of energy may be less than half the total energy deficit for the journey. The predetermined amount of energy may be less than 10% the total energy deficit for the journey. The predetermined amount of energy may be greater than 0.1 % the total energy deficit for the journey. The predetermined amount of energy may be 10kWh or less than 10kWh (and may be more than 0.1 kWh). The predetermined amount of energy may be 5kWh or less than 5kWh (and may be more than 0.1 kWh). The plurality of different states of charge of the battery 21 may be determined based at least in part on the maximum state of charge of the battery 21 or, if less, the maximum energy required to complete the journey from the location of that charging point 32 (this providing the maximum state of charge for which the aforementioned time information is determined).

The plurality of different states of charge of the battery 21 may be determined based at least in part on the minimum state of charge of the battery 21 which is required when the vehicle 2 arrives at the charging point 32 in order for the electric vehicle to reach the end of the journey phase 82 with the acceptable minimum state of charge or minimum state of charge or, if the final charge point 31 associated with the proposed route, the target state of charge (this providing the minimum state of charge for which the aforementioned time information is determined). This may be determined using the information about that phase 82 of the proposed route.

The charge model may cover all charge states between the minimum state of charge and the maximum state of charge for which the time information is to be determined, as defined above.

The charge model may be dependent, therefore, on the capabilities of the charging point 32 and this includes the maximum charge rate associated therewith, for example (and may be based at least in part on other of the additional information associated with the charging point 32).

The time required (for charging of the battery 21 by the predetermined amount) for the plurality of different states of charge may be determined based, at least in part, on the expected temperature of the battery 21. Accordingly, the charge model may include battery 21 temperature as a factor thereof. In this respect, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to determine the likely battery 21 temperature at the beginning and/or end of a journey phase 82 based on a model for the battery temperature which provides battery temperatures in different operating conditions. The operating conditions may include, for example, the discharge rate of the battery 21 over time, and this may be determined or estimated by the charging scheme determining system 1 using the received information about the vehicle 2, and/or battery 21 , and/or BMS 25, along with the a vehicle speed and/or a gradient and/or an energy requirement up to the start of that journey phase 82. In some versions, the operating conditions may include the power or energy requirements of the vehicle 2 for travel along the proposed route. The temperature of the battery 21 as a result of the charging of the battery 21 may also be taken into account and the time required for charging of the battery 21 by the predetermined amount may be based on a battery temperature during charging and this may be determined by the charging scheme determining system 1 using information about the change in temperature likely during charging of that battery 21 (which may be received from the BMS 25 or a database which stores this information in association with a record for the battery 21 and/or vehicle 2 and/or vehicle type (e.g. make and model) and which may be the same database as may store the one or more parameters).

In some versions, as the variations in temperature of the battery 21 may be most significant at the start of a journey, the temperature of the battery 21 may only be taken into account for an initial portion of the proposed route. This may include a portion of the proposed route until it is predicted that the battery 21 temperature will exceed a threshold temperature or reach a normal operating temperature for the battery 21 (which my be one or the one or more parameters, and/or may be defined between the minimum and maximum operating temperatures of the battery 21 of the one or more parameters).

The time required (for charging of the battery 21 by the predetermined amount) for the plurality of different states of charge may take into consideration the state of health of the battery 21 and any faults with the battery 21 and/or vehicle 2. As discussed already, the charging scheme determining system 1 may also be configured to determine the total energy required to complete the journey along the proposed route (i.e. the cumulative energy required for the journey) and may have received the current state of charge of the battery 21. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to determine an energy deficit for the journey (which may be a total energy deficit). The energy deficit represents at least some energy which will need to be provided to the vehicle 2 over and above what can be provided by the battery 21 based on the current state of charge of the battery 21 in order for the vehicle 2 to complete the journey or a part thereof. The energy deficit may, therefore, represent a charging requirement for the battery 21. The total energy deficit may be determined to be the current state of charge of the battery 21 with the total energy required to complete the journey deducted therefrom (this may take into account the requirement to complete the journey with the acceptable minimum state of charge or the target state of charge, which may, therefore, be added to the total energy deficit calculated in this manner). The total energy deficit for the journey is, therefore, the amount of energy which must be collectively provided by the charging point(s) 31 to the vehicle 2 on the journey. Figure 13, for example, shows that - for the illustrative example represented by that figure - there is an energy deficient and that deficient is about 12% of the maximum state of charge of the vehicle 2. Such a deficient can, of course, be represented in absolute rather than relative terms. Figure 14, therefore, shows the state of charge of the battery 21 over the course of the journey along with the locations of charging points 31 , the maximum state of charge of the battery 21 , the minimum state of charge of the battery 21 , and the target state of charge of the battery 21. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to use the charge model to seek to find (or find) an optimised solution to the charging of the battery 21 at the charging points 31 , to seek to minimise the total journey time. This may include use of the cost function associated with each charging point 31 , the use of which may reduce the risk of a solution (e.g. an optimised solution which may be at least partially seeking to minimise total journey time) being determined which includes excessive stops for charging of the battery 21. The charging scheme determining system 1 may, therefore, be configured to distribute (i.e. proportion) charging between one or more of the charging points 82 based on the charge model (i.e. the time required to add the predetermined amount of energy to the battery 21 ), and this may include consideration of the cost function (which may be a penalty cost). As the charging is distributed, the amount of energy to be transferred to the battery 21 at that charging point 31 is deducted from the energy deficit (e.g. the total energy deficit) for the journey. This amount of energy may be the same as or based on the predetermined amount of energy used to generate the charge model. In some versions, this amount of energy may be a multiple of the predetermined amount of energy used to generate the charge model. Each allocation may be made based on the charging point 31 which will charge the battery 21 by the predetermined amount of energy (using the charge model and may be using the cost function) in the shortest time (i.e. at the highest charging rate). Each allocation may seek to ensure that the minimum energy required to reach the start of a particular journey phase 82 (i.e. to reach a particular charging point 31) is satisfied. The particular journey phase 82 (or charging point 31) may be the start of the last journey phase 82 (or the last charging point 31) before the predicted state of charge of the battery 21 is below the acceptable minimum state of charge or the start of the last journey phase 82 (or last charging point 31 ) associated with the proposed route if the predicted state of charge is below the target state of charge at the destination location 72. Therefore, if there is a journey phase 82 (or charging point 31 for which this is not satisfied, then the allocation may be restricted to one or more charging points 31 which are before the start of the first such journey phase 82 on the proposed route until the requirement is satisfied.

Similarly, each allocation may seek to ensure that the minimum energy required to reach the end of a journey phase 82 is satisfied (note that the final journey phase 82 may end with the destination location 72). The allocation may be restricted, therefore, to one or more charging points 31 before the end of the first such journey phase 82 on the proposed route. If there are more than one such restrictions, then the most limited restriction is applied. In other words, the allocation is limited to the charging point(s) 31 covered by the most restrictive of these restrictions.

With each allocation, the energy of the vehicle 2 along the proposed route (from that selected charging point 31 onwards) will change. Therefore, any such restrictions may also change.

In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to restrict each allocation to one or more charging points 31 which are located after the current location 71 (in the case of the first allocation) and/or at or after the charging point 31 to which the last allocation was made along the proposed route. In other words, an allocation can only be made at the same charging point 31 as the preceding allocation (i.e. the immediately preceding allocation) or at a charging point 31 which is ahead of this along the proposed route. This may reduce the risk of a charging scheme requiring a vehicle 2 to travel forwards on a proposed route to a charging point 31 and then, subsequently, having to travel back on the proposed route to an earlier charging point 31.

In other words, each allocation may be restricted to charging point(s) 31 which are within a predicted range of the vehicle 2 based on the initial state of charge and the planned charging of the vehicle 2 according to the preceding allocations, and which keep the vehicle 2 moving forwards along the proposed route. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to determine and apply one or more such restrictions.

Therefore, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to step through the charge model for the or each charge point 31 (of the one or more candidate charging points 31 , which may be the one or more candidate charging points 31 to which the allocations are restricted) and to determine the time to deliver the predetermined energy to the battery 21 for the charge state of the battery 21 based on that model and the predicted state of charge of the battery 21 and/or the predicted battery 21 temperature.

Following each allocation of a portion of the charging to a charging point 31 , or after a predetermined number of such allocations by the charging scheme determining system 1 , (and before the next allocation) the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to update the information associated with each journey phase 82 (and, in particular, that information which changes as a result of the planned charging of the battery 21 according to preceding allocation).

This updating may include updating the accumulated energy at the start of the journey phase 82, which is the energy of the battery 21 (i.e. the state of charge of the battery 21 ) at start of the journey phase 82 based on the current state of charge of the battery 21 in addition to any energy provided to the battery 21 at any preceding charging point 32.

The updating may include updating the accumulated energy at the end of the journey phase 82, which is the energy at the end of the journey phase 82 based on the current state of charge of the battery 21 in addition to any energy provided to the battery 21 at any preceding charging point 32 including the charging point 32 at the start of that journey phase 82, but with any energy required to traverse the journey phase 82 deducted.

As will be appreciated, therefore, after each allocation (and before the next allocation), the predicted state of charge of the battery 21 at one or more of the charging points 32 and/or the destination location 72 will be different to the predicted state of charge for that charging point 32 and/or destination location 72 prior to that allocation. Therefore, the maximum rate of charge for the battery 21 at one or more of the charging points 32 will have changed and the next allocation may not be to the same charging point 32 as the preceding allocation (or, indeed, as the next allocation).

With each allocation, the energy predicted to be provided to the vehicle 2 is deducted from the energy deficit (which may be the total energy deficit as described herein). The allocations repeat until all of this energy deficit for the journey has been allocated (i.e. the energy deficit, taking the deductions into account, has reached or fallen below zero). This results in an optimised allocation of the charging requirements for the vehicle 2 for the planned journey between the charging points 32.

The optimisation through the allocation of charging requirements may be an implementation of a dynamic programming methodology. As mentioned, the battery temperature also has an impact on the maximum rate of charge of the battery 21. In some versions, the battery temperature is predicted for each charging point 32 (i.e. for the end and/or beginning of each journey phase 82) once and then this temperature used throughout the optimisation steps (i.e. throughout the allocation of charging requirements). This prediction may use the model for the battery temperature. However, the battery temperature will, in practice, also depend on the impact of any charging and stops for charging, and these are determined by the allocations. Therefore, in some versions, the predicted temperature for each charging point 32 (i.e. for the end and/or beginning of each journey phase 82) may be updated after each allocation. This prediction may use the model for the battery temperature. The predicted temperature, however, may be used in the allocation of the charging requirements to the charging points 32, and is included in the use of the charging model to perform the allocation. Other influences on battery temperature may include, for example, environmental factors such as the weather (which may include an ambient temperature). This may be particularly true at the start of a journey after a period of non-use of the vehicle 2. Once the vehicle 2 has been operating for some time, then the largest influence of the battery 21 temperature is likely to be the demand on the battery 21 (i.e. the rate of discharge) and may include the impact of any steps taken by the BMS 25 to control the battery 21 temperature (such as using the other systems and devices 24, such as the cooling or heating system or HVAC system to cool or heat the battery 21 ). So, for example, after a cold night without use, the battery 21 may be relatively cold. In an early morning journey, therefore, charging the battery 21 early in the journey may be comparatively slow and the charging scheme determining system 1 may, therefore, be configured to use the battery 21 temperature and, in some cases, environmental conditions (e.g. the weather) when allocating the charging requirements to the charging points 32. For the avoidance of doubt, a similar effect may occur after a hot period of rest for the vehicle 2 (in which the battery 21 may be cooler after a period of operation).

In some versions a current battery 21 temperature may be obtained or estimated and then used as the battery 21 temperature at the start of the journey (e.g. in the use of the model for the battery temperature). The current battery 21 temperature may be provided by the BMS 25, for example. The current battery 21 temperature may be estimated based on a record of the previous use of the vehicle 2 (which may be obtained from information stored by the navigation system 28, for example) and/or environmental information such as the weather (which may be the weather information obtained from the navigation system 28, for example).

In some versions, the allocation of a portion of the charging to a charging point 31 may take into account one or more user requirements or preferences. The or each user requirement or preference may include, for example, a preference for particular user infrastructure components 32 associated with the charging point 31. These requirements or preferences may be provided by the user via the user interface system 27 and/or via the navigation system 28 and/or may be predetermined and stored in association with a record for that user.

The or each user requirement or preference may be factored into the optimisation by, for example, adjustment of the cost function (i.e. adjustment of a factor of the cost function) associated with a charge point 31 having the preferred or required user infrastructure components 32. This may, therefore, increase the likelihood of an allocation of a portion of the required charging to that or those charge points 31 with the required user infrastructure components 32. In some versions, the cost function (e.g. a factor thereof) may be adjusted based on both the user infrastructure component(s) 32 to which the user has indicated a requirement or preference and the distance or travel time from the start of the proposed route to the charge point 31. Accordingly, for a user infrastructure component 32 in the form of toilet facilities, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to favour (e.g. by adjustment of the cost function(s)) charge points 31 with associated toilet facilities which are more than a predetermined number of hours of travel time or miles of distance from the initial location 71 (on the basis that the user is less likely to need such facilities immediately after commencing the journey). In some versions, the user may adjust or enter such a predetermined distance or travel time (e.g. using the user interface system 27 and/or the navigation system 28). In some versions, the cost function(s) (or factor(s) thereof) are updated after one or more allocations a portion of the required charging to a charge point 31 which meets the user requirement or preference - on the basis that the user’s requirement or preference has been met and there is no need, for example, to increase the likelihood of an allocation to another charge station 31 which meets that requirement or preference (at least not until the predetermined travel time or distance has passed again, in some versions).

In some versions, a charging point 31 may be excluded from allocation (i.e. a candidate charging point 31 may be specifically excluded from the candidate charging points 31 to which an allocation can occur). This may be achieved, for example, by use of the user interface system 27, for example. More than one charging point 31 may be so excluded. The exclusion may be based on a user preference, for example. The exclusion may be based on the lack of a required user infrastructure component 32, for example.

The user requirement or preference may be a preference for pre-booked charging, for example. The data representative of the maximum charging rate of the vehicle 2 may include the cost function, for example.

The cost function (or a factor thereof) may also or alternatively be used in the same manner, for example, to decrease the likelihood of an allocation to a charge point 31 with low availability based on, for example, the booking information (availability may also or alternatively include availability in terms of being free from fault (i.e. serviceable) and this may be included in availability information). In this respect, the charging scheme determining system 1 may take into account the availability of charge points 31 along the proposed route within a window of time around when the vehicle 2 is likely to be passing the charging point 31. .

In some versions, once an allocation has been made to a charging point 31 , the charging scheme determining system 1 may book the charging point 31 for the predicted time that the vehicle 2 will be using the charging point 31 (which may be the predicted start time). If the availability of the charging point 31 means that the allocated charging cannot occur, then the charging scheme determining system 1 may exclude that charging point 31 and determine that allocation again (with that charging point 31 excluded).

The booking may be updated with or may take into account each allocation of charging to that charging point 31. If a subsequent allocation of charging to a charging point 31 is not possible due to availability of the charging point 31 , then the charging scheme determining system 1 may exclude that charging point 31 and determine that allocation again (with that charging point 31 excluded from further allocation).

The cost function (or a factor thereof) may also or alternatively be used in the same manner, for example, to decrease the likelihood of an allocation to a charge point 31 with a high price for its use (or to increase the likelihood of an allocation to a charge point 31 with a low price for its use). The cost function may, therefore, includes a price dependent factor. This price dependent factor may be user adjustable (e.g. through the user interface system 27) to adjust the influence of this factor in the cost function.

As will be appreciated, the charging scheme determining system 1 is configured to seek to determine an optimised charging scheme for the proposed route. The optimised charging scheme includes the charging point(s) 31 at which the vehicle 2 will need to stop for charging along the proposed route. In some versions, a primary factor in the determining of the charging scheme may be to minimise journey time; however, it will be understood that various versions allow for the consideration of other factors which may provide, for example, more practical options for the charging scheme (taking into account user preferences or requirements, for example). This charging scheme may be sent to a local computing device, which is local to the computing device which determined the scheme (e.g. the scheme may have been generated by the charging scheme determining system 1 of a vehicle 2 and sent to the navigation system 28 of a vehicle 2) and/or may be sent over a computer network to a remote computing device (or even over a computer network to a local computing device) (e.g. the scheme may have been generated by the charging scheme determining system 1 on a server 6 and then provided to the navigation system 28 on another server 5 or of the vehicle 2).

Figure 15, therefore, shows a representation of the same journey as figure 14 but also depicts the optimised charging scheme.

Figures 16-20 all depict graphs relating to another example journey for another example vehicle 2. In this example, there is heavy traffic at towards the end of the journey. This can be seen in the low vehicle speed at the end of the journey in figure 16. The energy overhead, however, means that the energy required per kilometre for the last part of the journey is very high despite the low vehicle speed. This can be seen in figure 17, for example. In figure 17 it can also be seen that the cumulative energy for the journey increases more rapidly, per kilometre, in this last part of the journey. Figure 18 shows how this impacts the state of charge of the vehicle 2. Again, this is also shown in figure 19. It should be noted that the destination location 72 is very close to the maximum available range of the vehicle 2 based on the initial state of charge. This may cause the user considerable range anxiety. The optimised charging scheme determined by the charging scheme determining system 1 can be seen in figure 20. As can be seen, the target state of charge (i.e. target energy) of the battery 21 has been met by following the optimised charging scheme. This may help not only to ensure that the vehicle 2 can successfully reach the destination location but may help to reduce range anxiety. The charging point(s) 31 which are part of the optimised charging scheme may be sent, therefore, by the charging scheme determining system 1 to the navigation system 28 for inclusion in the proposed route as new waypoints. In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to send, to the navigation system 28, indications of the time required for charging at each of these charging point(s) 31.

The navigation system 28 may be configured to receive details of the charging point(s) 31 from the charging scheme determining system 1 (which may include the time required at each charging point 31), and to adjust the proposed route accordingly. This may include adding the or each charging station 31 as a waypoint and/or adding the charging time to the journey time. In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 adds the waypoint(s) to the proposed route and/or adds the charging time to the journey time. An optimised route may, therefore, include these waypoints. The optimised route may be available to the navigation system 28 and/or the charging scheme determining system 1. Whichever system 28,1 has access to the optimised route may then make that route available to the user, e.g. through the user interface system 27. The navigation system 28 or the charging scheme determining system 1 may provide turn-by-turn instructions to the user of the vehicle 2 to enable navigation along the optimised route (e.g. via the user interface system 27) or may cause the navigation of an autonomous vehicle 2 along the optimised route (e.g. by the sending of the optimised route to an autonomous vehicle navigation system which may be part of the vehicle 2 or which may be communicatively coupled to the vehicle 2).

In some versions, one or more booking facilities may be provided by or triggered by the charging scheme determining system 1 and/or the navigation system 28 in association with the optimised route.

These one or more booking facilities may include access to booking information for the charging point(s) 31 at which the vehicle 2 is to stop according to the optimised route. This may include the access to a booking service, to enable the user to book the charging point 31.

These one or more booking facilities may include access to a booking system for a restaurant, cafe, or other entertainment service associated with the charging point(s) 31 at which the vehicle 2 is to stop according to the optimised route. This may enable, for example, the user to book a table at a restaurant or cafe. This may enable, for example, the user to order food, drink, or the like, at the facility before their arrival. As described, the maximum rate of charge of the electric vehicle 2 is dependent, at least in part, on the battery 21 temperature and the BMS 25 may be configured to control the battery 21 temperature. The BMS 25 is conventionally configured to control the battery 21 temperature for vehicle 2 performance (e.g. based on a desired discharge rate) and/or for longevity of the battery 21 (i.e. to reduce degradation of the battery 21 ) and/or for safety. In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to determine an optimised battery 21 temperature associated with one or more of the or each charging points 31 to which a portion of the required charging has been allocated. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to instruct the BMS 25 to seek to control the battery 21 temperature to the optimised battery temperature as the vehicle 2 approaches the associated charging point 31. In some versions, the BMS 25 may be configured to receive the locations of the or each such charging point 32 and/or the optimised temperature from the charging scheme determining system 1 and/or the navigation system 28 and may then seek to control the battery 21 temperature accordingly. In some versions, the BMS 25 uses a predetermined optimised battery 21 temperature for charging for this purpose. In some versions, the BMS 25 may receive location information for the vehicle 2 from the geographic location system 281 , for example. In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 and/or the navigation system 28 instructs the BMS 25 regarding this temperature control when the charging scheme determining system 1 and/or the BMS 25 determines that the vehicle 2 is approaching the or each such charging point 31.

In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 may be configured to exclude one or more charging points 32 of the associated charging points 32 when allocating the charge requirements as described herein. A charging point 32 may be excluded based on its availability, a user preference, or its location along the proposed route. In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 may exclude the closest or a number of the closest charging points 32 to the initial location 71 for the proposed route (e.g. excluded from the candidate charging points 32 during allocation). This may be, in part, because a user may not wish to stop soon after starting their journey.

In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 is configured to operate during the course of the journey (i.e. as the vehicle 2 travels the journey (e.g. according to the updated/optimised route)). Accordingly, the aforementioned allocation of charging requirements may be performed during operation of the vehicle 2 (i.e. during travel of the vehicle 2) taking into account updated information such as updated traffic information, updated weather information, updated information about road maintenance or congestion, updated information about the state of charge of the battery 21 , updated battery 21 temperature information, deviation from the optimised route and/or updated information about user preferences (e.g. a user may indicate, during the journey, a preference to stop at a charging point 32 with toilet facilities (which may be, specifically, toilet facilities suitable for use by a physically disabled person and/or which have baby changing facilities) and/or a restaurant (which may be a restaurant with particular facilities or cuisine) and/or a cafe). Accordingly, the updated/optimised route may be re-updated/optimised in the same manner as described herein.

Some versions are described above using a time taken to add a predetermined energy to a battery 21 as the data representative of a maximum charge rate. In some versions, the data representative of a maximum charge rate may be a rate of charge; in some versions it may be some other parameter such as a battery impedance or a parameter dependent, at least in part, on a battery impedance.

Versions of the technology have been described above with the navigation system 28 and the charging scheme determining system 1 , for example, being included in the vehicle 2. This, however, does not need to be the case. In particular, the navigation system 28 and/or the charging scheme determining system 1 may be provided as part of a computing device 9 (see figure 21 , for example) which is separate from the vehicle 2. This computing device 9 may be a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or the like. Such a computing device 9 may be referred to as a remote or mobile computing device 9 as the device 9 may be remote from the vehicle 2 (or mobile such that the device 9 can be in the vehicle 2 or moved therefrom). Such a computing device 9 may be referred to as a user computing device 9.

The user computing device 9 may be configured to communicate with the BMS 25 and this may be over a wired or wireless communication link, for example, to obtain the information indicate herein. In some instances, this information may be manually entered into the device 9 by the user. In some instances, the information is obtained from a database of information which may be generalised information for the vehicle 2 and/or battery 21 and/or which may be specific information which has been provided by the BMS 25 of the vehicle 2.

The computing device 9 may include the user interface system 27.

The charging scheme determining system 1 and/or the navigation system 28 may be configured to be executed, at least in part, on one or more servers (e.g. the or each navigation server 5 and/or charging scheme server 6) with results provided back to the vehicle 2 and/or user computing device 9, as the case may be - see figure 22. As described, the charging scheme determining system 1 may receive information about the vehicle 2, and/or battery 21 , and/or BMS 25. This information may include, for example the state of charge of the battery 21. This information may include information about how much energy the vehicle 2 requires to maintain one or more speeds (which may include one or more of the vehicle 2 mass, aerodynamic information for the vehicle 2, and a declared energy consumption for the vehicle 2). This information may include information about the energy required by the vehicle 2 for the operation of the other systems and devices 24, the BMS 25, the user interface system 27, the navigation system 28, the charging scheme determining system 1 , and/or the or each computing device 29 (i.e. the energy overhead in operating the vehicle 2) - this information may include the declared energy consumption of the vehicle 2, for example. This information (some or all of the information) may be stored in a database and this database may be stored on the charging scheme server 6, for example. This information may be associated with a user account and may, therefore, be accessible to the user from a plurality of devices which may include the computing device 9 and/or the vehicle 2.

Information from the BMS 25 may be obtained for storage in the database (e.g. by the charging scheme server 6) by, for example, the computing device 9 and/or by the one or more computing devices 29 of the vehicle 2 (which may be the BMS 25 itself). The computing device 9 and/or by the one or more computing devices 29 of the vehicle 2 may communicate the information to the location at which the database is stored (e.g. the charging scheme server 6) using, for example, the communication system 283 (noting that the computing device 9 may include the such a communication system 283, this may the case even if the computing device 9 does not include the rest of the navigation system 28).

In some versions, the charging scheme determining system 1 is accessible (e.g. from the charging scheme server 6) through a web-based route planning application. The various operations of the navigation system 28 and/or the charging scheme determining system 1 may be distributed between the devices disclosed herein - including the servers 5,6 and the computing device 9 and the vehicle 2 (e.g. the one or more computing devices 29 of the vehicle 2).

Versions include computer programs including instructions which, when executed, cause the performance of the methods described herein. These may include the computer programs executable on the servers 5,6, and/or on the computing device 9, and/or on the vehicle 2 (e.g. the one or more computing devices 29 of the vehicle 2).

As discussed, the vehicle 2 may be an aircraft or watercraft. In such examples, the vehicle 2 may not travel along roads but may travel along air corridors or shipping lanes, for example. The described versions are to be construed accordingly.

References herein to charging of the vehicle 2 are references to the charging of the battery 21 of the vehicle 2, and this language has been used synonymously throughout.

Various databases for the storage of information and data have been described. These databases may be accessible to the various components of the technology described herein (such as the charging scheme determining system 1 and the navigation system 28). These databases may be part of these components or may be separate therefrom. These databases may be stored on computer readable media. These databases may be accessible by servers (which may be any of the servers 4, 5, 6) described herein. The models described herein may be embodied in data structures and may be inform of matrices of data, for example. The charging scheme determining system 1 may be considered to be a route optimisation system 1 (e.g. in versions in which the proposed route for the journey is updated in light of the charging scheme (e.g. by the addition of one or more waypoints)).

As will be understood, versions of the present technology may help to reduce range anxiety and/or reduce journey times. This may assist in reducing the barriers to the adoption of electric vehicles 2 and may, therefore, seek to encourage or support an environmental benefit. Moreover, some versions may increase the number of vehicles 2 which use a particular charging point 32 in a given period of time or a particular group of charging points 32. This may help to enable more electric vehicles to be serviced by fewer charging points 32.

In some versions, for example when the charging schemes are generated for a fleet of vehicles 2, versions of the technology may use the cost function (e.g. as a factor) and/or exclusion of one or more charging points 32 from the candidate charging points 32, to distribute the charging requirements for the fleet across the charging points 32. This may help in distributing electrical load and may help to avoid peaks in electrical demand by the charging points 32. In versions which may not involve a fleet of vehicles 2, a similar effect may be achieved by using reward points for users (which may be exchanged for goods or services) to encourage the use of particular charging points 32 and this may be achieved using the cost function (e.g. as a factor). This may be used, for example, to encourage the user to accept a charging scheme which seeks to distribute the electrical load across charging points 32, for example.

As will be appreciated data and other information which is generated during the operation of the charging scheme determining system 1 may include predictions of the state of charge of the vehicle 2 (rather than the actual state of charge which is not yet known) and predictions of the battery 21 temperature (again, which is not yet known), along part of the proposed route. If a charging scheme cannot be successfully generated (e.g. because of a lack of charging points 32), then in some versions a new proposed route may be requested (e.g. from the navigation system 28 and/or the user). When used in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and

"comprising" and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components. The invention may also broadly consist in the parts, elements, steps, examples and/or features referred to or indicated in the specification individually or collectively in any and all combinations of two or more said parts, elements, steps, examples and/or features. In particular, one or more features in any of the embodiments described herein may be combined with one or more features from any other embodiment(s) described herein.

Protection may be sought for any features disclosed in any one or more published documents referenced herein in combination with the present disclosure. Although certain example embodiments of the invention have been described, the scope of the appended claims is not intended to be limited solely to these embodiments. The claims are to be construed literally, purposively, and/or to encompass equivalents.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of determining a charging scheme for an electric vehicle, the method including: obtaining a proposed route to a destination location; determining an energy deficit for the electric vehicle to reach the destination location; identifying a plurality of charging points associated with the proposed route; selecting one of the plurality of charging points based, at least in part, on data representative of a maximum charge rate for each charging point at a predicted state of charge of the electric vehicle at that charging point; and generating the charging scheme including planned charging of the electric vehicle at the selected charging point to reduce the energy deficit.

2. A computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the data representative of the maximum charging rate for each charging point is further based, at least in part, on a predicted temperature of a battery of the electric vehicle.

3. A computer-implemented method according to claim 2, wherein the predicted temperature of the battery is determined based on one or more of a discharge requirement for the battery according to the proposed route prior to the charging point, an environmental factor, and a planned charging of the battery prior to the charging point.

4. A computer-implemented method according to any preceding claim, further including determining for each of the plurality of charging points the data representative of the maximum charging rate for each of a range of states of charge of the electric vehicle.

5. A computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein the range of states of charge for each charging point is determined by the possible range of states of charge of the electric vehicle at the charging point according to one or more of the proposed route, an initial state of charge of the electric vehicle, a planned charging of the battery prior to that charging point.

6. A computer-implemented method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the data representative of the maximum charging rate includes a time required to charge the electric vehicle with a predetermined amount of energy.

7. A computer-implemented method according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined amount of energy is less than or equal to the energy deficit for the electric vehicle.

8. A computer-implemented method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein selecting one of the plurality of charging points further includes allocating the predetermined amount of energy to the charging point with the shortest time to charge the electric vehicle by the predetermined amount of energy and deducting that predetermined amount of energy from the energy deficit.

9. A computer-implemented method according to claim 8, further including: selecting one of the plurality of charging points based, at least in part, on the data representative of the maximum charge rate for each charging point at a predicted state of charge of the electric vehicle at that charging point; and updating the charging scheme to include planned charging of the electric vehicle at the selected one or more charging points to reduce the energy deficit.

10. A computer-implemented method according to claim 9, further including repeating the selecting and updating steps until the energy deficit has been reduced to zero or below zero.

11. A computer-implemented method according to any preceding claim, wherein the data representative of a maximum charge rate for each charging point includes a cost function and the cost function represents one or more factors including one or more of: characteristics of the charging point, a price for use of the charging point, and an interruption factor for using the charging point.

12. A computer-implemented method according to claim 11 , wherein the characteristics of the charging point includes the presence of one or more user infrastructure components associated with the charging point.

13. A computer-implemented method according to claim 12, wherein the one or more user infrastructure components associated with the charging point include one or more of toilet facilities, a restaurant, a cafe, and an entertainment facility.

14. A computer-implemented method according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the characteristics of the charging point include one or more of the availability of the charging point, the suitability of the charging point for the vehicle, and the presence of a booking system for the charging point.

15. A computer-implemented method according to any of claims 11 to 14, wherein the interruption factor includes a factor to compensate for the effects caused by an interruption of the journey to stop at that charging point.

16. A computer-implemented method according to any preceding claim, further including: receiving the destination location and a start location, and determining the proposed route.

17. A computer-implemented method according to any preceding claim, further including: updating the proposed route to include a waypoint for the selected charging point and/or updating a journey duration for the proposed route.

18. A computer-implemented method according to claim 17, further including sending the updated proposed route to a user interface system for presentation to a user.

19. A computer-implemented method according to claim 18, further including providing the user with one or more navigation instructions according to the updated proposed route.

20. A computer-implemented method according to claim 17, further including sending the updated proposed route to an autonomous vehicle navigation system for use by the autonomous vehicle navigation system to navigate an autonomous vehicle.

21. A computer-implemented method according to any of claims 18 to 20, wherein sending the updated proposed route includes sending the updated proposed route via a computer network.

22. A computer-implemented method according to any of claims 18 to 21 , wherein sending the updated proposed route includes sending the updated proposed route to a local computing device.

23. A computer-implemented method according to any preceding claim, further including one or more of: booking the selected charging point for use; booking a user infrastructure component associated with the selected charging point; and placing an order with a user infrastructure component associated with the selected charging point.

24. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the operation of the computer- implemented method of any preceding claim.

25. An electric vehicle including one or more computing devices configured to perform the computer-implemented method of any of claims 1 to 23.

26. A system configured to execute instructions which cause the system to perform the computer-implemented method of any of claims 1 to 21 or 23.

27. A system according to claim 26, wherein the system is a server or user computing device.

28. A method of operating an electric vehicle, the method including: performing the computer implemented method of any of claims 1 to 23 to generate a charging scheme; and navigating the electric vehicle based at least in part on the charging scheme.

29. A computer-implemented method of generating data representative of the maximum charging rate of an electric vehicle at a charging point for use in determining a charging scheme, the method including: determining for the charging point data representative of the maximum charging rate for each of a range of states of charge of the electric vehicle; and storing the determined data.

30. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the operation of the computer- implemented method of claim 29.