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EP-4738639-A1 - CHARGE CONTROL METHOD, CHARGE CONTROL DEVICE, AND PROGRAM

EP4738639A1EP 4738639 A1EP4738639 A1EP 4738639A1EP-4738639-A1

Abstract

A charge control method according to the present disclosure is used in a charge control device communicably connected to a charging facility that includes a charging device for charging an electric vehicle, the charge control method including executing, based on software information including at least firmware information of at least one electronic control device installed in the electric vehicle, determining presence or absence of a security risk in a charging function of the electric vehicle, the security risk being caused by firmware of the at least one electronic control device and determining whether the charging facility can avoid the security risk by restricting a function of the charging device, determining a restricted mode of restricting a function of the charging device based on a determination result of the second determination in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates presence of the security risk, and controlling charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle in the determined restricted mode.

Inventors

  • TASAKI, Hajime
  • YAMAGUCHI, TAKAHIRO
  • HAGA, TOMOYUKI

Assignees

  • Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240222

Claims (8)

  1. A charge control method used in a charge control device communicably connected to a charging facility that includes a charging device for charging an electric vehicle and a communication network connecting the charging device, the charge control method comprising: executing, based on software information including at least firmware information of at least one electronic control device installed in the electric vehicle, a first determination to determine presence or absence of a security risk in a charging function of the electric vehicle, the security risk being caused by firmware of the at least one electronic control device, and a second determination to determine whether the charging facility can avoid the security risk by restricting a function of the charging device; determining a restricted mode of restricting a function of the charging device based on a determination result of the second determination in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates presence of the security risk; and controlling charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle in the determined restricted mode.
  2. The charge control method according to claim 1, wherein the second determination includes a determination as to whether the security risk is a first type of security risk that is avoided by disconnecting the charging device from the communication network, and the method further comprises, in a case where the security risk is the first type of security risk, controlling charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle in the restricted mode in which the charging device is disconnected from the communication network.
  3. The charge control method according to claim 1, further comprising: setting a charging time at which charging is started after a predetermined waiting time in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates presence of the security risk and in a case where the second determination indicates that the charging facility can avoid the security risk; executing the first determination again by the charging time; controlling charging to the electric vehicle without restricting a function of the charging device in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates absence of the security risk by the charging time; and controlling charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle in the restricted mode in which the charging device is disconnected from the communication network in a case where the determination result of the first determination does not indicate absence of the security risk by the charging time.
  4. The charge control method according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising: verifying whether there is an unauthorized alteration of the charging device disconnected from the communication network; reconnecting the charging device to the communication network in a case where there is no unauthorized alteration; rolling back the charging device to further verify whether there is an unauthorized operation in a case where there is the unauthorized alteration; and reconnecting the charging device to the communication network in a case where there is no unauthorized operation.
  5. The charge control method according to claim 4, wherein the verifying whether there is the unauthorized alteration of the charging device disconnected from the communication network is executed after the charging device completes charging to the electric vehicle or after the charging device is not connected to the electric vehicle.
  6. The charge control method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, in the first determination, presence or absence of a security risk in at least one traveling function of the electric vehicle based on the software information, the security risk being caused by firmware of the at least one electronic control device; and permitting charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle after disabling the predetermined function of the electric vehicle in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates presence of a security risk in a predetermined function of the at least one traveling function and in a case where the security risk is avoided by disabling the predetermined function.
  7. A charge control device communicably connected to a charging facility that includes a charging device for charging an electric vehicle and a communication network connecting the charging device, the charge control device comprising: a determination unit configured to execute, based on software information including at least firmware information of at least one electronic control device installed in the electric vehicle, a first determination to determine presence or absence of a security risk in a charging function of the electric vehicle, the security risk being caused by firmware of the at least one electronic control device, and a second determination to determine whether the charging facility can avoid the security risk by restricting a function of the charging device; and a control unit configured to determine a restricted mode of restricting a function of the charging device based on a determination result of the second determination in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates presence of the security risk, and control charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle in the determined restricted mode.
  8. A program causing a computer to execute processing, the computer being communicably connected to a charging facility that includes a charging device for charging an electric vehicle and a communication network connecting the charging device, the processing comprising: executing, based on software information including at least firmware information of at least one electronic control device installed in the electric vehicle, a first determination to determine presence or absence of a security risk in a charging function of the electric vehicle, the security risk being caused by firmware of the at least one electronic control device, and a second determination to determine whether the charging facility can avoid the security risk by restricting a function of the charging device; determining a restricted mode of restricting a function of the charging device based on a determination result of the second determination in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates presence of the security risk; and controlling charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle in the determined restricted mode.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a charge control method, a charge control device, and a program. BACKGROUND ART In the related art, a technology for protecting a plurality of in-vehicle computers such as electronic control units (ECUs) for controlling a vehicle from a security risk affecting vehicle control such as unauthorized communication has been known. CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Document 1: JP 2018-133721 APatent Document 2: JP 2022-037442 A SUMMARY OF INVENTION PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION Under such circumstances, a vehicle such as an electric vehicle, which is driven by using electric power from a battery, is connected to a charging facility via, for example, a charge cable for charging. In addition, there is a case where charge control is performed by communication via a charge cable. Therefore, in a case where there is a security risk in the in-vehicle computer, the charging facility may be affected. An object of the present disclosure is to protect a charging facility connected to an electric vehicle at the time of charging from a security risk caused by the electric vehicle. MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEM A charge control method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is used in a charge control device communicably connected to a charging facility that includes a charging device for charging an electric vehicle and a communication network connecting the charging device, the charge control method comprising: executing, based on software information including at least firmware information of at least one electronic control device installed in the electric vehicle, a first determination to determine presence or absence of a security risk in a charging function of the electric vehicle, the security risk being caused by firmware of the at least one electronic control device, and a second determination to determine whether the charging facility can avoid the security risk by restricting a function of the charging device; determining a restricted mode of restricting a function of the charging device based on a determination result of the second determination in a case where a determination result of the first determination indicates presence of the security risk; and controlling charging by the charging device to the electric vehicle in the determined restricted mode. EFFECT OF THE INVENTION According to the present disclosure, it is possible to protect a charging facility connected to an electric vehicle at the time of charging from a security risk caused by the electric vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a charging system according to the first embodiment;FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a charging facility according to the first embodiment;FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a charging station management terminal according to the first embodiment;FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a charging station management server according to the first embodiment;FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a charge control unit according to the first embodiment;FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an electric vehicle according to the first embodiment;FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a vehicle management server according to the first embodiment;FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of vehicle software configuration information according to the first embodiment;FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of vehicle management information according to the first embodiment;FIG. 10A is a flowchart illustrating an example of a charging process in a case where vehicle detection is used as a trigger, the process being executed by the charge control unit according to the first embodiment;FIG. 10B is a flowchart illustrating an example of a charging process in a case where vehicle detection is used as a trigger, the process being executed by the charge control unit according to the first embodiment;FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a verification process for reconnecting the charging device to the facility communication network, the process being executed by the charge control unit according to the first embodiment;FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a charging process in a case where vehicle detection is used as a trigger, the process being executed by the charging system according to the first embodiment;FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a verification process for reconnecting the charging device to the facility communication network, the process being executed by the charging system according to the first embodiment;FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a charging system according to the second embodiment;FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustratin