- The US government has announced a new tax framework
- Next year, EV owners will be able to simply plug in and walk away
- Should put an end to frustrating apps, RFID cards and payment processes
Charging electric vehicles in North America is about to get a lot easier next year, as the US government’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation this week announced a common framework that will make plug-and-charge commonplace to make.
Currently, the public charging network is frustratingly fragmented, requiring different payment methods and sign-up processes to initiate and pay for a charging session.
A lot of work has been done to make the process easier as contactless payments become more common, but the whole act of plugging in and topping up an EV can still be a hassle.
Today, car manufacturers and charging companies use their own authentication systems, which must then communicate with the vehicle via a digital ‘handshake’ before charging begins.
This not only prepares the car for the charging session, but usually requires some form of payment as a deposit before the final amount is deducted when charging is complete.
This can be accepted via RFID cards like this, or by tapping a contactless bank card. Worst case, you have to log into an official app, add banking details and hope everything communicates. Often things don’t go according to plan.
The Society Of Automotive Engineers (SAE), along with a consortium of automakers, charging companies and the Biden administration, have created a “Certificate Trust List Requirements” for the above companies, as well as charging equipment manufacturers.
This ‘trust list’ builds on the existing international standard (ISO 15118), which spawned an official Plug & Charge protocol, which some manufacturers, such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi and other Volkswagen Group models, have already adopted. in addition to a select number of charging providers.
In this case, payment methods are stored in a vehicle’s infotainment system and this data is then sent to the charging point when the user plugs in. Theoretically, all he has to do is plug it in and walk away, with all the pesky payment hassles. handled by software.
Tesla owners have been able to do this for years, because in the early days of electric vehicle adoption, the company took the decisive step to create its own charging network (Supercharger). This means the company has all elements of the charging process under control.
But times are changing and a growing list of manufacturers can now tap into the Supercharger network.
The universal ‘trust list’ essentially adds an extra layer of protection to the existing ISO standard and allows multiple manufacturers to use any charging station that chooses to adopt the new protocol.
“This is a fundamental step in the architecture toward enabling bidirectional charging and true vehicle-to-grid integration, the holy grail for energy and transportation,” said Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.
According to Within EVsTesting of this new protocol will begin next year, but there is no word on when the public rollout will take place.
Simplified charging, as long as providers participate
While the aforementioned SAE consortium includes major charging providers such as BP Pulse, ChargePoint and Electrify America, as well as automakers such as Ford, General Motors, Tesla, Rivian, Toyota and BMW, the rollout of Plug & Charge still requires the purchase-in of the growing number of charging service providers.
At least in the UK this still feels very uneven, where previously unknown providers are popping up all the time, all with patchy payment processes. Highway charging is largely handled by the big players, such as BP Pulse, Ionity and Gridserve, but things get confusing when you stray from the main roads and rely on local infrastructure.
For example, where I live, Mer UK seems to have a monopoly on charging stations, but it also has one of the most confusing processes of all. Long story short: if you close the app during use, it is sometimes impossible to end the charging session and disconnect your car.
Mer UK isn’t the only provider on the naughty list, as I’ve lost count of those who don’t accept RFID cards or contactless payments, while others use an app that is buggy, prone to crashing and hugely confusing to navigate.
While Plug & Charge is undoubtedly a boon for EV owners, it will require an increasing number of charging solution providers to join the process.
Hopefully the North American protocol will make this easier and ultimately speed up adoption.