To fill A gas car, you usually only need a credit card or cash. To charge a E.V At a DC fast-charging station, you need a lot of things to work—a credit card reader, an app for that charger’s network, a touchscreen that works—and they’re all different.
This situation may change next year if A new “universal plug and charge” initiative From SAE International, a group of EV car manufacturers and chargers, steps up and gains ground. Launching as early as 2025, the network could make charging an EV easier than actually gassing up: Plug in, let the car and charger figure out payment details over a cloud connection, and go.
Some car and charging network combinations already offer such a system through a patchwork of individual deals, e.g. Listed on Inside EVs. Tesla has always offered a plug-and-charge experience, given the tight integration between its Superchargers and vehicles. now Tesla Plug-and-charge will join the movement proper, giving Teslas a nearly identical experience at other stations.
Electric vehicle public key infrastructureor EVPKI, has a large number of key players on board, and makes it faster and safer to certify cars to the ISO standard (15118) and authorize charging stations. A complete set of certificates is present at each stage of the charging process, As detailed in an EVPKI presentationAnd the system includes a validated trust list. With an open standards and certification system, there should be room for new charging networks and vehicle manufacturers.
Charging networks can continue to offer incentives for brand loyalty and, potentially, through apps or reward points. But new EV owners won’t have to do much to find the “good ones” during road trips.
By connecting cars with key-based authentication systems, it is also likely that the initiative will also promote vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging, in which large batteries in cars can be used to balance regional power loads. And make the grid more resilient.
“We are rapidly moving towards a future where every EV driver can plug in, charge and go; The network will talk to your car and make the payment process seamless,” Gabe Klein, acting director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, said in a statement. “This is a fundamental step in the architecture towards enabling bi-directional charging and proper vehicle-to-grid integration, the holy grail for energy and transportation.” The Joint Office is a collaboration between the Departments of Energy and Transportation.
The EV Hummer-sized elephant in the room is how the incoming Trump administration, along with it protested The EV policies of the Biden administration could influence this initiative. Klein told The Verge That, with the buy-in and real work done by automakers and the industry — including Elon Musk-led Tesla — “has sorted the ship, if you will.”
This story actually appeared on the Ars Technica.
