We dive into it in this blog. What are the developments in the field of charging? What are the challenges that the EV sector faces? And what can we expect in the (near) future?

Plug & Charge

Plug & Charge (PnC) is a safer solution and technically possible for about 10 years now. With PnC, the car identifies and authorizes itself at the charging station. You just have to plug in the cable and the charging starts automatically.

For Plug & Charge, the car and charging station need to be able to communicate well with each other. And this is not possible with the current standard (IEC 61851, Mode 3), which uses simple signals for communication between the car and the charging station. These simple signals are fine for basic functionalities, but not for PnC because smarter communication is necessary.

Smarter communication with ISO 15118

About 10 years ago (in 2014), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) introduced a new standard, namely ISO 15118. This ISO enables smarter communication between the car and the charging station. What can we do with it?
 

• Plug & Charge: Just plug in the charging cable and the charging starts automatically!

• Smart charging: The car can tell the charging station how full the battery is and how long you want to charge. This allows the charging station to respond accordingly.

• Bidirectional charging (V2G): The car can supply power back to the electricity grid or your home network. 

Safety via TLS certificate

A secure connection is required for Plug & Charge between the car and the charging station. This is done via TLS (Transport Layer Security). The charging station presents a TLS certificate to the car to establish an encrypted connection, just like your web browser does when you visit a website. The car then identifies itself via a charging contract so that the charging station knows who is paying for the electricity.

 Plug & Charge: where are we now?

ISO 15118 and thus Plug & Charge look promising, but it takes time to implement this everywhere. All stakeholders in the EV chain need to implement the standard. These include car manufacturers (OEMs), charging station manufacturers, charging station operators (CSOs), e-mobility service providers (eMSPs), and roaming hubs.

The logistical challenges - such as adapting old charging stations to the new protocols - are significant. Especially considering that we have about 157,000 charging stations and fast chargers in the Netherlands that need to be converted.

Car manufacturers such as Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Ford, and BMW have already implemented Plug & Charge. For example, BMW offers a system that allows you to store multiple charging contracts in the car, so you can easily switch between charging providers without an app or charging card.

The potential of ISO 15118 and Plug & Charge is significant. Now we just have to wait for all the "loose ends" in the EV chain to be tied together so that EV drivers can charge their cars without any hassle. The collaboration and innovation of all parties are there; it will just take some time. The ease of use, efficiency, and safety are definitely worth the wait.

Wireless charging - future music?

In addition to Plug & Charge, we also see other exciting developments: wireless charging. With this technology, you don’t even have to plug in a cable anymore. You simply park your car above a charging pad, and the charging starts automatically. No more dangling cables on the street, and charging becomes even easier and more efficient.

A development that we are also looking forward to. However, it will also take time before we can park our worries - along with our car - and continue quickly.