Plug and Charge Europe enabled by CharIN is soon to be rolled out.

Plug and Charge allows automated communication and billing processes between the electric vehicle and the charging station without any need for RFID cards or charging apps while ensuring high IT security at the same time. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has defined the necessary interfaces in the ISO standard 15118.

So far, the widespread implementation of Plug and Charge has been hindered by missing consensus and unity among the industry as well as the pending standardization of key elements. This is now to change with the establishment of a dedicated project team within the CharIN community.

The goal of the project “Plug and Charge Europe” is to set up a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), a technology needed to enable secure authentication and authorization via Plug and Charge in accordance to ISO 15118, with CharIN as operator and provider of required services. CharIN, as neutral and international authority, shall ensure fairness as well as openness and guarantees a level playing field for operating the PKI across all stakeholders. Thus, “Plug and Charge Europe” shall successfully overcome previous hurdles in the implementation.

The team currently consists of 15 active members, namely BMW AG, bp, ElaadNL, EDF, EnBW, Groupe Renault, IBIL, Ingeteam, innogy eMobility Solutions, Porsche AG, Shell Global Solutions Deutschland GmbH, Stellantis, Total, Tritium and Volkswagen AG, and additional supporters. With the aim of a Europe-wide rollout, further international automotive companies, charge point operators, technology and mobility service providers are expected to join or support the project. The project members, with the project management support of technology consultancy P3 automotive GmbH, are committed to implement the neutral PKI for Plug and Charge by the second half of this year.