Demonstration of a Seamless Plug&Charge Experience at ICNC 2023

Industry leaders showcase a market-ready, commercially available Plug&Charge solution for EV charging.

MUNICH & TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 23, 2023 – Electric vehicle (EV) drivers want a simple and seamless charging experience: drive up, plug in and charging that starts automatically, without having to open an app, tap an RFID tag or use a charge card. Implementing the ISO 15118-based Plug&Charge technology makes this seamless experience a reality, as the three EV industry collaborators will demonstrate at the InterCharge Network Conference (ICNC23) in Berlin:  

• Mer Germany, part of the Mer Group, a leading EV charging operator in Norway, Sweden, U.K., Germany and Austria, is focused on sustainable electric mobility and the initiator of the collaboration 
• Hubject, a leading provider of global eRoaming and Plug&Charge services, organizer of a growing operational Plug&Charge ecosystem and trusted Certificate Authority 
• Driivz, provider of the leading EV charging and smart energy management software platform, which is ISO 15118-certified to ensure that Mer and other Driivz clients can deliver Plug&Charge capabilities to their customers 

 “This collaboration grew from our mission to make sustainable electric mobility easy and accessible for everyone by offering solutions that give our customers seamless EV charging experiences,” says Anton Achatz, director of business development and product management, Mer Germany. “Demonstrating Plug&Charge to ICNC23 attendees shows that the vision of seamless charging for all EV drivers is now a reality.”
 “Over the past five years we have gathered invaluable expertise regarding ISO 15118 and Plug&Charge. The result is a solution that is actively driving the EV charging industry toward mass adoption by enabling that seamless and secure charging experience for EV drivers,” says Christian Hahn, CEO of Hubject. “This joint demonstration illustrates how adopting international standards ensures interoperability between all EV charging industry participants.” 

 “When we can give all EV drivers a simple, seamless and ‘always on’ charging experience that they can trust, we will see true acceleration of EV adoption and real progress towards our goals for a healthier planet,” says Doron Frenkel, founder and CEO of Driivz. “As part of the team that is leading the development of international protocols in EV charging, we are committed to providing drivers and our clients access to industry-wide innovation, like the one showcased in this collaborative demonstration. It looks like this will be the year of Plug&Charge. Numerous vehicles and chargers are planned to support this technology and we’ll see massive growth in Plug&Charge in nearly every country across the globe.” 

How Plug&Charge works 

When the EV driver plugs the vehicle into the charge point, the EV identifies itself to the charging station, allowing for instant authorization and the initiation of charging. The communication includes data on the driver’s account with the EV charging service provider, which ensures that the electricity used for charging will be billed automatically.  

To make the Plug&Charge experience happen, all stakeholders in the EV charging ecosystem must support ISO 15118, the international standard that enables secure and scalable communications for EV charging. Stakeholders include EV and charger manufacturers, the charge point operators (CPOs) and electric mobility service providers (EMSPs) that deliver public EV charging services, and the back-end software providers whose products manage EV charging networks, energy use and business functions such as driver accounts, billing and roaming reconciliation.  

Plug&Charge allows for a seamless roaming experience for drivers, and it delivers a true “charge anywhere” experience. Using Plug&Charge secured authentication, EV owners can charge on the road, across regions and borders and on any eMobility service provider’s EV charging network. This capability is enabled once the EV owner ‘pairs’ the EV’s unique identifier (PCID) with the EV charging app. 

The start of the roll-out of Plug&Charge in Germany at all hyperchargers from alpitronic is scheduled for the last quarter of 2023. 

Read more information here.