In an exclusive interview, our CEO Eric Plaquet talked about the EV market and the partnership between the two companies.

Safe EV Charging for a seamless user experience

The EV Charging ecosystem is developing fast with a growing number of players and standards. With the diversity of plug types, the power delivered, the different pricing models, the number of players and their various roles, drivers can be confused. And when they face the need for several charging subscriptions and the lack of price transparency, it adds more confusion. Its security could also be reinforced to avoid identity theft, badge duplicate and cyber-attacks.

ISO 15-118 standard to improve the communication between EVs and charging stations

ISO 15-118 is a standard that defines communication interfaces between vehicles and the grid to provide new features such as smart charging. Smart Charging allows EVs to store energy and discharge electricity back easily and safely to the grid, whenever needed.

Read more about 15-118 in Thales’ article

The “Plug and Charge” feature is the most visible improvement of the standard. In fact, drivers can start a charging session by simply plugging in a cable. No need for a badge, a credit card, or a mobile application.

Read our position paper: why 15-118 standard should be rooted in an open market

Plug and Charge: making electric car charging fast, safe and freely available

In December 2021, we announced a partnership with Thales to provide “Plug & Charge” access and billing, based on the ISO 15118 standard. The goal of the solution is to simplify the charging experience while also ensuring the highest level of security. Secure communication between vehicles and charging stations must protect personal identifying and financial information. Indeed, EV drivers connect bank accounts to vehicles for automated billing and a streamlined experience.

Here’s our solution works: the drivers simply plug their ISO 15118 compliant EV into any ISO 15118-compatible charging station. Then they don’t need a physical card to use the “Plug & Charge” system. Instead, the charge point recognizes the subscription, and bills it automatically. This means that drivers are free to choose their e-Mobility Service Provider (eMSP: a company that provides access to charging points within a geographic area) and trust that the transaction will be proceed. Futhermore, they can access a wider number of charging stations and get a secure friction-free payment experience.

Learn more : Thales simplifies and secures Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging

However, this solution can only work if every participant in the process – EV, eMSP and charging station – has a unique digital ID and corresponding credentials. By validating these credentials, they can identify and trust each other.

That’s why Thales Trusted Key Manager comes in. It ensures secure and instant mutual authentication between all the participants. In the longer term, as the EV market booms, Gireve/Thales’ secure credentials solution can go beyond the car charging itself and enable further smart grid deployments, such as securely reselling extra energy credits to other applications that would require energy quickly. 

In an exclusive interview, our CEO Eric Plaquet talked about the EV market and the partnership between the two companies.

Read the interview on Thales’ website

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