Electrify America Launches Plug&Charge Payment Technology

[Canthoney]

I know we are all getting sidelined and are excited about the new configurator, but I thought I would share this. I wonder if Rivian is going to implement this in their vehicles? It would be a real selling point. Looks like Ford, Lucid, and Porsche will have it in their 2021 and newer cars. It would make charging as simple and easy as Tesla’s:

https://insideevs.com/news/454723/electrify-america-launches-plugcharge-payment-technology/

“
It will simplify the charging process for compatible EVs.
Electrify America officially announced the launch of the Plug&Charge payment capability (as the first public charging network) on all its stations across the U.S.
Thanks to the Plug&Charge, start of the charging process should be as simple and convenient as in the case of the Tesla Supercharging network. There will be no need to reach for a wallet, smartphone or bank card.
Two things are required to use the Plug&Charge authorisation and payment technology: a car, with implemented global standard ISO 15118, and an account.

"After a brief online registration, drivers can automatically pay for charging by simply plugging in their EV. The charger communicates with the vehicle to identify, authenticate, authorize and bill the customer’s registered account for the charging session. The entire process allows for a seamless charging experience for the customer."

According to the Electrify America's press release, the Plug&Charge launch was done "in advance of the arrival of Plug&Charge-capable electric vehicles including 2021 models of the Porsche Taycan, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Lucid Air", which suggest that there is no EVs ready for it yet.

"The Plug&Charge feature is enabled by advanced vehicle-to-grid communication technology that utilizes encrypted security measures. It follows the ISO 15118 standard, an international standard that outlines the secured communication protocol that an EV and charging station should use to recharge the EV’s battery. It enables simplified charging functionality for the most prevalent EV charging connector type, called the Combined Charging System (CCS)."”

Sponsored

 

[MadMac]

As a Tesla owner (M3), I can say that this is an awesome charging feature. Let’s hope Rivian has this—at this point, to use RJ business speak, it’s really table stakes in the luxury EV market.

 

[Canthoney]

As a Tesla owner (M3), I can say that this is an awesome charging feature. Let’s hope Rivian has this—at this point, to use RJ business speak, it’s really table stakes in the luxury EV market.

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. It’s a great convenience feature and would be a shame if Rivian didn’t have this.

 

[skyote]

It's software, so we can expect it later even if it's not there at launch.

 

[azbill]

They should already be supplying Electrify America with a prototype or preproduction vehicle for testing. All of the other OEMs are doing this. EA has a lab where they can test each vehicle against each supplier of chargers (4 of them).

See this article:
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/0...ricas-plan-to-simplify-electric-car-charging/

 

[azbill]

Ford has successfully got it working with a Mach E on Electrify America.

https://insideevs.com/news/460304/ford-mustang-mach-e-plugcharge/

 

[Mjhirsch78]

Get on that Rivian. We can mix your stations and EA. This simple plug-n-play thing will push a lot of fence-sitters.

 

[Canthoney]

Ford has successfully got it working with a Mach E on Electrify America.

https://insideevs.com/news/460304/ford-mustang-mach-e-plugcharge/

I just watched this. All I can say is wow that looks so convenient! I really hope that Rivian has this integrated from day one

 

[ajdelange]

ISO 15118-2 has been drafted but AFAIK not implemented by any manufacturer though it is widely supposed that a couple of them will. Rivian is not on the short list. Evidently there are still some security concerns with it.

Since it is definitely something the market wants (it's great with Tesla) my guess would be that most of it is already in Rivian's software build but that, for the moment, it is stubbed out. This would imply that it could be activated by an OAT refresh at any time Rivian (and EA) decide it's ready.

Sponsored