By Andrew J. Hawkins, a transportation editor with over 10 years of experience covering EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has been featured in The New York Daily News and City & State. Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge.

Overcoming the Barriers to EV Adoption

The current EV charging landscape is fragmented and frustrating. Every time an EV owner plugs in, they have to sign up for another app, fumble through payment information, and authorize the account. This process often leads to a lack of seamless charging experiences and deters potential EV buyers. But what if it could be different?The partnership between nonprofit SAE International, automakers, EV charging operators, and the Biden administration aims to change that. They have announced a new framework for "universal Plug and Charge" that will be rolled out early next year. This initiative aims to provide a truly seamless and hassle-free charging experience.

How Plug and Charge Works

When you plug in an electric vehicle with Plug and Charge technology, the charger communicates securely with the vehicle and bills the owner without the need for app signups or additional billing information. It's a simple yet revolutionary concept.For example, imagine you're on a road trip and need to charge your EV. You just go to any public charger, plug in, and everything just works automatically. The charger accounts for everything in the cloud, charges your card, and you can walk away with peace of mind.This was the intention of the official international standard (ISO 15118), also called Plug & Charge. But for it to be widely adopted, other automakers need to make individual deals with third-party charging companies to ensure seamless communication.

The Unique Features of the New Framework

The new framework developed by SAE International and its partners complements and enhances the ISO standard. It includes a Certified Trust List that enables secure, automated authentication right at the onset when the vehicle is plugged in.This trust list is like a big file folder. Once a vehicle's anchor is put in it and audited (a very rigorous process), and commercial business agreements are signed, the vehicle can freely roam and use multiple PKIs (Public Key Infrastructure) for secure digital communications and transactions.For instance, Sarah Hipel, acting chief technology officer at the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, said, "A little bit more robust system would probably be appropriate. This group is focused on that authorization and authentication mechanism specifically, and it is unrelated to the ISO owned 15118-2 standard."

Benefits Beyond Seamless Charging

EV owners will not only enjoy seamless charging but also benefit from secure vehicle-to-grid (V2G) communication and bidirectional charging. This will enable EVs to send energy back to the grid, helping to balance power loads and create a more resilient grid.It's important to note that this is an industry-led project initially requested by automakers and funded by them. So far, the project has cost around $1.5 million, and future funding will come from the participating companies."Weinberg said, 'Nobody's free riding. Everybody's involved, working hard. It's really cool to see that they're all just in it to make this all work.'"And despite President-elect Donald Trump's goal of rolling back his predecessor's EV funding projects, the participants believe this project will survive as it is driven by the industry's needs."The ship has sort of sailed, if you will. And the market dynamics I think have taken over, which is great," said Klein.