As any user of public EV charging will tell you, the industry badly needs a widely-accepted standard for seamless charging. Just as we ditched dial-up modems in favor of WiFi, we need to lose the apps and credit card readers and implement a system that lets us plug in and walk away—something like the system that Tesla drivers have always enjoyed.
At the moment, there are two different systems for seamless charging in the US: Plug & Charge (the popular name for a feature included the ISO 15118-20 standard) and Autocharge. (based on DIN Spec 70121). Both systems handle authentication and secure billing automatically—drivers simply plug in and go about their business.
Both standards have champions and detractors in the marketplace. Public EV fast charging provider EVgo is pushing ahead with its own version of Autocharge, which it calls Autocharge+. Competitor ChargePoint is throwing in its lot with Plug & Charge.
Actually, EVgo supports Plug & Charge too, but at the moment it’s touting the benefits of Autocharge+. Charged contacted EVgo and asked for clarification, and a spokesperson responded: “Autocharge+ is EVgo’s premier [seamless charging] solution at this time. We are committed to rolling out the Plug and Charge standard once the intricacies around certification and implementation have been addressed, so in the meantime, we continue to support Autocharge+ as our current solution to offer seamless session initiation.” (One of these intricacies is what to call the system. Here at Charged, we say “Plug & Charge,” but EVgo prefers “Plug and Charge,” and ChargePoint is calling it “PnC.”)
Be all that as it may, EVgo customers are embracing Autocharge+. The company reports that it has now delivered over five million Autocharge+ charging sessions, and that some 300,000 of its customers have enrolled in Autocharge+ to date. Nearly 30% of EVgo charging sessions are now initiated using Autocharge+.
Today, some 80 different EV models are eligible for Autocharge+. The technology supports most CCS vehicles as well as new native NACS vehicles. EVgo reports that the highest levels of enrollment have come from drivers of Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford and Rivian models.
“EVgo collaborates with our automaker partners and performs extensive testing at our Innovation Lab to develop and expand technology solutions like Autocharge+,” said Alex Keros, Senior Vice President at EVgo. “We are focused on the best possible customer experience and will continue to expand and deploy features like Autocharge+ and Plug and Charge across our network.”
Source: EVgo