TEL AVIV, Israel and MUNICH, Aug. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Electric vehicle (EV) drivers want a simple and seamless charging experience: drive up, plug in and charging 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 demonstrate at the InterCharge Network Conference (ICNC23) in Berlin.

• Mer Germany, part of the Mer Group – a leading EV charging operator in Norway, Sweden, UK, 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 Business Development & Product Management, Mer Germany. “Demonstrating Plug&Charge to ICNC23 attendees shows that the vision of seamless charging for all EV drivers is a reality today.”

“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.

About Mer Germany:

As a leading provider of charging solutions for electric vehicles, Mer stands for a rapid expansion of electromobility and more efficient use of renewable energies. Whether electrification of fleets or charging infrastructure solutions for companies, public utilities and municipalities – the mission of Mer is to make electromobility easily accessible to everyone. Mer’s offering includes planning, installation and operation of public and company-owned charging stations as well as hardware, apps and portals. Both corporate and private customers have access to a public charging network of more than 25,000 company-owned charging points powered by 100 percent green electricity and access to more than 310,000 charging points and hubs in Europe – The Mer Group is owned and supported by Statkraft, the largest renewable energy producer in Europe. For more information, visit https://de.mer.eco/

About Hubject:

Hubject simplifies the charging of electric vehicles. Through its eRoaming platform intercharge the eMobility specialist connects Charge Point Operators (CPOs) and eMobility Service Providers (EMPs)to provide standardized access to charging infrastructure regardless of any network. Hubject has established the world’s largest cross-provider charging network for electric vehicles by connecting CPO networks encompassing over600,000 connected charging points and more than 2,000 B2B partners across 60 countries and four continents. In addition, Hubject is a trusted consulting partner in the eMobility market, advising automotive manufacturers, charging providers, and other EV-related businesses looking to launch eMobility services or implement Plug&Charge using ISO15118-2 and ISO15118-20. In essence, Hubject promotes eMobility and its advancement worldwide. Founded in 2012, Hubject is a joint venture of the BMW Group, Bosch, EnBW, Enel X Way, E.ON, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens and the Volkswagen Group. Hubject’s headquarters are in Berlin, with subsidiaries in Los Angeles and Shanghai. For more information, please visit https://www.hubject.com

About Driivz

Driivz, an independent company and wholly owned subsidiary of Vontier, is a leading global software supplier to EV charging operators and service providers, accelerating the plug-in EV industry’s dynamic and continuous transformation. The company’s intelligent, cloud-based platform spans EV charging operations, energy management, advanced billing capabilities and driver self-service tools. Driivz’s team of EV experts serves customers in more than 30 countries, including global industry players such as Shell, Volvo Group, EVgo, Centrica, Circle K, Recharge, ElaadNL, ESB, Mer, Francis Energy, Ennet Corporation and eMobility Power. The Driivz platform currently manages tens of thousands of public chargers (hundreds of thousands in roaming) and hundreds of millions of EV transactions for millions of EV drivers in North America, Europe and APAC. For more information, please visit https://driivz.com/

Media Contact:

Montner Tech PR

Deb Montner

[email protected]

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Featured image: Megapixl © Bialasiewicz

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