The terms Autocharge and Plug & Charge are currently circulating in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. At first glance, both refer to the same user experience: offering a seamless and customer-friendly charging process that starts as soon as the EV driver plugs the charging cable into the EV — with no additional user steps required.

To simplify the charging experience, the e-mobility industry is working to eliminate the hassle of using an external device to authorise the EV driver at a charging station. The act of paying with a credit card, using an app to scan a QR code, or finding that easy-to-lose RFID card can be a thing of the past.

In fact, the technology to make this vision into a reality is available now. Secure and scalable IT systems can seamlessly authenticate the user, automatically authorise him or her for the charging process, and settle the billing process after charging. The two main applications currently used for the Combined Charging System (CCS) are Autocharge and ISO 15118’s Plug & Charge. But which hassle-free charging application is best suited for any given situation? Without further background knowledge, one might even confuse Autocharge with Plug & Charge (which is a term coined by the ISO 15118 standard). However, the two approaches differ drastically in their underlying security and complexity. The implementer not only needs to consider the necessary security level for a particular use case, but also must consider the related implementation and operational costs, along with the long-term viability, for the selected approach. This article will shed light on the differences between Autocharge and ISO 15118’s Plug & Charge. The objective is to enable readers to decide which solution is favourable for each particular use case.

V2G Clarity and Hubject have joined forces to examine and explore the differences between Autocharge and ISO 15118’s Plug & Charge. The objective of this report is to enable readers to decide which solution is favourable for each particular use case. Click here or on the image below to download the 14-page whitepaper.