Express Lane: DC Fast Charging Will Soon Skip a Time-Consuming Step

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Commercial fast-charging systems are starting to look less like laboratory experiments and more like, well, like what Tesla has been offering for a few years with its Supercharger network: a user experience that is simple, consistent, intuitive, and doesn’t require tutorials every step of the way.

Charging hardware maker ABB announced this month that it has enabled a feature called Autocharge by tapping into a unique ID given to every vehicle with a Combined Charging System (CCS) fast-charging port. With it, charging providers can link your vehicle to an account and bill you automatically. That may sound like a minor step, but it has been a long time coming, as anyone can attest who has found that charging involves fumbling with fobs or cards, struggling with unresponsive smartphone apps or after-hours call centers, or carrying around yet another card all the time.

The feature has been baked into CCS (also called Combo) standards all along. According to ABB, the upgrade requires nothing on the hardware side; charging-station operators just need to adapt software to accommodate the feature. The European charging provider Fastned was first to take advantage of it, already announcing earlier this month that it will be available within a few weeks on all of its stations.

Drivers will have to verify each vehicle the first time using an alternate method, but after that it’s as simple as just plugging in. Autocharge functionality is based on open standards, and the group behind the feature noted that most electric vehicles manufactured with CCS capability since 2012 (that’s before the final standard was even set) are capable of the new functionality—so we’re talking about the BMW i3, Chevrolet Bolt EV, Ford Focus Electric, Hyundai Ioniq Electric, Honda Clarity Electric, and others.

Models that use the CHAdeMO standard—including the Nissan Leaf, Kia Soul EV, and Mitubishi i-MiEV—wn’t be able to use the plug-and-play feature in the near future, because it hasn’t been built into that standard the way it has for CCS. But it could be built into future updates.

EVgo, one of the major U.S. charging networks, plans to deploy the same feature in 2018. Meanwhile, it has enabled a featured called Swipe to Charge that allows users to start a charging session with a single swipe to the right within its apps for iOS and Android smartphones.

Autocharge also helps set the stage for roaming between charging companies—a cause championed by the ROEV, an association of companies aiming to establish such a concept. With much faster DC fast charging on the way and, perhaps, more intuitive signage to help drivers quickly find the right chargers for their vehicles, the charging experience is becoming quicker and easier. For an auto industry that needs to sell more EVs and a charging business that needs better coordination with the vehicles, such innovation can’t come soon enough.

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