About a decade ago, long before electric vehicles (EVs) were the talk of nearly every automaker, a group of manufacturers were already in deep discussions about the future of the e-mobility transformation. One concern was how the requirements and functionalities for EV charging would evolve and impact drivers, communities, and the industry worldwide.
The result: the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN), a global non-profit trade association that serves as the driver and voice of the charging ecosystem.
CharIN’s Testival events offer a unique opportunity for EV manufacturers and supply equipment providers to interact, learn, and uncover integration challenges, communication errors, and incompatibilities that can occur. Learn more about the next Testival North America event here.
“CharIN was founded in 2015 by a group of auto manufacturers that saw the future of electric vehicles — as well as the potential challenges with the proliferation of standards across multiple regions,” shares Erika Myers, executive director with CharIN North America. “So, they founded CharIN with the goal of creating cohesive global charging standards.”
Today, CharIN has more than 300 members from every part of the e-mobility value chain, aligned with the goal of global transportation electrification. Members include automotive OEMs, charging equipment manufacturers, energy and utility companies, charge point operators, software companies, payment service providers, and others. The organization provides a platform for stakeholders with diverse and global perspectives to discuss and achieve consensus around safe and efficient charging functionalities and standards.
“We’re focused on convening industry stakeholders to collaborate and achieve technical alignments that can help create a superior driver experience that accelerates EV adoption,” explains Myers. “And to achieve this, we know that charging technologies must be interoperable and use open standards.”
One of many examples of CharIN’s efforts to ensure interoperability and safety among electric vehicles and charging infrastructure is its commitment to conformance testing. The non-profit has been instrumental in developing the standards and requirements for the Combined Charging System (CCS) as the universal standard for EV charging. CCS supports ac and dc charging with one universal type of connector (plug and port), ensuring interoperability across the EV ecosystem.
Within CharIN-recognized testing laboratories, EV and charging station manufacturers can test their products according to a real-life set of CCS cases. Extended CCS features are now demanded in the industry, requiring commonly accepted testing specifications and procedures to guarantee global interoperability and efficiency of product development processes. CharIN works directly with industry experts to extend its Conformance Testing platform and suite.
“We typically work with standards development organizations, supporting much of the ‘pre-work’ that goes into building standards. We’re also continually looking for ways to improve standards and catch issues that may be occurring in the field,” she says. “Our work is not static, as we learn new ways to make improvements over time.”
Currently, CharIN has five major focus groups concentrated on different CCS issues. The five groups include Charging Infrastructure, Charging Connection, Charging Communication, Grid Integration and Energy, and Conformance Test and Interoperability. One concern recently flagged is a pin issue inside the CCS connectors.
“We noticed some pins appeared to be malfunctioning in a way that’s not expected from the standard,” says Myers. “As a result, we have members documenting examples of what’s going on in the field and presenting it in a way that we can share it with the relevant standards to address in future revisions.”
Overall, CharIN aims to support the full e-mobility charging infrastructure for a smooth consumer e-mobility experience.
CharIN’s goal is to ensure all forms of electric transportation operate seamlessly with available charging stations and services to create a superior driver experience that will promote further EV adoption.
“Ultimately, we ask: what will help improve satisfaction for the consumer,” she shares. “And this is where we direct our attention. For instance, another major focus of ours is around communications protocols. We have been instrumental in developing the ISO 15118 norm, which provides for more features to enhance the consumer charging experience.”
The International Standards Organization’s “ISO 15118 Road vehicles — Vehicle to grid communication interface” is an international standard that defines numerous charging modes, including vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and bi-directional charging. It also enables the Plug & Charge feature, where an EV driver can simply plug the vehicle into the charge point. Then, using the ISO 15118 interface, there’s a near-instant authorization from the vehicle to initiate the charging process and payment.
“This means drivers don’t have to worry about having a specific RFID card, charging app, or credit card. If the payment reader is down, it doesn’t matter because the authentication system is inside the vehicle and charger,” she explains. “We think this is a superior charging experience that would reduce consumer friction — and that we’re working to deploy universally here in North America.”
Within such experiences, CharIN is also involved in reviewing and advising on security concerns.
“We want people to trust their vehicles will remain secure from hacking and malintent. CharIN founded a task force centered on cybersecurity from the vehicle to the payment service,” says Myers. “Of course, this also includes discussions about high-powered charging and grid integration — meaning, how do we work with grid operators to enable bi-directional EV charging or, at the very least, to support charging during optimal times?”
CharIN’s vision of interoperability is ultimately one of sustainability and green mobility. The organization is in favor of integrating CCS, SAE J3400, and any other charging plug with ISO 15118-20, which provides for the required bi-directional charging capabilities. EVs have already proven they can serve the grid in global pilot projects, minimizing grid loads and reducing CO2 emissions.
“Climate change is really at the heart of what we’re tackling,” says Myers.
Even with the same goal in mind, attaining worldwide consensus among e-mobility stakeholders requires patience, education, and collaboration.
“Consensus building is not easy, however, but CharIN has built an amazing amount of trust among its membership and stakeholders. We’ve also been growing our work with governments and standards organizations because we’re seen as a credible resource in the industry, and are increasingly being asked to participate in important e-mobility conversations,” says Myers.
Case-in-point: “Our application with the American Center for Mobility (ACM) was recently awarded by the U.S. Joint Office on Energy & Transportation, which will create one of the first federally funded testing facilities in the United States for high-powered charging,” she says. This is a partnership between CharIN, Argonne National Lab, and ACM to provide best-in-class EV charging testing and conformance certification.
“It’s exciting to be a part of building the future of electric mobility,” she adds.
CharIN recently announced its next Testival North America event, which will take place June 10-14th, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio, with site host sponsorship from Lincoln Electric. For more information about CharIN and the Testival event series, please click here.
You may also like:
Filed Under: FAQs