Hubject Plug & Charge dramatically simplifies charging

One of the main issues with electric mobility has always been the need for a charging card or smartphone app to access public charging stations. To simplify this procedure, Berlin-based electric mobility specialist Hubject has developed a solution that enables customers to access charging stations through a digital certificate in the vehicle, known as "Plug & Charge": Daimler, as a shareholder of Hubject, has completed testing of the production-ready system with charging station operator Ebee Smart Technologies. As a result, the two models Smart EQ Fortwo and EQ Forfour are the first electric vehicles in series production to support the Plug & Charge system.

For the first time, the international ISO standard 15118 is being applied in the Hubject charging solution. The ISO 15118 regulates, based on digital certificates, the automated and secured data exchange between the vehicle and the charging infrastructure: Once the connection between the vehicle and the charging station is established, the driver's authorization data is exchanged and verified in encrypted form. Following successful verification, the charging process starts automatically, and the final payment transaction also occurs without further intervention. This procedure will become even more important for future wireless charging. In addition to Hubject shareholders, Plug & Charge is now available to all market participants worldwide across the industry.

What does this mean?

Finally, the stress with charging cards and apps ends: Just drive up, the vehicle is recognized, and off you go. A sensible development – and for future inductive charging, actually indispensable anyway. And for company fleets and their drivers, it's a huge relief.