Automatic Payment When Plugging in Charger for Electric Vehicles

Korea Electric Power Corporation Develops 'Plug and Charge' Technology

Korea Electric Power Corporation 'Plug & Charge' Electric Vehicle Charging Station Demonstration 'Plug & Charge' electric vehicle charging station built at the Korea Electric Power Research Institute. (Photo by Korea Electric Power Corporation)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) announced on the 7th that it has developed 'Plug and Charge' charging technology, which automatically authenticates users and processes payments when an electric vehicle is plugged in.

This method allows charging without separate user verification and payment steps by using vehicle information and payment data stored in the electric vehicle when connected to the charger.

Previously, charging took some time as member card authentication or credit card payment was required.

Electric vehicle manufacturers plan to expand the release of electric vehicles equipped with this technology starting next year.

KEPCO will prioritize applying this function to public rapid chargers accordingly.

KEPCO expects that users will be able to fully utilize this service by next year.

KEPCO also plans to provide the security communication infrastructure (PKI·Public Key Infrastructure) developed for this service to private charging operators and electric vehicle manufacturers.

PKI is a system that issues electronic certificates to chargers and electric vehicles.

A KEPCO official said, "The global electric vehicle sales share is expected to expand to 7% of the automobile market by 2023, with more than 5.4 million units sold annually. Various operators utilizing the security communication infrastructure provided by KEPCO will expand diverse services such as smart charging and bidirectional charging (V2G) domestically."

KEPCO plans to develop technology that combines wireless charging and 'Plug and Charge' so that when an electric vehicle is parked, charging and payment occur automatically without separate operation.

Additionally, KEPCO plans to develop various value-added services such as automatic vehicle inspection during charging by utilizing the security communication infrastructure.