Charged EVs | CharIN praises final NEVI rules for supporting EV interoperability and open standards for charging

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released the final National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Standards and Requirements rule, and so far it appears that there’s a lot to like in the 144-page tome.

The document (which the White House described in slightly less verbose terms) contains not only some welcome standards aimed at improving the reliability of public EV charging stations, but also some measures that experts say will encourage EV interoperability and open standards. 

The Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN), a global association focused on charging standards, has “commended” the FHWA for taking action to make sure that national EV charging infrastructure will be “universal, accessible, and equitable.”

The new NEVI rules specify that federally-funded chargers must conform to the CCS and ISO 15118 standards, including the new Plug and Charge standard and future V2G integration.

CharIN issued a statement that reads, in part:

CharIN supports the FHWA’s announcement to require CCS and ISO 15118 capable chargers for light-duty vehicles, specifically:

1. Connector Types: Each DC Fast Charging (DCFC) charging port must be capable of charging any CCS-compliant vehicle and each DCFC charging port must have at least one permanently attached CCS Type 1 connector. 
2. Interoperability of Charger-to-EV Communication: Chargers must conform to ISO 15118-3 and must have hardware capable of implementing both ISO 15118-2 and ISO 15118-20; further charger software must conform to ISO 15118-2 and be capable of Plug and Charge by early 2024. 
3. Conformance Testing: Conformance testing for charger software and hardware should follow ISO 15118-4 and ISO 15118-5, respectively.

“As we learned from history, adoption of open standards enables economies of scale and accelerates deployment,” said CharIN North America Board Chair Oleg Logvinov. “WiFi and cellular phones are great examples of how open standards have changed the world. The exponential growth of EV adoption was just unlocked today by these NEVI requirements.”

“ISO 15118-based Plug and Charge is now the global standard enabling a truly seamless charging experience,” said CharIN e.V. Executive Board Chair Claas Bracklo. “It is supported by a worldwide ecosystem of companies working on interoperability, conformance and compliance testing and education. CharIN launched interoperability efforts almost a decade ago, and it is truly gratifying to see the importance of interoperability recognized in the NEVI Standards and Requirements rules.”

Source: Charging Interface Initiative