this feature will soon be essential for charging electric vehicles
Operator of fast charging stations Fastned is developing its Autocharge function in full development on French motorways. Using this technology, which allows you to connect to the terminal without identifying yourself, becomes even easier.
Although sales of electric cars are accelerating, with registrations outstripping diesel models in France, the network of charging stations must also evolve and adapt to growing needs. If we are still far from reaching 100,000 points accessible to the public in the French territory in 2021, the infrastructure is still developing and many players are coming.
Useful feature
This is especially true for Fastned, a Dutch company founded in France and Available in the area from November 2021. An important market for the latter, it signed a partnership with Sanef last April to build 18 fast charging stations on highways in the east of the territory.
But that’s not all, because the company also has several stations in the APRR network and will develop on the routes allowed to ASF and Vinci. These then consist of 4 to 18 terminals, shows a maximum power of 300 kW, as with Electra. It’s not the biggest on the market, but Lidl and Kallista Energy offer up to 360kW. But this will be enough for most motorists, while currently the most powerful models such as the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT can take only 270 kW.
But Fastned differs with terminals Another feature called Autocharge. Similar to Plug & Charge offered by Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra, as well as BMW, Mercedes and Tesla, this system allows you to charge your car without removing your charge card. After that, it is enough to connect to identify the car by the terminal and debit the customer.
It still requiresyou have an account in the builder program and enter bank details. While this technology has been offered on Fastned since 2016, the Dutch-based company has decided to make it even more accessible to new subscribers, according to a press release. Indeed, to activate this function from your smartphone during the first download in the branded terminal, it is enough to simply click on the pop-up offer. It will also be possible to disable it temporarily with just one click.
Ever expanding technology
In addition, Fastned also improves security by using this update, which is already available for all customers encryption of data used for vehicle identification. It works thanks to Autocharge (or Plug & Charge) technology ISO 15118 standardmanages everything that revolves around the connection between cars and charging stations.
This is the one currently used by brands compatible with Plug & Charge and common to all manufacturers. Thus, all those who want to equip their cars with this technology will be able to use this standard. However, the new network eRoaming was christened and founded by Hubject was also created, connecting more than 1,000 players in the electric mobility sector.
This joint venture has created a specialOpen Plug & Charge Protocol (OPCP), making this feature easy to deploy. Unlike the Elli network created by the Volkswagen group or even Ionity, Fastned is not part of this joint venture, which has yet to develop.
According to the company’s press release, only Autocharge-compatible vehicles will be able to take advantage of this feature as well as the update. If not specified, this is logically the case for all vehicles equipped with Plug & Charge. However, most only allow this feature to be used with Ionity terminals becausethey do not allow you to conclude several contracts with different operators. Except for BMW, the manufacturer recently announced in a press release.
Especially thanks to Plug & Charge technology, charging your car will become easier over the years. But BMW wants to go further by offering an additional and particularly practical feature…
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