Domestic and International Electric Vehicle Companies Unite... Solving 'Fast Charging' Errors

'Charin Electric Vehicle Test+Festival in Asia' Hosted by Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute Opens

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A forum will be held in South Korea where domestic and international electric vehicle (EV) and charger manufacturers gather to discuss solutions for technical issues such as heat generation during rapid charging.

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) announced on the 25th that it will host the ‘CharIN Electric Vehicle Test+Festival in Asia,’ bringing together leading domestic and international EV manufacturers and charger makers to inspect technical problems occurring during rapid EV charging and to establish a foundation for leading international standards through ensuring compatibility.

The event will take place at KERI’s Ansan branch from today until the 27th. Participating automakers include Hyundai, Renault Samsung, SsangYong, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, and a total of seven companies. A total of 11 electric vehicles produced by these companies will undergo cross-verification testing conducted by nine charger manufacturers (ABB, Daeyoung Chaebi, SK Signet, CleanElecs, etc.) in rotation.

The primary goal is to preemptively identify various errors that occur during rapid charging. This aims to contribute to the commercialization of eco-friendly electric vehicles by securing unified charging compatibility (interoperability) between automakers and charger manufacturers. Between the EV and charger, there is a type of connector called a ‘coupler’ (connector + inlet), which acts as a physical connection and charging jack, but there is also an invisible communication protocol called a ‘sequence.’ In the case of the coupler, South Korea’s National Institute of Technology and Standards recommends Combo 1 and has secured compatibility. However, despite domestic and international standards being established for charging sequences, many major automakers and various charger companies both domestically and internationally participate in infrastructure development, leading to differences in manufacturers’ interpretations of standards. This causes compatibility errors during rapid charging in the field, frequently inconveniencing customers. Furthermore, with the future application of new technologies such as PnC (charging payment and billing through EV certificates) and V2G (bidirectional charging technology), the increased technical complexity may further raise the frequency of errors.

To address this, KERI held internal festivals in 2018 and 2019 domestically, while CharIN has been hosting annual festivals in Europe and North America since 2019. Finally, this year, with the shared goal of inspecting and resolving charging errors, KERI and CharIN are jointly hosting the festival with enhanced fairness and objectivity.

Through this festival, KERI aims to thoroughly analyze various issues arising during rapid EV charging in the field, resolve user inconveniences caused by interoperability problems, and establish a foundation for leading related international standards.

Kim Nam-gyun, Acting President of KERI, stated, “We are moving beyond the early EV market focused solely on charging to a time when new technologies such as PnC and V2G are beginning to be applied to EV charging systems. Going forward, interoperability issues between EVs and chargers will become a global focus, and countries or companies that secure international standards will hold the leadership in the EV market.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.