Electric car charging start-up, Paua, has delivered a successful trial showing how its Plug-and-Charge solution makes charging an EV effortless, requiring no apps, charge cards or admin to start a charge.
Paua the technology would not be limited to only one car brand or to only one network; Paua can enable this for all modern electric cars on public charging points.
Saving driver time and improving the experience is crucial to EV adoption. Normally a driver has to pull out a phone, tap a card or press multiple buttons to start a charge. With this solution these steps are removed, drivers simply plug in, and the vehicle starts charging. Payment is taken care of automatically.
The Plug-and-Charge event was demonstrated at a Mer EV fast AC charger in Reading with a Renault Zoe. The solution has been designed to work with all cars and all chargepoints, not relying on complex standards such as ISO15118 or closed ecosystems such as Tesla.
Paua believes everyone should have access to this technology as soon as possible so they can spend less time worrying about charging and more time doing the things that they love. Simplifying the experience will enable more people into more electric cars sooner reducing emissions and saving the planet.
André Pinho, Chief Technical Officer at Paua, led the development to this pioneering new solution. He said: “Paua Plug & Charge will revolutionise electric vehicle charging because Paua’s solution doesn’t require you to buy a top of the range Porsche Taycan with sophisticated new features. We have designed this to work with the most popular electric cars on the roads today and it will work on a kerbside 7kW charger or a 150kW rapid charger. This is the future of EV charging.”
Paua received funding from the Department of Transport through the T-TRIG scheme. Announcing the 23 projects receiving funding from the scheme this year, Transport Minister, Rachel Maclean, said: “This funding will make the UK one of the most attractive places for SMEs and university thinkers to do what they do best, as we look to build back better, while also solving the complex challenge of decarbonising transport.”
Niall Riddell, CEO Paua, said: “We are delighted with the support provided by the Department for Transport and now we are seeking funding to scale this up and extend it to all drivers. We have an exciting technology led future ahead of us.”
The solution requires some pre-registration from the driver and works based on a proprietary algorithm developed by the company under funding provided by a Transport Technology Research and Innovation Grant delivered by the Connected Places Catapult and funded by the Department for Transport.
Layers of data from the connected devices in this new modern ecosystem enable drivers to have an easier journey. Paua seeks to take on the complexity and offers the driver a superior experience.
Chargepoint operators signed up with Paua can enable this Plug- and-Charge solution as Paua extends this to multiple vehicle types. Paua is seeking to extend the technology to Tesla drivers outside of the supercharger network as well as BMW and Jaguar.
Image: courtesy Paua
