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Toronto-based SWTCH Energy, an EV charging technology company, has launched SWTCH Tap, a one-tap smartphone authentication solution to overcome a persistent hurdle when it comes to EV charging.
Trying to charge a vehicle when there is spotty or nonexistent cellular connectivity makes a charging session near impossible to complete, Thomas Martin, director of sales engineering at SWTCH Energy, said in an interview with TechNX.
SWTCH Tap was developed to overcome that pain point by using NFC (Near Field Communication) to allow a driver’s cellular phone and the charger to communicate directly. This lets a driver authenticate, pay and start a charging session even without cellular connectivity to connect to a network that would normally handle that session.
SWTCH Tap works with the company’s SWTCH Cortex, an intelligent charging platform, that identifies the charger being used and the driver's account bypassing menus, app downloads and cloud handshakes. The driver taps and sees a one-click start page to begin the charging session.
“When a driver pulls up with an empty battery, they should be able to charge no matter what the network situation is,” Martin said.
“Most parking garages are underground,” he continued. “That (cellular) signal may not always be there for when the driver needs it. NFC lets the driver’s phone and charger communicate directly. You just grab your phone out of your pocket and it will authenticate you as a user because the phone and the charger will do the work wirelessly. You don’t have to click any buttons.”
Hardware agnosticism and simplicity
Martin said the most compelling feature of SWITCH Tap is the elimination of the need for charger IDs, scanning of QR codes or having to use RFID codes. He pointed out some 85 per cent of Level 2 charging sessions happen through its app already.
“If they have the app, tap and charge,” he said. ”If they don’t have the app, it brings them to a webpage for a simple guest checkout.”
Martin said this simplicity, and not having to rely on existing cellular connectivity, is attractive for building owners. They don’t need to install expensive cellular repeaters or even internet connectivity through an underground parking garage, or in condo complexes, giving each owner an RFID key.
“That is just one more thing to remember,” he added. “But everyone has their phone.”
Martin added a key feature on SWITCH Tap is its hardware agnosticism. It will work across a range of EV charging infrastructures and chargers.
“We didn’t want to develop a solution that was proprietary to us,” he continued. “We work with hardware from all different places. NFC is on everybody’s cell phone, so there is no hardware requirement there.”
According to SWTCH Energy, more than 25,000 chargers deployed across residential communities, commercial buildings, highway corridors and municipal networks use its platforms. Since, 2016, its turnkey, intelligent charging solutions are made for use in high-density, multi-family and commercial properties
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