ISO 15118

Industry standards like ISO 15118 may sound pretty dry on the surface, but what they enable can be game-changing on a global scale. Here’s what standardised ‘smart grid’ technology will mean for both CPOs and EV drivers in the near future...

For eMobility to grow and proliferate, it needs technology that’s not only smart and secure, but standardised around the globe. The more the industry can standardise each part of the puzzle, the more seamless it’ll become to transition to electric vehicles – and the more user-friendly the day-to-day aspects of owning and driving an EV will feel.

That’s the thinking behind ISO 15118, an industry-wide eMobility standard designed to bring safer, simpler and more interconnected interoperability to the key facets of charging. Here’s a quick guide to the thinking behind the technology. 

What is an ISO?

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of ISO 15118, it’s worth outlining what an ISO even is in the first place. In simple terms, an ISO is a way to standardise technology so that companies from across industries and markets can adopt and use similar processes. 

ISOs all come from the International Organization for Standardisation (shortened to ISO), which is a body that manages the creation and attribution of each ISO as a means to ensure safety, efficiency and interoperability. 

ISO issues these standards across a massive range of sectors, like technology, manufacturing, food safety, and healthcare. And, while each numbered standard is adopted on a voluntary basis, they do carry a lot of weight; ISO certification is recognised in 160 countries. 

Think of it like this: if you wanted to build a LEGO house with another person, you’d need both parties to use the same kind of bricks. ISO tries to incentivise that kind of cross-collaboration by providing a way for everyone to work together with the same base technologies.

What is ISO 15118?

ISO 15118’s official title is “Road Vehicles – Vehicle to Grid Communication Interface.” Its purpose is to standardise the way vehicles, charging stations and the energy grid communicate – in a way that makes charging more convenient, safe and smart for everyone involved.

It brings together a raft of different components and directives that work together to form the overarching ISO standard:

  • ISO 15118-1: General information and use-case definition
  • ISO 15118-2: Network and application protocol requirements
  • ISO 15118-3: Physical and data link layer requirements
  • ISO 15118-4: Network and application protocol conformance test
  • ISO 15118-5: Physical and data link layer conformance test
  • ISO 15118-8: Physical layer and data link layer requirements for wireless communication
  • ISO 15118-20: Second generation network and application protocol requirements

ISO 15118 is actually a joint project between the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is designed to bring smart grid integration to EV charging. 

That technology allows for charging that communicates with the energy grid – helping EVs form a more symbiotic, two-way relationship with energy supplies.

In broad terms, the adoption of ISO 15118 offers three core benefits:

1. Plug & Charge

One of ISO 15118’s collect features is the ability to kibosh some of the more fiddly processes involved in starting and paying for charging sessions. Plug & Charge is a feature that uses secure digital certificates to automatically identify the user’s EV and communicate with the charger. In practice, that means drivers won’t have to use RFID cards or charging apps to start, stop and pay for charging. 

Instead, Plug & Charge will enable the simple process its name suggests, linking your car to the specific charging session and handling billing via intelligent communication protocols.

2. Secure communication

The automatic identification that enables Plug & Charge also has the benefit of being incredibly secure. The identifying ‘certificates’ that the technology uses are end-to-end encrypted, which means third parties can’t intercept any of your information. 

It’s also worth noting that Plug & Charge only needs to identify your EV, rather than anything to do with you personally. That also means you’ll only ever be billed for the precise amount of energy you’ve used, and that none of your personal information is at risk.

3. Bi-directional charging

While Plug & Charge is great news for EV drivers, ISO 15118 also enables some game-changing new abilities to help with the sector’s overall energy needs. The standard allows for scheduled and load-balanced charging, for example, by intelligently monitoring and managing the flow of electricity so as not to overload the local grid. But its ability to connect EVs and chargers to the smart grid is where things get really next-gen. 

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology means that energy can actually flow in two directions – and that EVs can give energy back to the grid when algorithms detect that the energy flow needs to be dynamically renegotiated. For charge point operators (CPOs), V2G can even unlock new revenue streams, where returning energy to the grid in times of need can earn reimbursement. 

Essential values of ISO 15118

Like any ISO standard, ISO 15118 is designed to unify efforts across businesses and sectors, and ultimately make owning and charging EVs more convenient. That aim manifests in a few core values:

  1. Improved user experience

Drivers will really notice a more streamlined charging experience when Plug & Charge becomes commonplace. Instead of having to remember an RFID key or log into specific apps, charging will feel more like how filling up a traditional petrol car feels now – you’ll connect the vehicle, start charging, and pay at the end. It’s that improved experience which makes the typically very ‘backend’ nature of ISO standards exciting from an end-user point of view.

  1. Smarter grid integration

ISO 15118’s bi-directional charging powers signal the future of EV charging – where EVs and charging stations contribute to grid stability, rather than trouble it. This smart grid tech will also enable CPOs and drivers to prioritise energy from green sources, like wind or solar farms. 

  1. Increased efficiency

Standardisation in any field is a game of making things run more securely, simply and efficiently. In this instance, that means smarter, better-optimised charging profiles for EVs and chargers – with digital certification that saves time, communicates with intelligence, and works behind the scenes to manage grid strain. In other words, ISO 15118 is a win-win for everyone in the eMobility value chain – and will only get better the more businesses and municipalities adopt it.

The future for ISO 15118

So, what comes next? ISO 15118 has been in the works since 2010, and has been evolving ever since. The thing is, adopting standards takes time – it’s up to manufacturers, software makers, energy suppliers and governing bodies to voluntarily adhere to them. 

The good news, though, is that these parties are now adopting this standard en masse. And the more we adopt ISO 15118, the more widespread its abilities will become – which means great things for drivers and CPOs alike. 

Here at Spirii, for example, we’re really excited to be able to begin offering Plug & Charge capabilities to our partners, which will make the act of charging and paying super simple for drivers everywhere.

ISOs are iterative. That means that they often have extra capabilities, components and protocols bolted on over time. Because of that, widespread ISO 15118 adoption could mean we’ll see even smarter features coming down the road – like real-time pricing models for Plug & Charge, or even the ability for drivers to remotely control their charging session on public chargers.

And then there’s V2G. Vehicle-to-Grid is an exciting development because it can massively help with the challenge of managing grid strain in the face of ever-increasing EV adoption and subsequent charging demand.

By turning vehicles into batteries that can give back to the grid in certain circumstances, we can create a more circular energy system to better handle burgeoning electricity needs. That’s not to say that drivers will go to charge their cars and end up with less battery than they started with, of course – it’s more that the energy transfer can alternate back and forth intelligently as needed. 

Drivers won’t even notice this happening, but it’s a huge boon for the grid – and it’s only made possible through ISO 15118. You can find out much more about V2G technology here.

ISO 15118: FAQs

What is an ISO?

An ISO is an industry-standard that looks to unify the way certain technologies or processes are handled across industries and markets. The key benefits here are:

  1. Standardisation allows products and services from multiple manufacturers and bodies to communicate in ways that unlock new use cases and abilities
  2. Standardisation ensures safety, security and quality assurance
  3. Standardisation does some of the R&D heavy lifting for manufacturers, which frees them up to innovate in other ways.
  4. Standardising processes drives greater efficiency and reduces wasted energy and resources

What is ISO 15118? 

ISO 15118 is an international technological standard designed to make EV charging more intelligent and grid-friendly. That’s alongside allowing Plug & Charge capabilities to make charging simpler and more secure for drivers. 

ISO 15118 is a joint project between the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). First put forward in 2010, the standard now comprises several sub-components that work together to incentivise and allow for smarter charging technologies.

What are the benefits of ISO 15118? 

ISO 15118 makes charging easier for drivers by automatically identifying their vehicle and – this lets them begin charging sessions without driver apps or RFID cards. That automatic identification is handled via unique, encrypted digital certificates, which also makes charging sessions more secure. 

Lastly, ISO 15118 integrates smart grid communication and protocols like vehicle-to-grid (V2G), which allows for a more unilateral relationship between EVs and the energy grid.