Research Project Focuses on Improving Security of the Electric Vehicle Charging Ecosystem

 
WARRENDALE, Pa. (May 14, 2020) – SAE International today announced plans to launch the SAE EV Charging Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) project, an industry-led pre-competitive research project to strengthen electric vehicle charging system security. The project is expected to begin technical work in the second quarter of 2020 to develop a secure EV charging industry PKI platform which is agnostic to charging system and protocol standards.
 
The project will result in strong end-to-end cybersecurity between the electric vehicle (EV) and the rest of the charging ecosystem.  The resulting PKI platform will improve security to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of advanced charging capabilities.
 
SAE gathered a core team of 10 companies from the EV charging sector to develop the fundamental documents for the project.  A partial list of the core team includes:

• ABB
• ChargePoint
• eMobility Power
• Fastned
• Ford Motor Company
• General Motors
• Shell

These companies have jointly developed the groundwork for the SAE project to create a suitable PKI, including design, governance, and operations for the EV Charging industry.  
 
“SAE International has led a representative industry group to develop the work scope for a worldwide EV charging industry PKI platform that is secure, trusted, scalable, interoperable, and extensible,” said Jack Pokrzywa, director of global ground vehicle standards at SAE International. “This is yet another example of SAE engaging industry in pre-competitive projects like this to target critical industry problems and develop solutions by industry, for industry.”
 
As initially announced in December 2019, SAE will leverage the expertise and experience of its CRP Program to convene industry members to develop a targeted solution for this critical use case that will be extensible to other automotive and mobility use cases. The SAE CRP Program—which is managed by SAE staff with research driven by expert industry participants—uses agile development techniques to deliver targeted research to solve crucial industry problems and lead to SAE International Standards.
 
About SAE International
SAE International is a global association committed to advancing mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity. By engaging nearly 200,000 engineers, technical experts, and volunteers, we connect and educate mobility professionals to enable safe, clean, and accessible mobility solutions. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including award-winning programs like A World in Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™. More at www.sae.org.
 

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