Tritium “Plug & Charge” tech operational at all Ionity charging sites

The newly launched Plug & Charge solution for EV fast charging by Australian charging company Tritium has apparently been rolled out across Ionity’s European charging network and will soon hop the pond to North America as well.

Brisbane-based Tritium, a world-leading EV fast charging company, has been in the news a lot this year, ever since it unveiled in May a game-changing new method to pay to charge your electric vehicle.

Tritium’s new Plug & Charge solution allows EV owners to simply plug in and begin charging, without the need to pull out a credit card or smartphone app or RFID card. Simply drive up, plug in, charge up, and drive away.

Tritium published a White Paper in June which described its vision for what its Plug & Charge technology can do to change the way we charge our EVs, and just last week the company launched its RT175-S 174kW DC fast charger during an online conference in the US on Tuesday.

“With more than 1.5 million EVs on the road in the U.S., this charger is a perfect solution to grow charging infrastructure and further the transition to electrified transportation,” said Tritium CEO Jane Hunter in a statement.

“The RT175-S is the ideal solution for high population areas and can easily be adopted for highway rest stop, fuel stations, municipalities, utilities, fleets, retail, education, destination centers, and heavy infrastructure such as mining and ports.”

At the same time, Jeroen Jonker, Vice President Sales Europe at Tritium, revealed on LinkedIn that “cardless charging” was “already operational on all Tritium chargers” across the Ionity European EV charging network.

Specifically, Jonker pointed to an announcement by German high-performance automotive giant Porsche announcing numerous new features for the next model year of its popular Porsche Taycan EV.

Included amidst the new features is the inbuilt Plug & Charge functionality which “convenient charging and payments without the need for cards or an app: insert the charging cable and the Taycan establishes encrypted communication with the Plug & Charge-compatible charging station.”

Porsche’s announcement explained that “Taycan drivers merely have to plug in the charging cable and charging is underway. Authentication data is saved in the vehicle. As a result, the charging station automatically identifies the connected vehicle.”

Currently, Tritium’s Plug & Charge is already operational at Ionity charging stations in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Italy, and the Czech Republic – echoing Jonker’s comments on LinkedIn.

Further, twelve more European countries will follow at the beginning of next year, while Plug & Charge will also be available from Electrify America and Electrify Canada at many charging points as of the start of 2021.