Cybersecurity for Electric Vehicle Grid Integration

NREL evaluates the potential cybersecurity impacts of electric vehicle (EV) grid integration.

To maintain energy security as EVs continue to enter the market and connect to the power grid, evaluating the cybersecurity risks, challenges, and opportunities associated with EV charging is critical.

Cybersecurity Evaluations

NREL is evaluating:

• Threat-to-consequence cyber events for connected charging infrastructure, leveraging the ARIES: Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems Cyber Range to construct emulated systems-of-systems scenarios
  
  
• The application of public key infrastructure (PKI)—a method for encrypting information exchange and certifying the authenticity of devices—to ensure digital trust between EVs and charging stations
  
  
• The implementation of a defensible system for protecting connected infrastructure in electrified transportation systems under real operating conditions.

Researchers leverage NREL's unique power and communication systems emulation and cybersecurity capabilities to evaluate the potential security impacts and mitigation solutions associated with connecting EVs, charging stations, and other devices to the electric grid.

Public Key Infrastructure Testing

NREL and Sandia National Laboratories developed an advanced PKI evaluation plan to help EV charging industry members assess the resilience of their PKI systems under real-world conditions, including failure scenarios such as certificate revocation. The evaluation plan was then used to validate test scenarios in a virtual environment to provide standardized naming conventions in PKI testing.

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