Cybersecurity for Electric Vehicle Grid Integration

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

As more EVs enter the market and connect to the power grid, evaluating the cybersecurity risks, challenges, and opportunities associated with electric vehicle charging is critical to support widespread electrification.

Cybersecurity Evaluations

NREL is evaluating:

• High-consequence cyber events for EV charging stations, leveraging the NREL cyber range to connect a fast charger in the laboratory to an emulated distributed energy system
• The application of public key infrastructure (PKI)—a method for encrypting information exchange and certifying the authenticity of devices—to help ensure digital trust between vehicles and charging stations
• Implementation of a defensible system for protecting charging 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 of connecting electric vehicles, EV charging stations, and other devices to the electric grid.

Public Key Infrastructure Testing

NREL and Sandia National Laboratories, as part of the EVs@Scale Consortium, developed an advanced PKI testing 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 test plan was then utilized in validating test scenarios in a virtual environment to provide standardized naming conventions in PKI testing.

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