May 24, 2023
Three Things You Need to Know about DX Power™
DX Power™ connects electric vehicle (EV) chargers into existing forecourt systems, seamlessly – offering fuel retailers additional payment options, increased visibility into their sales and forecourt operations, while providing customers with a unified consumer experience. The important question is: are you aware of what this flexible and effortless payment bridge is capable of?
In this article, we’ll drill down into some other unique capabilities DX Power™ provides for both fuel retailers and EV drivers.
Wide Range of Payment Methods for a Seamless EV Charging Experience
EV drivers have an expectation that charging their EV should be as simple as fueling an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle; however, not every EV driver understands what is fully required to charge at various EV charging stations and the success rate of starting a charging session when drivers are travelling is still too low, which leads to frustrated customers.
With DX Power™, EV chargers are included in transactions through the point-of-sale (POS) system, giving customers the additional ability to pay with cash, as well as traditional bank (credit or debit), local account and fleet cards. This increases customer flexibility, as they can charge without the need for a roaming contract or registration to pay via charge cards. In fact, station owners have indicated that integration with their POS and traditional outdoor payment terminals would help them overcome these charging session challenges and in Germany card terminals will become mandatory from July 2023 (source: CCV).
When including DX Power™ into existing forecourt systems, it is now as easy as the operator/cashier releasing the chargers from the POS, or simply directing the customer to the outdoor payment terminal to pay with standard debit and credit cards. From the end-customer perspective, this is exactly the same process they already know and are used to from traditional fueling – making the process effortless.
Integrate EV, Fuel & Non-Fuel Retail into the Same Customer Experience
When it comes to recharging, EV drivers look for the same consumer experience they have always known whether as a driver or a passenger of an ICE vehicle, at the same fuel retail locations they now go to recharge their EV.
From the station owners perspective, however, they want to have more control over the EV charging process, while re-using as much of their existing business processes as possible to manage their various locations.
DX Power™ effortlessly bridges the gap between EV charging systems and the entire forecourt, unlocking the full potential of fuel retail sites as they transition to supporting a new way of powering vehicles. By facilitating the re-use of existing forecourt equipment, DX Power™ in conjunction with Prizma – DFS’ connected convenience and mobility hub – optimizes investments and provides station owners with clear visibility and control over payment options.
Given all of DX Power’s™ benefits, fuel retailers should be treating EV business as incremental right now, to capitalize on their existing strategic locations, customer knowledge and facilities. This could generate a high return on investment, as c-store sales can be paid in combination with EV charging sessions – opening up the opportunity for cross-selling.
A Secure and Cost-Efficient Solution
The fuel industry has always had a strong focus on security to avoid any type of fraud or fuel tampering. In fact, to avoid fraud, fleet cards introduced PIN codes and security algorithms long ago and large-scale fleet card issuers made the switch to chip cards (EMV-based transactions). Enabling these cards for EV chargers introduces security mechanisms we already know. On top of that, card issuers can implement various restrictions such as product, geographical, time-based and volume-based to manage the usage of these cards.
The EV charge cards currently in circulation are not equipped with the same level of security as bank, credit or even fleet cards. Customers are identified mainly by using only the card’s unique identifier (UID) often transmitted via plaintext over the air. On most charge points, this is sufficient enough to be authenticated and to start a charging session. It’s not difficult for attackers to read these EV charge cards and when they have a valid UID, they can configure it on a card or clone it with a mobile phone.
Even though cloning EV RFID cards is easy, the question still remains as to how much fraud this will introduce in practice. That being said, by having EV chargers connected to the POS or outdoor payment terminal and enabling drivers to pay for charging sessions with bank, fleet, credit cards or even cash, the security risk is significantly reduced. As each transaction could be verified via a PIN code. It is also easy for the cashier on site to keep track of rather than, historically, it being kept separate or managed off-site.
DX Power™ is also a cost-effective solution, as one outdoor payment terminal (OPT) can serve up to 15 charge points, efficiently processing payments.
DX Power™ is the perfect bridge between fuel retail sites and EV management platforms, enabling EV chargers to easily integrate with existing site infrastructure. This effortless integration provides a unified customer experience, whether installed on a single site or through a network of service stations. It is a solution that will redefine connectivity and interactivity to help drive revenue on forecourts now and in the future.
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