Is your electric vehicle plotting against you? : An investigation of the ISO 15118 standard and current security implementations

Abstract: Electric vehicles are revolutionizing the way we travel. Climate change and policies worldwide are pushing the vehicle market towards a more sustainable future through electric vehicles. However, can these solutions be considered safe and secure? Because of the entirely new attack vector that is charging, many new security concerns are present in this new type of vehicle that did not exist in combustion engine vehicles. Here, a literature study of the current situation surrounding electric vehicle charging and the ISO 15118 standard is presented. In addition to this, a risk analysis of currently implemented solutions for electric vehicle charging is also presented. The purpose is to unveil what weaknesses that are present in modern electric vehicle communication standards and how secure electric vehicles on the road today really are. The results indicate that there are vulnerabilities present in electric vehicles today that require radical improvements to the charging security to provide a safer way of traveling for the future. A list of proposed countermeasures to found vulnerabilities as well as verification methods are also presented as part of this paper. The comprehensive study presented here acts as an excellent foundation for future projects but also for organizations to address critical areas within charging security.