Electric vehicle charging station system

1 . A computing device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing a vehicle charging application and a blockchain management module and executable by the processor;

wherein the vehicle charging application is configured to cause the computing device to:

receive a vehicle communication to initiate supplying electric energy, the vehicle communication comprising vehicle identification information, a vehicle public key, a vehicle certificate associating the vehicle public key to the vehicle identification information, a respective freshness factor, and a vehicle digital signature signed using a vehicle private key corresponding to the vehicle public key;

verify the vehicle certificate and a vehicle digital signature in the vehicle communication and verify the vehicle digital signature using the vehicle public key in the vehicle communication; and

in response to a successful verification of the vehicle digital signature:

send a station communication, the station communication comprising station identification information, a station public key, a station certificate associating the station public key to the station identification information, and a station digital signature signed using a station private key corresponding to the station public key; and

initiate supplying electric energy to an electric vehicle; and

wherein during supplying of the electric energy, the vehicle charging application is configured to cause the computing device to:

receive additional vehicle communications, each respective communication of the plurality of additional vehicle communications comprising the vehicle identification information, the vehicle public key, a respective vehicle digital signature of the respective communication, and a respective freshness factor configured to differentiate the respective communication and prevent the respective communication to be reused; and

in response to receiving a given communication of the additional vehicle communications:

determine whether a session with the vehicle application has expired;

continue supplying the electric energy in response to a determination that the session has not expired; and

terminate the supplying of the electric energy in response to at least a determination that the session has expired.

2 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the blockchain management module is further configured to record digital signatures from both a vehicle and a charging station to the new block.

3 . The computing device of claim 2 , wherein the blockchain management module is further configured to:

generate and record, to the new block, a hash of all data recorded to the blockchain that comprises a hash of the recorded data of the new block and a hash of all data recorded to blocks of the blockchain prior to generation of the new block; and

record, to the new block, the hash of all data recorded to blocks of the blockchain prior to generation of the new block.

4 . The computing device of claim 3 , wherein the hash of the recorded data of the new block is included in at least one of the digital signatures from the vehicle and the charging station.

5 . The computing device of claim 3 , wherein the blockchain management module is further configured to broadcast the recorded data of the new block into a peer-to-peer network.

6 . The computing device of claim 5 , wherein the computing device is a peer node in the peer-to-peer network, and

wherein the computing device comprises a storage system configured to store a copy of the recorded data of the new block.

7 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein in response to the successful verification of the vehicle digital signature, the vehicle charging application is configured to send a station communication, wherein the station communication includes a message, and wherein the message is selected from the group consisting of a request for payment information, a charging status, an acknowledgment, and an instruction.

8 . The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the freshness factor is selected from the group consisting of a timestamp, a message sequence number, a current total message count, a pseudorandom number, a random number, a percentage-based charging status of the vehicle, and a temporal-based charging status of the vehicle.

9 . The computing device of claim 1 , further comprising a blockchain management module of the station application stored in and executable by the computing device, the blockchain management module configured to:

generate a new block of a blockchain; and

record, to the new block of the blockchain, information associated with an instance of supplying electric energy.

10 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the blockchain management module is further configured to record a time of charging, an amount of electric energy supplied, and an amount paid to the new block.

11 . A method, comprising:

receiving, by a transactions module stored in and executable by a computing device of a charging station, a vehicle communication to initiate supplying of electric energy by the charging station, the vehicle communication comprising vehicle identification information, a vehicle public key, a vehicle certificate associating the vehicle public key to the vehicle identification information, a respective freshness factor, and a vehicle digital signature signed using a vehicle private key corresponding to the vehicle public key;

verifying, by the transactions module, a vehicle certificate and a vehicle digital signature in the vehicle communication and then verifying the vehicle digital signature using the vehicle public key in the vehicle digital signature; and

in response to a successful verification of the vehicle digital signature:

sending, by the transactions module, a station communication to the vehicle charging application, the station communication comprising station identification information, a station public key, a station certificate associating the station public key to the station identification information, and a station digital signature signed using a station private key corresponding to the station public key; and

initiating, by the transactions module, supplying electric energy;

during supplying of the electric energy:

receiving, by the transactions module, a plurality of additional vehicle communications from the vehicle application, each respective communication of the plurality of additional vehicle communications comprising the vehicle identification information, the vehicle public key, a respective vehicle digital signature of the respective communication, and a respective freshness factor configured to differentiate the respective communication and prevent the respective communication to be reused;

determining, by the transactions module, whether a session between a station application and a vehicle application has expired;

continuing, by the transactions module, supplying of the electric energy in response to a determination that the session has not expired; and

terminating, by the transactions module, supplying of the electric energy in response to at least a determination that the session has expired.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

generating and recording, by a blockchain management module, to the new block, a hash of all data recorded to the blockchain that comprises a hash of the recorded data of the new block and a hash of all data recorded to blocks of the blockchain prior to generation of the new block; and

record, to the new block, the hash of all data recorded to blocks of the blockchain prior to generation of the new block.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the hash of the recorded data of the new block is included in at least one of the digital signatures from the vehicle and the charging station.

14 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising broadcasting, by the blockchain management module, the recorded data of the new block into a peer-to-peer network.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the computing device of the charging station is a peer node in the peer-to-peer network, and wherein the method further comprises storing, by a storage system of the computing device of the charging station, a copy of the recorded data of the new block.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising, sending a station communication, wherein the station communication includes a message, wherein the message of the station communication is selected from the group consisting of a request for payment information, a charging status, an acknowledgment, and an instruction, and wherein the freshness factor of the vehicle communication is selected from the group consisting of a timestamp, a message sequence number, a current total message count, a pseudorandom number, a random number, a percentage-based charging status of the vehicle, and a temporal-based charging status of the vehicle.

17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

generating, by a blockchain management module of the station application stored in the computing device of the charging station, a new block of a blockchain; and

recording, to the new block of the blockchain, information associated with an instance of supplying of electric energy to an electric vehicle by the charging station.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising recording, by the blockchain management module, a time of charging, an amount of electric energy supplied, and an amount paid to the new block.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising recording, by the blockchain management module, digital signatures from both the vehicle and the charging station to the new block.

20 . A computing device, comprising:

a vehicle charging application comprising a transactions module and a blockchain management module stored in and executable by the computing device;

wherein the transactions module is configured to:

receive a station communication from a station application, the station communication comprising station identification information, a station public key, a station certificate associating the station public key to the station identification information, a charging response to a charging request, and a station digital signature of the response signed using a station private key corresponding to the station public key;

verify the station digital signature and then verify the station digital signature using the station public key; and

in response to a successful verification of the station digital signature:

send a vehicle communication to the station application, the vehicle communication comprising vehicle identification information, a vehicle public key, a vehicle certificate associating the vehicle public key to the vehicle identification information, and a vehicle digital signature of the response signed using a vehicle private key corresponding to the vehicle public key;

initiate receiving electric energy from a charging station; and

during receiving of the electric energy:

receive additional station communications from the station application, each respective communication of the plurality of additional station communications comprising the station identification information, the station public key, a respective station digital signature of the respective communication; and a respective freshness factor configured to differentiate the respective communication and prevent the respective communication to be reused;

verify the station digital signature;

determine whether a session with a vehicle application has expired;

continue receiving the electric energy in response to a determination that the session has not expired; and

terminate the receiving of the electric energy in response to at least a determination that the session has expired.