[Tagging] Charging stations: Authentication

[Danilo]

Charging stations for electric cars often have different combinations of authentication methods.

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:authentication

For example, you can use an RFID member card or tag to authenticate yourself and pay through your account. Sometimes you can pay by app. Or by debit card. Sometimes there's no authentication, and the electricity flows freely.

For me, a few questions arose:

- Some stations have a QR code that can be scanned. Afterwards, you enter your credit card details to pay. Is this "authentication:money_card" or "authentication:none"? I'd tend towards using "authentication:none", because no authentication/account is required (but a money card is).
- What's the difference between money_card and debit_card? Which one is Maestro? Which one is a Mastercard that must be pre-paid?
- Does a money card or debit card even make sense as an authentication method? Usually those are not used as an authentication method, but instead as a payment method (without authentication).
- Which category would an RFID tag be? It's not a member card, but it's not NFC either.
- How do I know whether a membership card is NFC or RFID? It could be both. (Some networks explicitly allow using an arbitrary RFID token, but others require their own card, which might contain an NFC chip.)

To me, the whole tagging guide does not seem very mature yet. It seems that authentication and payment are mixed.

Other people are confused as well: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Talk:Key:authentication

Here's what I think would make sense:

- Replace "authentication:membership_card" and "authentication:nfc" with either "authentication:contactless" (for RFID/NFC) or "authentication:chip_card" (for membership cards that need to be inserted into a chip reader, I'ven ever seen such a charger though so far). This way, someone looking at the charging station can determine whether it has a card slot for a chip card, or a "contactless/NFC/RFID" symbol on the side for tapping some kind of contactless card.
- Remove "authentication:money_card" and "authentication:debit_card", such cards are usually not used as authentication method, but as payment method. In this case, use "authentication:none" (no account/registration required) in combination with the "payment" tag.
- Add a note to "authentication:none" indicating that this doesn't mean that the charging is free. It can still be paid (e.g. if cash is accepted).

This would cover the following common situations:

- Contactless member cards or RFID tags: Tag "authentication:contactless"
- App based activation: Tag "authentication:app"
- No authentication, free electricity: Tag "authentication:none" and "fee=no"
- No authentication, direct credit card payment: Tag "authentication:none" and "fee=yes" and "payment:credit_cards=yes"
- No authentication, scan a QR code and enter your credit card payment details: Same as above. It's just a different interface, web browser instead of physical reader.
- No authentication, cash accepted: Tag "authentication:none" and "fee=yes" and "payment:cash=yes"
- A physical key is required: Tag "authentication:key"

 (I'm not sure whether the fact that a smartphone is required should be tagged somehow. I didn't have a good idea.)

To me, those situations should cover the vast majority of charging stations (at least the type found in central Europe). What are your thoughts on this proposal? If people like it in general, I could start updating the wiki with a more detailed page next week (including tagging examples for common situations).

Cheers from a fresh EV owner,
Danilo