Your EV Is About to Get Its Own Credit Card
Soon your car will not just plan a charger stop. It will choose the station, start the session, and pay—all before you unbuckle your seatbelt. The plumbing is already in place. The ISO 15118 standard defines Plug & Charge so an EV and charger can identify each other, set up a contract, and start power flow with no app or card swipe. Industry explainers on ISO 15118 smart charging show why this is becoming the default.
Once agentic AI runs that process, your connected car can decide where to stop based on your usual routes, price limits, and how low you’re comfortable running the pack. It can stack payments for tolls, parking, car washes, and upgrades into the same background flow. ChargeUp Europe has already warned that Plug & Charge needs careful governance so drivers still have real choice and clear bills when this ecosystem scales. Their position paper on ISO 15118 governance lays out the stakes.
Behind the scenes, big tech is building the rails for machine-initiated payments. Google’s new Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is an open standard that lets AI agents authorize and log purchases with signed “mandates” instead of simple button clicks. Google’s AP2 announcement shows how it plans to let agents pay across cards, bank transfers, and even crypto while still proving that you gave the order.
For you, this means fewer moments juggling apps and cards at some sketchy highway charger. Tell the car what you want in your settings, set the limits, and let it handle the grind of checkout. That convenience is real. So is the risk of “little” background charges piling up while you’re busy driving.
My Verdict
Agentic payments in your car should feel like a trusted card on file, not an open tab at a bar you never visit. You want the AI to kill the friction—especially for charging and parking—without turning your car into a subscription machine on wheels.
When you get a car with in-car payments, go straight to the wallet menu. Turn off anything you don’t need. Set firm daily and per-transaction caps. Allow the car to pay for charging and parking first; wait before you let it buy upgrades or third-party services. Turn on instant phone alerts for every AI-approved charge, the same way you would for a new card.
You’re handing your car the right to spend your money. That’s fine—as long as you keep a hard kill switch, tight limits, and clear receipts. Let the agent sweat the lines and logins. You still control the bill.