In France, electromobility has reached a major industrial and societal milestone. This rapid expansion, however, creates a critical vulnerability that is often underestimated.
According to March 2026 data from Avere-FranceFrance now has more than 190,000 charging points open to the public. This acceleration of deployment, supported in particular by growing adoption by company fleets, places France among the European leaders in charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (IRVE).
This rapid expansion, however, creates a critical vulnerability that is often underestimated because the entire infrastructure is based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Behind each available, billable and remotely supervised terminal, there is a chain of connectivity, from the cloud to the mobile application including the terminal itself, which has become essential to the operation of the service. For charging station operators (CPO) and developers, the challenge lies in civil engineering and the choice of equipment, but also in controlling a complex data flow, particularly payment information, and increasingly targeted by cyber threats.
Data at the heart of efficient smart charging
The modern charging station now goes beyond its sole function of power supply. It acts as an intelligent terminal whose data feeds three fundamental strategic axes: operational performance, energy optimization and quality of service. This connectivity notably allows session authentication, equipment status feedback, remote control, incident supervision and execution of software updates.
Economically, the viability of the model directly depends on the reliability of payment processing and real-time session management. Even a brief disconnection can result in a failed transaction or inability to start a charge, directly harming revenue and customer satisfaction. Predictive maintenance is also a pillar of operational performance. The availability rate of terminals is now one of the primary selection criteria for users. With constant two-way connectivity, operators can identify software failures before a user reports them and perform remote reboots or updates, drastically reducing costly physical interventions.
In this continuity, the most advanced CPOs are now automating level 1 support actions in order to maximize terminal availability. By relying on data reported in real time, they are able to immediately trigger corrective actions without waiting for a ticket to be processed by a human operator. In the event of an incident, several mechanisms can be activated automatically, such as network detachment followed by a refresh of connectivity (SIM refresh), sending remote restart commands (AT commands), or even the application of instructions for switching to an alternative network. This self-remediation logic thus makes it possible to significantly reduce downtime and optimize large-scale operations.
Intelligent charging management is also becoming an absolute necessity. IoT data makes it possible to orchestrate the power delivered according to the capacity available on the local network. This visibility is essential for load balancing and preventing surges during peak demand. Without reliable data transmission, the ambitions of bidirectional charging, which make it possible to recharge but also to return energy to the network, would remain at the concept stage, due to the lack of being able to synchronize electrical flows precisely.
Securing the new attack surface
The exponential multiplication of entry points on the network mechanically increases the attack surface for malicious actors. For the latter, a charging station is not just an isolated target, but a potential gateway to the operator’s central network or payment systems. The threats are no longer theoretical, intrusion attempts on connected infrastructures having become a daily reality for network managers, with financial consequences that can prove colossal for players in the sector. In fact, a compromise can take very diverse forms: interruption of remote supervision, attempted access to central systems, diversion of data flows, or even abnormal communication of a terminal with unauthorized destinations.
Beyond direct losses linked to service interruption or data theft, operators are now facing unprecedented regulatory pressure. In Europe, the strengthening of data protection and the application of directives such as NIS2 impose drastic security standards for infrastructures deemed critical. In this context, a major security breach goes beyond the simple technical framework. It indeed leads to heavy administrative sanctions and can negatively impact the brand image. In a competitive market, user trust is the capital. It is the hardest element to acquire and the quickest to lose.
Impose security “by design” to protect assets
Faced with increasingly sophisticated threats, traditional software protections are reaching their limits. Security must now be anchored at the very heart of hardware and connectivity. This requires the adoption of cutting-edge standards such as IoT SAFE. This technology relies on the SIM card or eSIM as a true hardware trust pivot. It secures end-to-end communications, from the terminal to the management cloud, ensuring that only authorized terminals can exchange critical data.
Alongside this strong authentication, proactive and automated monitoring of data flows is essential. Unlike reactive approaches, automated anomaly detection analyzes network behaviors in real time. If a terminal suddenly starts communicating with unknown servers or transmitting unusual volumes of data, it can be quarantined immediately and automatically. This segmentation capability in the network is vital to prevent the spread of malware across the entire fleet. Additionally, overall resilience also depends on the rigor of operational processes. It must also be accompanied by a strict access management policy, network segmentation and regular updating of deployed equipment. The training of technical teams and the rigorous management of access to IoT management platforms are therefore essential to fill human vulnerabilities, which remain one of the preferred vectors of attack.
Securing the future of connected critical infrastructure
While the territorial network continues to become denser, the charging station has established itself as a critical road transport infrastructure, in the same way as telecommunications or water distribution networks. This mutation requires a paradigm shift, because security can no longer be an option added after the fact, it must be the basis of any deployment strategy.
The operators and equipment manufacturers who will succeed in this turning point are those who will be able to transform the constraint of cybersecurity into a major competitive advantage. By guaranteeing resilient connectivity, capable of resisting cyber threats while ensuring total availability, they will lay the foundations for lasting trust with their users. It is only on this condition that the charging infrastructure will be able to effectively support the energy transition and become the pillar of tomorrow’s mobility.
