System and method of authorizing off-line electric vehicle charging station

A method for authorizing charging of an electrically powered vehicle from a charging station via a mobile device application, the method comprising:

• generating an authorization code at a network server remote from a charging station;
• transmitting the authorization code from the network server to the charging station, with the authorization code being stored on each of the network server and the charging station;
• processing a mobile device authorization request at the network server sent from a mobile device application, the mobile device authorization request comprising a request for authorizing charging of an electrically powered vehicle from the charging station;
• performing a check at the network server to determine if the charging station is currently in network communication with the network server;
• sending the authorization code from the network server to the mobile device application when it is determined that the charging station is not currently in network communication with the network server;
• and
• comparing, at the charging station, an authorization code input to the charging station by a customer to the authorization code stored on the charging station, with charging of the electrically powered vehicle being authorized or denied based on the comparison.

A charging system for charging an electrically powered vehicle, the charging system comprising:

• a charging station;
• and
• a charging network server remote from the charging station and in network communication with the charging station and with a mobile device application;
• wherein each of the charging station and the charging network server comprises a computing device configured to store, process, and receive data for authorizing charging of the electrically powered vehicle, the computing devices programmed to:
• generate a random numeric or alphanumeric code at the charging station when charging is requested therefrom by a user and when the charging station is off-line from the charging network server, the random numeric or alphanumeric code being displayed to the user;
• transmit the random numeric or alphanumeric code from the mobile device application to the charging network server as part of a charging authorization request, with the authorization code being stored on each of the network server and the charging station;
• process a charging authorization request at the charging network server sent from the mobile device application that includes the random numeric or alphanumeric code therein, with the charging network server running an algorithm on the random numeric or alphanumeric code included in the charging authorization request to generate an algorithmic output;
• transmit the algorithmic output from the charging network server to the mobile device application;
• and
• authorize or deny charging of the electrically powered vehicle at the charging station upon inputting of the algorithmic output into the charging station by the user.