Vehicle charging system, vehicle, and authentication method for vehicle charging system

A vehicle including a power storage device configured to be charged with electric power supplied from charging equipment, the vehicle comprising:

• the power storage device;
• an imaging device;
• a recognizing device configured to recognize authentication information included in information acquired by the imaging device;
• and
• a sending device configured to send the authentication information recognized by the recognizing device to the charging equipment.

An authentication method for a vehicle charging system, the authentication method comprising:

• determining, by a vehicle, whether or not authentication information is included in information acquired by an imaging device;
• if it is determined that the authentication information is included in the information acquired by the imaging device, determining, by the vehicle, whether or not the authentication information is encrypted;
• if it is determined that the authentication information is encrypted, determining, by the vehicle, whether or not a key for decrypting the encrypted authentication information has been inputted beforehand;
• if it is determined that the key has been inputted beforehand, decrypting the encrypted authentication information using the key inputted beforehand, and sending the decrypted authentication information to charging equipment, by the vehicle;
• if it is determined that the key has not been inputted beforehand, requesting a user to input the key, decrypting the encrypted authentication information using the key inputted by the user, and sending the decrypted authentication information to the charging equipment, by the vehicle;
• if it is determined that the authentication information is unencrypted, sending, by the vehicle, the unencrypted authentication information to the charging equipment;
• and
• if it is determined that the authentication information is not included in the information acquired by the imaging device and a prescribed condition is satisfied, requesting a user to input the authentication information, and sending the authentication information inputted by the user to the charging equipment, by the vehicle.