SWTCH Energy Launches SWTCH Tap™: One-Tap EV Charging That Works Even Offline
TORONTO, ON — April 7, 2026 — SWTCH Energy, a North American EV charging leader advancing scalable charging infrastructure, today announced the launch of SWTCH Tap™, a new capability within the SWTCH Cortex platform that lets drivers start a charging session with a single smartphone tap — even when a cellular signal is unavailable.
Underground garages, parkades, and remote commercial sites are notorious dead zones for cellular connectivity. For EV drivers in these environments, the result is a frustrating gap between pulling up to a charger and actually getting a charge started.
SWTCH Tap eliminates that gap. Powered by SWTCH Cortex, the company’s intelligent charging platform, the technology uses NFC to identify the charger and the driver’s account instantly—bypassing menus, app downloads, and cloud handshakes. The driver taps, sees a 1-click “Start” page, and charges.
“The biggest hurdle to a great driver experience is often the connectivity burden at the site,” said Carter Li, CEO of SWTCH. “With SWTCH Tap, we’ve streamlined the process to a single tap while ensuring the charger works every time, regardless of network status. By utilizing local authorization and UID caching, the charger can make decisions in real time without waiting for a cloud handshake. When a driver pulls up with an empty battery, they should be able to charge, no matter what the network situation is at the time.”
Charging in Every Scenario
SWTCH Tap is designed to deliver a reliable experience across three distinct connectivity scenarios:
- Full Connectivity: When both the charger and the driver’s phone are online, the tap provides a faster, one-click start—no QR codes, no looking up station IDs, and no waiting for a signal.
- Phone in a Dead Zone: If a driver has no cellular signal on their phone, the charger recognizes their SWTCH account via NFC and authenticates the session locally.
- Total Site Outage: In a complete network outage, the system uses local intelligence—via SWTCH Nexus edge computing or cached user IDs on the charger itself—to authorize the session. Transaction data syncs automatically once connectivity is restored.
A Multi-Layered Approach to Uptime
SWTCH Tap is the latest addition to a broader reliability stack within SWTCH Cortex. Together with SWTCH Nexus, which provides local edge computing for site-level decision-making, SWTCH has built a multi-layered fail-safe that ensures the connectivity never produces a charging gap for drivers or a service gap for property owners.
SWTCH’s approach leverages a standard OCPP framework to cache authorized users locally, meaning the charger retains the ability to authenticate sessions even when entirely disconnected from the cloud. This “store and forward” model ensures sessions start immediately and billing data reconciles seamlessly once the network returns.
To learn more about SWTCH Tap and the SWTCH Cortex platform, visit swtchenergy.com.
About SWTCH Energy
SWTCH is a North American EV charging technology company advancing scalable charging infrastructure. Its charging intelligence, SWTCH Cortex, pairs open, OCPP-certified software with purpose-matched hardware to deliver EV charging that installs simply, manages efficiently, and scales on existing electrical infrastructure. With more than 25,000 chargers deployed across residential communities, commercial buildings, highway corridors, and municipal networks, SWTCH is trusted by organizations across North America, including CBRE, Greystar, and Google.
FAQ
Q: What is SWTCH Tap? A: SWTCH Tap is a feature that lets EV drivers start a charging session by tapping their smartphone on a SWTCH charger. It uses NFC to identify the driver’s account and take them directly to a 1-click start page.
Q: Does SWTCH Tap work without an internet connection? A: Yes. SWTCH Tap is specifically designed to work in areas with no cellular signal, such as underground garages. The charger can authorize sessions locally using cached user credentials or SWTCH Nexus edge computing, and syncs transaction data to the cloud once connectivity is restored.
Q: What is SWTCH Cortex? A: SWTCH Cortex is SWTCH’s EV charging intelligence. It powers features like SWTCH Tap and SWTCH Nexus (local edge computing) to deliver reliable EV charging even in connectivity-challenged environments.
Q: How does SWTCH handle billing if a charger is offline during a session? A: SWTCH uses a “store and forward” approach. The charging session is authorized and started locally, and all transaction and billing data is automatically synced to the SWTCH cloud once the charger regains an internet connection.
Q: Which SWTCH chargers support SWTCH Tap? A: SWTCH Tap is available on various chargers widely available on the SWTCH network.
