Building electric vehicle charging infrastructure is one of the automotive industry's current challenges – even with new developments in charging technology itself. The implementation of regulations and standards for charging stations is also taking place and, as a result, many standards are being developed to ensure interoperability between charging facilities. Billing protocols will certainly play a key role in systematizing the billing infrastructure.
There are several EV charging industry standards and protocols in development to enable flexibility and interoperability for the entire EV market. Many EV charging protocols and regulations face obstacles in the international expansion of charging point operators and e-mobility service providers. Still, the development of different standards and protocols is essential to ensure an infrastructure prepared for the future. In this article, we will talk about different EV charging protocols and standards.
Why charge protocols?
EV charging protocols are a set of rules and guidelines for communicating data between different entities in the electric vehicle industry. Protocols are necessary to ensure interoperability between charging facilities and encourage EV adoption. Standardization is also important to optimize costs and improve scalability. There are many protocols and standards that apply to the development of a charging facility. The most notable of these protocols and standards are the following.
- Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP)
- Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI)
- Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR)
- Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP)
- Open Clearing House Protocol (OCHP)
- Open Inter-Charge Protocol (OICP)
- eMobility Interoperation Protocol (eMIP)
- ISO 15118
Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP)
OCPP is an open source application layer protocol for data communication between back-end systems and electric vehicle charging stations. The protocol is developed and maintained by the Open Charge Alliance (OCA). The standard is vendor-agnostic and many key players in the electric vehicle industry are contributing to its development. It must be an international standard with interoperability between different charging equipment manufacturers, charging network operators and system providers. The protocol enables EVSE-independent sharing of charging data between electric vehicles and the electrical grid. Some of the important features of the protocol include smart charging, EV security, transaction handling, messaging, device management, and network extensibility.
Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI)
OCPI is a protocol for data communication between charging point operators and electric mobility service providers regarding charging points and charging sessions. It is designed to enable automated roaming between multiple electric vehicle charging networks, thereby providing scalability. The protocol is used to authorize billing sessions by exchanging tokens and rendering detailed billing records for billing purposes. Allows you to share session and location information for roaming and log handling. It is also used to send remote commands for smart backup and charging. The protocol simplifies real-time billing and facilitates mobile access to charging stations.
Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR)
OpenADR is an open source standard for two-way data communication between the grid and charging stations to provide automated demand response (ADR) actions. The standard is developed and maintained by the OpenADR Alliance. The protocol is useful in optimizing costs, balancing demand at charging stations and network supply. It operates between distribution system operators, energy management systems and charging facilities to ensure supply during peak times. Alleviates idle assets, allowing the energy management system to operate at full efficiency. It standardizes messaging for demand response, distributed energy resources, and DR/DER processes.
Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP)
OSCP is an open source protocol for data communication between the energy management system and the charging point management systems of a distribution system operator. The protocol provides a 24-hour forecast of local electrical grid capacity to charging point operators. This is extremely useful to enable smart charging based on grid capacity. The standard is again developed and maintained by the Open Charge Alliance (OCA).
Open Clearing House Protocol (OCHP)
OCHP is an open source protocol for data communication between billing management system and clearing house system. The protocol was developed to enable electronic roaming and allow electric vehicle drivers to charge at different charging station networks without any problems. It allows electric mobility service providers to maintain interoperability between charging station networks, connecting both charging providers and operators to a common network.
Open Inter-Charge Protocol (OICP)
Like OCPI, OICP is another communication standard for exchanging data between charging point operators and electric mobility service providers. The protocol is developed and maintained by Hubject and is implemented through its own platform. The protocol aims to facilitate automated roaming through the exchange of information between service providers and charging point operators contracted with Hubject.
eMobility Interoperation Protocol (eMIP)
eMIP is a protocol that allows billing services to roam between different networks. The protocol operates by maintaining a database of billing points and authorizing billing sessions through the exchange of tokens between the clearinghouse system and billing management systems.
ISO 15118
ISO15118 is a communication protocol between electric vehicles and charging stations. The protocol was developed to allow for one plug and one charging feature. Allows you to authorize the charging session by simply connecting the vehicle to the charging station. The standard is a means of implementing bidirectional charging of electric vehicles, commonly known as vehicle-to-grid charging. V2G enables energy feedback from electric vehicles to the grid system. This helps prevent system surges and enables smart charging. The standard has been extremely useful in simplifying the charging experience for electric vehicle drivers and helping to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.
