A Roadmap to Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) for EV Charging
The tech world has a love for opaque acronyms: OCPP, OCPI, OCSP… For those interested in electric vehicles, it’s important to know the technological innovations these acronyms represent and how they affect us as consumers. One, in particular, deserves more attention: OCPI, or Open Charge Point Interface. It’s closely related to another topic we’ve covered before: Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP). To explain it, we’ll give a brief primer on communications protocols and what sets OCPI apart from OCPP and OCSP. By the end of this article, these acronyms will be familiar friends, rather than arcane symbols.
What Is a Communication Protocol?
Not every piece of technology is made, programmed or designed in the same way. At last count, there were some 300-odd programming languages, which are the backbone for making any program do something. And that’s before we get into the myriad kinds of hardware and proprietary technology laced into each device and piece of software. In other words: Trying to make different pieces of hardware and software communicate with each other is a bit like taking two people at random from anywhere on earth, dropping them into a room together, and hoping they can work together to solve a puzzle.
If that difficulty in communicating is the problem we’re trying to solve, then you can think of a communications protocol like instructions for translation. They tell the myriad pieces of hardware and software involved how to communicate with one another seamlessly and effectively. Instead of a jumbled, incompatible mess, the protocol allows them to work together to solve whatever problem is at hand.
As such, communications protocols allow your phone to “talk” to your computer, or your Bluetooth headset to “talk” to your phone, all without you having to do anything except connecting the two.
Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI)
OCPI is one of these communication protocols and the focus of this article. It’s managed by the EV Roaming Foundation, which ensures that it remains free, and has a great greatest impact on the consumer. See, OCPI manages communication between charge station operators and the eMobility service providers that give drivers access to charging stations. The result is that OCPI-enabled facilities allow for automatic “roaming,” where drivers plug into various EV charging networks seamlessly and without hassle. Think of it a bit like having a debit card versus hard cash that can only be used in one country.
OCPI isn’t the only protocol like this, however. And to understand it best, it’s useful to take a quick look at several others.
Other Protocols for Different Pairings
As simple as it sounds to get these myriad pieces of tech to talk to one another, the process is incredibly difficult. The language analogy is apt: Different languages, dialects and social norms make it exceptionally difficult to get one person to be able to easily communicate with another taken from another part of the world. Even getting them to talk about a single, specific subject is difficult. You can think of these “subjects” as different pairings of devices.
The result is that communications protocols are often designed around specific pairings. OCPP, OCSP, OCPI and OSCP are all communications protocols…but are built around different pairings of technology along the charging infrastructure, to solve specific problems. Note that OCPP and OCSP are both crafted by the same group, the Open Charge Alliance.
Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP): Probably the most famous and widespread of the communications protocols on this list, OCPP is designed to allow open communication between charging stations and the back-end systems used by their operators. It can also trade info between electric vehicles and the grid.
Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP): Among the simplest of these protocols, at least to explain, OSCP’s task is nevertheless important: it communicates a 24-hour forecast of the local electrical capacity, allowing charge point operators to plan accordingly.
What Does OCPI Do for Me?
Put simply, OCPI allows you to use a wide variety of EV charging networks without having to have separate accounts or other troublesome means of verification with each of them. It ensures that you can use them without a problem, allowing EV drivers to “roam” from place to place with little issue. It provides other benefits as well, like billing, tariff information, charge point status and platform monitoring. But the roaming ability is most important, as it prevents users from being beholden to a single charging network.
That said, two of these benefits are of particular use for businesses.
Billing and Tariffs
The communications provided by OCPI allow drivers to compile their bills from different stations, instead of having to keep track of each individual one. The time saved by bringing them all into one place can represent quite the financial windfall. Likewise, calculating energy tariffs when crossing national and state lines can be incredibly complex. OCPI procedures handle that for you, making it a non-issue.
Between these two benefits, calculations and accounting that could represent irksome investments for businesses are handled automatically, with little difficulty.
Bringing It All Together
OCPI is one of a wider array of acronyms representing the communications protocols that allow the various parts of our EV charging infrastructure to communicate with one another. But, of all of them, it’s the most directly impactful on consumers, as it allows EV drivers to “roam” between different EV charging networks. As such, it’s an important part in making EVs as flexible as gasoline-powered cars to improve adoption rate.
Looking to harness the power of EV charging software? Connect with us today and see how we can help.
Sources
Hack Reactor - Computer Programming Languages - Types & Differences
EVRoaming Foundation - OCPI Basics
Open Charge Alliance - Open Smart Charging Protocol 1.0