EVA Global Joins EVRoaming Foundation: A pathway to harmonisation

Imagine one day in the near future, any E.V. (electric vehicle) driver having the ability to charge at any charging station. As the E.V. market continues to advance, the primary objective of the EVRoaming Foundation is to facilitate effective global roaming services for consumers charging E.V.s and provide transparent information like tariffs, billing, and charging locations.

Why Harmonisation Matters

In the early days of mobile phone networks, Europe agreed on the technical parameters of the GSM mobile phone standards by using a committee to set the means and the technological legacy. Similarly, the E.V. charging industry is establishing a committee to develop standards for the industry and its consumers.

The Foundation’s mission is to develop the independent Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) protocol. Efficiently adopting this protocol will achieve the ultimate goal of advancing the market through innovation, open competition, transparency, and increased customer choice for charging locations.

Michel Bayings, Development Manager of the EVRoaming Foundation, has said, “It is our goal to support connectivity between operators and service providers by transferring information about billing and charger accessibility from the operator to the service provider while supporting information needs of the E.V. driver.” Michel also shared his thoughts on the future of OCPI and explained, “By creating a universal connection through OCPI, so that everyone speaks the same language, companies can now implement this connection, which will result in easier connections and cheaper charging costs, quicker charge times, fewer queues, and open competitiveness and transparency for all.”

The current EVRoaming Foundation community is a broad mix of charge point operators, service providers, and I.T. companies, which includes more than 600 companies and more than 40 contributors who provide input regarding the OCPI standards. In fact, even navigation provider Google is a member of the Foundation.

The Vision

With the vision of allowing any E.V. driver to charge at any charging station, providing information regarding charger availability and prices, and improving the charging speed, the challenge is to get everyone on the same page.

What test bed standards should be used?

To drive design principles and development, it is essential to reach a consensus regarding the direction of OCPI standardization. The consumer inspires and guides the development of the protocol. However, the challenge is responding to the market and getting the Foundation’s members to agree on features that should be prioritized, for example, security features. Using testbeds and voting from contributors in the U.S., the E.U., and other parts of the world is an integral part of the development process.

As with many industries, it is crucial to ensure that regulatory agencies understand and support the E.V. industry with better regulation. The EVRoaming Foundation advises many countries and the European Commission, which establishes what should and should not be regulated in a specific market. Thus, the Commission is an important stakeholder in supporting E.V. charging progression and standards. As E.V. adoption accelerates and more charge point operators utilize OCPI, customers will ultimately benefit from a better charging experience.

For EVA Global, OCPI is an essential protocol for integrating with our customers. We look forward to contributing to this community with our unique experience with OCPI to provide the be