AutoCharge

Authorisation of a charging session by the vehicle's MAC address, without a card or app; one of the token types in OCPP 2.0.1.

Explained in

Fleet charging · Stop 04How is every vehicle ready by morning?Plug in, identify the vehicle, schedule, watch and check: how a depot makes sure every vehicle has enough energy when its route begins.

A depot can only plan per vehicle if it knows which vehicle is at which charge point. OCPP 2.0.1 supports several token types for this, including AutoCharge, authorisation by the vehicle's MAC address. With ISO 15118, the vehicle can also send its requested amount of energy and its anticipated departure time, so the backend can build an accurate charging profile.

From “Knowing the vehicle”, stop 04
  1. OCPPOpen Charge Point Protocol: the open protocol between a charger and its operator's backend.
  2. ISO 15118International standard for the digital communication between car and charger, the basis of Plug & Charge.
  3. Charging profileAn OCPP message that sets a limit in amperes or watts for a station, for new sessions or for one session, valid for a time or as a schedule.
  4. TokenIn OCPI, what a driver starts a session with, such as a charging card, a key fob or an app account; it carries the contract ID of the driver's provider.
  1. Open Charge Alliance: What is new in OCPP 2.0.1? Whitepaper, version 1.0, March 2023. https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/new_in_ocpp_201-v10.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.
  2. Open Charge Alliance: What is new in OCPP 2.0.1? Whitepaper, version 1.0, March 2023. https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/new_in_ocpp_201-v10.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.