What happens at commissioning?
The transformer station is ready, the chargers are mounted, the bays painted. Today the grid operator connects the site.
By the evening, the first car should be able to charge.
The questionWhat has to happen between energising the site and the first session?
The grid operator switches on the medium-voltage connection. From here on, the site is live.
Select each step to see what happens.
Visible through data
Since 14 April 2025, every Member State must have an , appointed under , that issues ID codes to charge point operators and mobility service providers. Operators must also make the static and dynamic data of their public charge points available free of charge, through an interface reported to the .
A hub that is built but not published is, for drivers, not there.
What can go wrong on the day
- The backend does not see a charger: a wrong address or certificate in the configuration.
- A test car cannot start: car and charger disagree during the start; the next test car shows whether it is the car or the charger.
- Wrong data in apps: a price or a connector type entered incorrectly, which reaches every app that uses the data.
Tests with several different cars catch most of these before the first customer does.
Check your understanding
3 questions. Answer all of them to complete this stop. Each answer explains itself.
What is the first step of commissioning day?
Without power, nothing can be tested. The permit came months earlier.
Why do test sessions use several different cars?
When one car fails to start, a second car shows whether the charger is at fault.
Who issues the ID codes for charge point operators in each EU Member State?
AFIR requires each Member State to appoint an IDRO, issuing IDs since 14 April 2025.
- AFIR Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (EU) 2023/1804: EU rules for public charging, from payment to coverage. EV charging fundamentals, stop 08 Glossary
- IDRO The body in each EU Member State that issues ID codes to charge point operators and mobility service providers. Glossary
- National access point A digital interface set up by a Member State as a single point of access to data, including charging infrastructure data under AFIR. Regulations and compliance, stop 05 Glossary
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 (AFIR), Articles 3, 5 and 20 and recital 38. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1804/oj. Checked 09 Oct 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 (AFIR), Articles 3, 5 and 20 and recital 38. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1804/oj. Checked 09 Oct 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.