Stop 01 of 09 · The connection

What is OCPP for?

About 6 min · 3 questions ·

Tuesday
The situation

A 200 kW charger at a supermarket car park, made by one manufacturer, run by an operator whose software comes from another company.

In five minutes it will restart after a night of maintenance, and the first thing it does is open a connection.

The questionWhy can a charger from one company talk to software from another, and what exactly do they say?

Guess firstHow many times was OCPP 2.1 downloaded in 2025, its first year?RevealHide

19,475 times, from 120 countries. OCPP 2.0.1 was downloaded 21,446 times and the older 1.6 20,625 times in the same year.

Four protocols, four conversationsWho talks to whom
CarChargerBackendPartnersGrid
ISO 15118car and charger
OCPPcharger and backend
OCPIbackend and partners
OSCPgrid and backend

OCPP connects the charging station with its management system. Roaming between companies runs over OCPI, grid capacity can come in over OSCP.

One language for many manufacturers

Without a shared protocol, every charger would need software from its own manufacturer, and operators could not mix brands. solves this: any charger and any management system that speak it can work together.

  • Origin. OCPP started in 2009 in the Netherlands at ElaadNL, a non-profit owned by Dutch grid operators.
  • Home. Since 2014, the Open Charge Alliance, a non-profit foundation under Dutch law, develops it.
  • Access. Anyone can download the specifications free of charge and use them without licence or registration.
OCPP downloads in 2025Three versions in use at once
OCPP 1.620,625

downloads from 115 countries

OCPP 2.0.121,446

downloads from 112 countries

OCPP 2.119,475

downloads from 120 countries

Downloads to individual IP addresses, as reported by the Open Charge Alliance.

Check your understanding

3 questions. Answer all of them to complete this stop. Each answer explains itself.

01Question 1 of 3

Which two parties does OCPP connect?

02Question 2 of 3

Who develops OCPP today?

03Question 3 of 3

What does it cost to use OCPP?

Further in other paths

  1. EV charging fundamentals · Stop 03What happens after you tap your card?Follow one tap from the card reader to the operator's backend and, for another company's card, across the roaming route and back. OCPP and OCPI in action.
  2. OCPI and roaming · Stop 01Why does a card work at someone else's charger?One card, many networks: what roaming is, which two roles meet in it, and why the exchange between them needs a common protocol.
  1. Open Charge Alliance: Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP): versions 1.6, 2.0.1 and 2.1. https://openchargealliance.org/protocols/open-charge-point-protocol/. Checked 09 Oct 2026.
  2. EVRoaming Foundation: Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI). https://evroaming.org/ocpi-background/. Checked 09 Oct 2026.
  3. Open Charge Alliance: Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP). https://openchargealliance.org/protocols/open-smart-charging-protocol/. Checked 09 Oct 2026.
  4. Open Charge Alliance: Introduction to OCPP (presentation, April 2026). https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Introduction-to-OCPP.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.
  5. Open Charge Alliance: Introduction to OCPP (presentation, April 2026). https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Introduction-to-OCPP.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.
  6. Open Charge Alliance: Introduction to OCPP (presentation, April 2026). https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Introduction-to-OCPP.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.
  7. Open Charge Alliance: Introduction to OCPP (presentation, April 2026). https://openchargealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Introduction-to-OCPP.pdf. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.
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