What is Plug & Charge?

With Plug & Charge, based on ISO 15118, the car identifies itself with a certificate when plugged in, so no card or app is needed.

Explained in

EV charging fundamentals · Stop 08What standards make all of this work?ISO 15118, OCPP, OCPI and AFIR mapped onto one charging session: which agreement makes each moment possible, and why certification matters.
  • OCPP, charger to backend: chargers and backends from different manufacturers work together.
  • OCPI, company to company: one card works in many networks, alongside other roaming protocols such as OICP.
  • IEC 61851 and ISO 15118, vehicle to charger: safe signalling, and with ISO 15118 Plug & Charge, where the car identifies itself and the tap is no longer needed.
  • AFIR, the EU regulation for public charging: payment, price information, data and coverage.
From “Four standards, four connections”, stop 08

Terms

  1. OCPPOpen Charge Point Protocol: the open protocol between a charger and its operator's backend.
  2. OCPIOpen Charge Point Interface: an open protocol for roaming between operators and e-mobility service providers.
  3. OICPOpen InterCharge Protocol: the roaming protocol of the Hubject platform.
  4. RoamingCharging in another company's network with your own card or app.
  1. What does AFIR require?Ad hoc payment at new public chargers, price and status information through open interfaces, and charging pools every 60 km along the main European roads, with rising power targets up to 2027.
  2. Why do tenders ask for OCPP certification?Implementations can differ in details such as start-up or error handling. Certification and tests with the actual backend close that gap before a rollout.
  3. Why does charging involve so many companies?Three things spread the work: the grid connection, the location where people park, and contracts that work across many networks. One company can hold several roles, but the roles stay separate.
  4. How many public charge points are there in Europe?More than 1.1 million in the EU alone: the European Alternative Fuels Observatory counted 1,159,838 public recharging points in August 2026. The map on this site covers part of the network: 839,000 public charge points at 227,000 sites across Europe, from national registries and OpenChargeMap.
  1. Open Charge Alliance: Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP). https://openchargealliance.org/protocols/open-charge-point-protocol/. Checked 07 Oct 2026.
  2. EVRoaming Foundation: Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI). https://evroaming.org/ocpi-background/. Checked 07 Oct 2026.
  3. IEC: IEC 61851-1:2017, Electric vehicle conductive charging system, Part 1: General requirements. https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/33644. Checked 07 Oct 2026.
  4. ISO: ISO 15118-20:2022, Road vehicles, Vehicle to grid communication interface, Part 20. https://www.iso.org/standard/77845.html. Checked 07 Oct 2026.
  5. EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 (AFIR), Articles 3, 5 and 20. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1804/oj. Checked 07 Oct 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.