The electric vehicle infrastructure consortium the Open Charge Alliance has revealed that it’s decided to standardize the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) at the open standards development organization OASIS, according to recent reports.
The goal of the move is to scale-up interoperable electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure around the world — as OASIS will provide an “expeditious standardization process and potential pathway to integrate OCPP with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) framework.”
Given the great current need for some kind of standardization in the EV infrastructure industry, the move is a notable one.
“OCA (Open Charge Alliance) has come a long way since its inception,” stated Brett Hauser, co-founder of the Open Charge Alliance. “Standardization with OASIS is the next critical milestone for OCA to reach further scale. Having this open interoperable framework is essential for both innovation and emerging markets.”
A recent press release provides some background:
OCA was formed to create a universal open communication standard — OCPP — to answer the challenges associated with proprietary networks and enable seamless communication between charging stations and vendor central systems. The closed nature of proprietary charging networks has led to unnecessary EV driver and asset owner frustration over the years, fueling widespread industry support for an open model. With more than 20,000 installations in 17 different countries, OCPP has become the de facto open standard for open charger to network communications.
“Based on the traction to date, OCPP is clearly providing what consumers, manufacturers, and utilities want — an open and accessible charging network. We’re excited by OCPP’s potential to lower EVSE costs, provide more vendor engagement, drive faster innovation, and enable greater integration in the smart grid,” stated Laurent Liscia, OASIS CEO and Executive Director. “We look forward to advancing OCPP at OASIS and bringing even more stakeholders into this exciting process.”