Overview
In recent years, the market for electric vehicles (EV) and their charging infrastructure has grown dramatically. However, in the EU, the absence of widely adopted protocols and standards for interoperability and roaming for EV charging stations has severely hindered the development of cross border travel. Present solutions have a national scope at best, and new products and services are often limited to specific regions or countries.
The project evRoaming4EU therefore formed a partnership with partners from four EU countries: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Austria. The main objective is to facilitate roaming services for charging electric vehicles and provide transparent information about charging locations and prices of charging in Europe, by making use of the open independent OCPI protocol. The ultimate goal is to allow any EV driver to charge at any charging station in the EU. A key part of the project involves transnational pilots, aimed at addressing and resolving functional, technical, legal, and fiscal obstacles. European regulation (including EU Directives on the deployment of alternative fuels and on intelligent transport systems) is increasingly recognizing the need for transparency and open protocols.
This project builds on OCPI: an independent and open protocol that supports the involved parties to connect via roaming hubs, but also allows decentral (peer-to-peer) connections. By not being tied to one specific roaming operator, OCPI moves competition towards products and services and away from closed consortia and protocol choices. As part of this project, the existing OCPI protocol will be further developed to support the above objectives. This project realizes an essential precondition for a mature European market for EV charging infrastructure. EV drivers will be able to travel across Europe without obstacles and have access to services and information (locations, availability, tariffs) for their charging needs. It has positive impact on energy efficiency, use of renewable energy and therefore on climate ambitions. Cost of access to the EV charging market will be reduced, competition will move towards services instead of protocols and provides a fertile ground for innovation and job creation. This project offers the EMEurope initiative an excellent opportunity to make the necessary step towards growth.