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How EV Charging Actually Works

A guide to the technology, business, and operations of electric vehicle charging

Charles O'Donoghue

The EV charging industry sits at the collision point of transport, energy, and technology, and it's growing faster than most people inside it can keep up with. This book takes you from "I know EVs exist" to "I understand how this industry actually works." Covering everything from charging fundamentals and protocols to smart charging, cybersecurity, and vehicle-to-grid, it's the book the author wished existed when he first entered the industry in 2017.

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About

About

About the Book

The industry handbook for anyone joining or working in EV charging. Covers the full stack, from market landscape and charging fundamentals, through protocols and backend systems, to smart charging, V2G, cybersecurity, and regulation. Written in plain language with real-world examples, it bridges business, technology, and energy perspectives. No prior EV knowledge required.

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Author

About the Author

Charles O'Donoghue

Charlie O'Donoghue was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and holds an MSc in Nanotechnology from Rhodes University in South Africa. He entered the EV charging industry in 2017 at EV Driver, a startup CPO in Suffolk, where he rose to Technical Director. He joined Norwegian hardware manufacturer Easee in 2021 as an Integration Sales Engineer, built the company's first Global Integration Team, and became Head of Product for the UK. He is now a Solutions Architect at AMPECO, one of Europe's leading charge station management platforms.

He has appeared on the Fully Charged Show and is a certified Product Manager. This book grew out of a training course he developed to onboard colleagues and customers into EV charging operations.

Contents

Table of Contents

Preface

  1. Who this book is for
  2. How this book is structured
  3. A note on voice
  4. Acknowledgements

Part 1: The EV Landscape

Chapter 1: Electric Vehicles–A Second Dawn

  1. The Long Silence and the Slow Revival
  2. The 2020s–The Decade That Tipped
  3. The Business of Electric Vehicles
  4. The Value Chain Is Shifting
  5. The EV Charging Industry Is No Longer a Niche
  6. Chapter Summary

Chapter 2: The EV Market Landscape

  1. Three Sectors, One Disruption
  2. The Blurring of Boundaries
  3. The Market Players–2026
  4. Consolidation–The Story of the 2020s
  5. Charging Segments
  6. The UK Market in Numbers
  7. Chapter Summary

Chapter 3: The EV Charging Network

  1. The Wider EV Ecosystem
  2. The Three Layers of an EVCN
  3. The EVCN at a Glance
  4. The Seven Actors
  5. How the Layers Connect to the Actors
  6. From Theory to Practice
  7. Chapter Summary

Chapter 4: CPO and eMSP–The Two Roles That Run Everything

  1. The Charge Point Operator (CPO)
  2. The e-Mobility Service Provider (eMSP)
  3. The Blurring of Boundaries
  4. The CPO Mind Map
  5. Who Plays Which Role?
  6. The eMSP Revenue Model
  7. Looking Ahead–The Evolution of Roles
  8. Chapter Summary

Chapter 5: Data Types and Relationships

  1. Key Data Types in an EVCN
  2. Entity Relationships
  3. How Data Flows in Practice–A Charging Session Walk-Through
  4. Key Identifiers
  5. Data Quality and Governance
  6. From Data to Insight
  7. Chapter Summary

Part 2: Charging Operations

Chapter 6: Charging Fundamentals

  1. What’s Really Happening Between These Two Things?
  2. AC vs DC Charging
  3. Power Levels
  4. IEC 61851 Charging Modes
  5. Connector Types
  6. The Control Pilot–How Charger and Vehicle Talk
  7. Vehicle Architectures: 400V vs 800V
  8. Emerging Charging Technology
  9. Bringing It All Together

Chapter 7: The IoT Backbone

  1. The Charge Station as a Connected Device
  2. Inside the Charger: The Connectivity Hardware
  3. Cellular Networks: The Air Between Charger and Cloud
  4. From Radio Waves to Internet Traffic
  5. Managing IoT Devices at Scale
  6. Security: Protecting the Air Gap
  7. Offline Operation: When the Air Fails
  8. Putting It Together: The Data Flow

Chapter 8: The EV Protocol Zoo

  1. A Tower of Babel, Solved
  2. OCPP–The Language Chargers Speak
  3. OCPP 1.6J–The Foundation
  4. OCPP 2.0.1–The Modern Standard
  5. OCPP 2.1–The Cutting Edge
  6. OCPI–The Roaming Protocol
  7. ISO 15118–The Vehicle Protocol
  8. The Protocol Landscape–How They All Fit Together
  9. Other Protocols Worth Knowing
  10. The Real-World Complexity
  11. Chapter Summary

Chapter 9: The Charge Station Management System

  1. Head Office
  2. What Does a CSMS Actually Do?
  3. The CSMS Market
  4. Architecture Patterns
  5. CSMS and OCPP Versions
  6. Fleet Management Features
  7. The CSMS in Context
  8. Choosing a CSMS: What to Look For
  9. Chapter Summary

Chapter 10: A Multi-Faceted Computer System

  1. It’s Not an Electrical Box–It’s a Computer
  2. What’s Inside: The Hardware Architecture
  3. Multiple Processes, One Machine
  4. Logging and Diagnostics: Your Forensic Evidence
  5. Firmware Management: The Soul of the Device
  6. Observability: Seeing Inside the Machine
  7. The Human Interface in Depth
  8. Surviving the Elements
  9. Pulling It All Together

Chapter 11: Billing for the EV Space

  1. How Hard Can It Be?
  2. Pricing Models
  3. The Charge Detail Record (CDR)
  4. Payment Methods
  5. The Contactless Payment Mandate
  6. Roaming Billing
  7. VAT and Tax Considerations
  8. Fleet Billing
  9. The Future of Billing
  10. Chapter Summary

Chapter 12: Problem Solving

  1. The Reliability Question
  2. A Troubleshooting Mindset
  3. Common Failure Modes
  4. The Vehicle Side
  5. Remote vs On-Site Troubleshooting
  6. Building a Knowledge Base
  7. Monitoring and Prevention
  8. Tools of the Trade
  9. Bringing It All Together

Part 3: The New Frontier

Chapter 13: Smart Charging & Energy Management

  1. The Grid Was Never Designed for This
  2. Why Smart Charging Is Not Optional
  3. The Energy Trilemma
  4. Load Management: The Foundation
  5. Demand Response: Talking to the Grid
  6. Time-of-Use Tariffs and Charging Behaviour
  7. UK DNO Constraints and Flexibility Markets
  8. Battery-Buffered Charging Sites
  9. OCPP 2.1 and Distributed Energy Resources
  10. Real-World Smart Charging in Action
  11. What This Means for You

Chapter 14: V2G / V2X–Charging in Reverse

  1. A Battery on Wheels
  2. The V2X Family
  3. How Bidirectional Charging Works
  4. The Standards Making It Happen
  5. The Economics: Why Would Anyone Do This?
  6. The Virtual Power Plant
  7. What Vehicles Support V2G Today?
  8. Battery Degradation: The Elephant in the Room
  9. Regulatory Enablers and Barriers
  10. The Behavioural Challenge
  11. Where V2G Is Heading

Chapter 15: Plug & Charge–Just Plug In

  1. The App Problem
  2. The Vision
  3. How It Works: The Technical Foundation
  4. The PKI Chain of Trust
  5. Hubject: The Ecosystem Operator
  6. ISO 15118 Versions: What You Need to Know
  7. Current OEM Support
  8. The EU AFIR Mandate
  9. Challenges: Why Is This Not Everywhere Yet?
  10. What Plug & Charge Means for the Industry
  11. The Bigger Picture

Chapter 16: Cybersecurity in EV Charging

  1. A Computer on Every Street Corner
  2. The Threat Landscape
  3. Key Security Standards and Frameworks
  4. Real-World Vulnerabilities
  5. Defence in Depth
  6. UK Regulatory Context
  7. Supply Chain Security
  8. The Human Factor
  9. A Pragmatic Approach

Chapter 17: Regulation & Compliance

  1. From the Wild West to the Rule of Law
  2. The UK ZEV Mandate
  3. UK Public Charge Point Regulations 2023
  4. EU AFIR: The European Framework
  5. OZEV and Government Support
  6. Planning and Grid Connection
  7. Consumer Protection
  8. Data Protection
  9. Safety Standards
  10. The Patchwork Problem
  11. Practical Compliance: A Checklist

Chapter 18: Roaming & Interoperability

  1. The Vodafone Problem
  2. What Roaming Actually Means
  3. How Roaming Works End-to-End
  4. OCPI: The Roaming Protocol
  5. The Protocol Landscape: OCPI vs OICP vs eMIP
  6. The Convergence Story: Hubject Joins OCPI
  7. Roaming Hubs: The Exchanges
  8. The Business Case for Roaming
  9. Challenges in Roaming
  10. The Future of Roaming in a Contactless World
  11. What This Means for You

Appendix A: Glossary & Acronyms

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D
  5. E
  6. F
  7. G
  8. H
  9. I
  10. J
  11. K
  12. L
  13. M
  14. N
  15. O
  16. P
  17. Q
  18. R
  19. S
  20. T
  21. V
  22. W
  23. Z

Appendix B: Industry Actors

  1. Charge Point Operators (CPOs)
  2. eMSPs and Roaming Providers
  3. CSMS Vendors
  4. Hardware Manufacturers
  5. Roaming Hubs
  6. Industry Bodies and Standards Organisations
  7. Energy Companies in EV Charging

Appendix C: Protocols & Standards Reference

  1. OCPP — Open Charge Point Protocol
  2. OCPI — Open Charge Point Interface
  3. ISO 15118 — Vehicle-to-Grid Communication Interface
  4. IEC 61851 — Electric Vehicle Conductive Charging System
  5. IEC 62196 — Plugs, Socket-Outlets, Vehicle Connectors and Vehicle Inlets
  6. OpenADR 3.0 — Open Automated Demand Response
  7. OICP — Open InterCharge Protocol
  8. eMIP — e-Mobility Inter-operation Protocol
  9. MQTT — Message Queuing Telemetry Transport
  10. OCPP Version Comparison

Appendix D: Useful Links & Resources

  1. Standards Bodies & Protocol Organisations
  2. Industry Associations
  3. Roaming Platforms
  4. UK Government & Regulation
  5. EU Regulation
  6. US Regulation & Programmes
  7. Market Data & Statistics
  8. Learning Resources & Technical Guides
  9. Industry News & Analysis
  10. Open-Source Tools & Projects
  11. Cybersecurity

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