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How EV Charging Actually Works

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

How EV Charging Actually Works
This book is 100% completeLast updated on 2026-10-13
+38,395 words in the last 30 days
Charles O'Donoghue

From "I know EVs exist" to "I know how this industry works", with no prior EV knowledge needed. The book the author wished he'd had in 2017.

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About

About

About the Book

For anyone in or joining EV charging in the UK and EU. The October 2026 edition is a full rewrite in three parts and twenty chapters:

- The landscape: the market, CPOs and eMSPs, site hosts and data.

- Charging operations: OCPP, OCPI, ISO 15118, CSMS, roaming, billing and troubleshooting.

- The new frontier: smart charging, V2G, Plug & Charge, cybersecurity and regulation.

Sarah's tap on a 150 kW charger runs through the book: each of the eleven hops to her £19.25 bill gets a chapter. From the Field boxes tell stories from the author's work since 2017.

676 footnotes cite 455 sources (Appendix E). The 68 diagrams share one system: boxes are things, wires are what flows, and wire colour shows energy, information or money.

It is an AI-forward book: a practitioner's knowledge, written with automation, and open about which part is which.

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Non-FictionTechnical CommunicationEnergyElectric Vehicle Charging

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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, South Africa. He joined EV charging in 2017 at EV Driver, a Suffolk startup CPO, rising to Technical Director. In 2021 he joined Norwegian charger maker Easee as an Integration Sales Engineer, built its first Global Integration Team and became Head of Product 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 his training course for colleagues and customers.

Contents

Table of Contents

Dedication

Preface

  1. Who this book is for
  2. How this book is structured
  3. A note on voice
  4. An AI-forward book
  5. How this book was fact-checked
  6. 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. Charging Segments
  4. The UK Market in Numbers
  5. 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 Eight 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. Who Plays Which Role?
  5. The eMSP Revenue Model
  6. Looking Ahead: The Evolution of Roles
  7. Chapter Summary

Chapter 5: The Site Host: Whose Land Is It Anyway?

  1. The Many Faces of the Host
  2. Five Deal Shapes
  3. Who Sets the Tariff
  4. The Lease
  5. How CPOs Choose Sites
  6. The Rules That Land on the Landowner
  7. What the Host Needs From the CSMS
  8. Chapter Summary

Chapter 6: 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 7: 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. Chapter Summary

Chapter 8: The IoT Backbone

  1. The Charge Station as a Connected Device
  2. Hops 2 to 7: Inside the Charger
  3. Hops 8 and 9: The Mobile Network
  4. Hop 10: Watching the Chain from the CSMS
  5. Offline Operation: When the Air Fails
  6. Chapter Summary

Chapter 9: 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. How the Protocols Fit Together
  9. The Real-World Complexity
  10. Chapter Summary

Chapter 10: The Charging Station Management System

  1. Head Office
  2. What Does a CSMS Actually Do?
  3. Buy or Build
  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 11: 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
  12. Worked Example: One Session, Module by Module
  13. Chapter Summary

Chapter 12: A Multi-Faceted Computer System

  1. Not an Electrical Box, 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. Chapter Summary

Chapter 13: 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 14: 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. Worked Example: Debugging a Stuck Charger
  10. Chapter Summary

Part 3: The New Frontier

Chapter 15: 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
  12. Chapter Summary

Chapter 16: 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
  12. Worked Example: A V2G Driver’s Day
  13. Chapter Summary

Chapter 17: 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. What the Certificate Says
  6. Hubject: The Ecosystem Operator
  7. ISO 15118 Versions: What You Need to Know
  8. Current OEM Support
  9. The EU AFIR Mandate
  10. Challenges: Why Is This Not Everywhere Yet?
  11. What Plug & Charge Means for the Industry
  12. The Bigger Picture
  13. Chapter Summary

Chapter 18: Cybersecurity in EV Charging

  1. A Computer on Every Street Corner
  2. The Threats
  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
  10. Chapter Summary

Chapter 19: Regulation & Compliance

  1. From the Wild West to the Rule of Law
  2. Why the Pressure Built
  3. The UK Rules, Failure by Failure
  4. Europe Fixed the Same Failures
  5. The Patchwork Problem
  6. Chapter Summary

Chapter 20: Where This Book Ends

  1. What to Read Next
  2. Where to Learn in Practice
  3. What to Watch
  4. Chapter Summary

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. The Market Players in 2026
  2. Consolidation: The Story of the 2020s
  3. Charge Point Operators (CPOs)
  4. eMSPs and Roaming Providers
  5. Site Hosts
  6. CSMS Vendors
  7. Hardware Manufacturers
  8. Roaming Hubs
  9. Industry Bodies and Standards Organisations
  10. Energy Companies in EV Charging

Appendix C: Protocols & Standards Reference

  1. The Protocol Family by Category
  2. OCPP: Open Charge Point Protocol
  3. OCPI: Open Charge Point Interface
  4. ISO 15118: Vehicle-to-Grid Communication Interface
  5. IEC 61851: Electric Vehicle Conductive Charging System
  6. IEC 62196: Plugs, Socket-Outlets, Vehicle Connectors and Vehicle Inlets
  7. OpenADR 3: Open Automated Demand Response
  8. OICP: Open InterCharge Protocol
  9. eMIP: e-Mobility Inter-operation Protocol
  10. MQTT: Message Queuing Telemetry Transport
  11. 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

Appendix E: References & Further Reading

  1. Foundational protocols and networking
  2. EV charging protocols and standards
  3. Smart charging and grid integration
  4. Cybersecurity
  5. UK regulation
  6. EU regulation
  7. Site hosts, land and leases
  8. Market data
  9. Industry references

Appendix F: Regulation Reference

  1. The UK ZEV Mandate
  2. The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023
  3. EU AFIR
  4. UK Grants
  5. Planning and Grid Connection
  6. Consumer Protection
  7. Data Protection
  8. Safety Standards
  9. Compliance Checklist

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