Did you know that the ISO 15118 communication standard currently consists of eight different parts? It can be overwhelming to work with this complex and future-proof technology due to the vast amount of charging-related use cases the standard covers. The good news is that ISO 15118 serves as a unified communication protocol that covers all charging-related use cases. However, this myriad of functionality also adds to its complexity. In this article, we won’t cover all the different parts that ISO 15118 comprises. Today, I’m going to take this opportunity to introduce to you ISO 15118-20, the newest member of the document family.
The International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) changed the part number of ISO/DIS 15118-2 (Ed. 2) to ISO/DIS 15118-20. The project team currently working on the second edition of ISO 15118 requested this change after the last conference call in December 2018.
This means that the former project title
… is now called
The “DIS” in the title is short for “Draft International Standard”, which is usually the first version of a standard that is available for purchase.
The main reason for this change is that ISO 15118-20 is not compatible with ISO 15118-2 because it comes with a series of changes and a whole new set of features. Among these changes are a rearranged message structure and newly added messages that account for features like wireless charging, bidirectional energy transfer, and ACD charging. ACD is short for automated connection device and refers to wired charging systems that don’t require the user to manually plug in a charging cable. The first ACD use case is mainly specified by Siemens and describes how buses can be charged via pantographs.
ISO 15118-20 also comes with a higher level of security since encrypting the communication channel between the EV and charging station using Transport Layer Security (TLS) is no longer just an option, but it is now mandatory for all use cases.
Due to this change, the latest possible date to publish ISO 15118-20 as an international standard (IS) is now February 2021. However, the project team aims to have this part of the standard published by the end of 2020. The registered experts are currently gathering in weekly web conferences to discuss all open technical and editorial comments and to find solutions. By summer 2020, we should have a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) that reflects all of the final technical changes. Only editorial changes will be allowed once an FDIS has been published. In case you are not a member of the project team but would like early access to ISO 15118-20, you’ll be able to purchase that document through ISO.
Update Jan 18, 2020: The publication date has been updated, previously the blog post stated that ISO 15118-20 would be ready by Q1 2020 at the latest. The publication date has been shifted due to the enormous amount of work needed to consolidate all comments.
Introducing different generations of ISO 15118 as different document parts will allow for better revisions of each part. That said, what is the plan with ISO 15118-2? This first edition of ISO 15118 is currently being implemented and brought to market by EV and charging station manufacturers and service providers across the globe (see also my previous blog post on “EV Charging Communication Events and Trends In 2019”). But how can we handle necessary bug fixes with this protocol version?
One idea would be that CharIN, the Charging Interface Initiative e.V. behind the Combined Charging System (CCS), will provide amendments or a corrigendum for those parts of the document that are ambiguous and could cause interoperability issues between different vendors. It’s also possible that after having gathered enough input from the market, a dedicated project team could work on a second edition of ISO 15118-2 that could be published much more quickly than the three to four years that is usually needed for a new standard. It all depends on how fast the team members agree on the introduced changes.
Are you already implementing ISO 15118-2 and facing technical challenges? Or do you want to dive into this technology but don’t know how to effectively get started? You’ve come to the right place. I’ve prepared a series of comprehensive resources for beginners and experts alike. Take a look at the ISO 15118 Manual and my online courses. If you’re interested in setting up a consulting session or if you have questions about the available resources, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly via email. I look forward to hearing from you.
.png)
As part of the Combined Charging System (CCS), ISO 15118 is a communication protocol covering all use cases for charging electric vehicles across the globe.
A webinar hosted by Newcastle University covering many topics related to ISO 15118 and its development (the ecosystem, V2G, smart charging, cyber-security)
A common question I receive from the EV community is whether there is a difference between ISO 15118 and DIN SPEC 70121. The answer tends to leave many of you quite surprised. This is an essential distinction to understand in order…
Featured
Case Study
ISO 15118
Plug & Charge
%20(1).jpg)
Learn how Switch helps you be compliant with UK Public Charging regulations
Featured
Josev packages the full, battle-tested and certified versions of OCPP 2.0.1 and ISO 15118. It lets you easily upgrade your hardware without implementing the standardised protocol stacks yourself. If you want to try Josev for free and see how it can help your business you can learn more about our trial program here: https://www.switch-ev.com/josev/try-before-you-buy.
ISO 15118-20
Josev
ISO 15118
OCPP 2.0.1
Plug & Charge
NEVI is a major boost for EV charging in the USA. Here's how it works, who can benefit and how Switch helps you qualify.
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-2
ISO 15118-20
Josev
OCPP
Autocharge offers convenience – but at what cost? Its downsides cannot be ignored.
ISO 15118
Josev
Data security
OCPP
Plug & Charge
The App Store makes it easy for you to add value-added service layers to your core offering. Just add the stuff you want and drop anything you don’t: A couple clicks and voila you’re good to go! For example, if you want to make more money from your network, you can easily integrate with one of our roaming hubs like Hubject or GIREVE to make your network visible to millions of drivers.
NetZero
ISO 15118
OCPP
Seamless charging
V2G
Switch now integrates with Hubject, Europe's biggest EV roaming hub. This means you can open your network to millions of drivers with a click.
ISO 15118
OCPP 2.0.1
Plug & Charge
Featured
Testing is essential to creating a functional EV charging experience. More than that, testing with real cars and chargers tell us some vital about the future of EV charging.
ISO 15118
Josev
Plug & Charge
Broken EV chargers are a major hurdle to mass adoption. But what exactly is the issue? Heres what’s causing the problem — and how we can solve it.
OCPP 2.0.1
OCPP
ISO 15118
In June 2023, Josev, our embedded charger software solution, achieved a major milestone. It was certified by Dekra Laboratories and the Open Charge Alliance (OCA) as OCPP 2.0.1 compliant. This certification is a big deal since it guarantees that both the Switch platform and Josev meet the highest (and latest) standards in EV charging. The OCA splits its OCPP 2.0.1 testing into two buckets: 1) Core functionality and 2) Advanced security
OCPP 2.0.1
OCPP
Josev
Switch is one of 11 companies worldwide to receive the prestigious OCPP 2.0.1 certification. This places us at the forefront of EV charging solutions, making Switch the sole provider supporting Plug & Charge. Switch removes all limitations and constraints, allowing businesses to confidently embrace the future of EV charging. Our system paves the way for a sustainable and scalable charging infrastructure that meets the growing needs of electric vehicles.
OCPP 2.0.1
ISO 15118-2
ISO 15118-20
Josev
Plug & Charge
The Switch platform helps you build better EV charging networks and brings real market value that benefits you and your customers, giving you a competitive advantage.
OCPP 2.0.1
Plug & Charge
Advanced uptime diagnostics
V2G
Josev
All this means that you get a superior product packed with vital advanced next-generation capabilities for businesses who want to leverage their EV charging networks, generate and diversify their revenue portfolio and create a seamless charging experience for the end customer. NOW for some exciting news!
Featured
ISO 15118
Josev
V2G
In episode six of our webinar series 'Make the Switch: the benefits of partnering with Switch' we share our expertise and insights in building game-changing tech for EV charging to a global audience, who joined us from the US, Canada, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-20
Plug & Charge
Josev
Seamless charging
Both the telecoms and EV charging industries have experienced rapid and continuous innovation and technological change, moving from the niche to the masses.
ISO 15118
Josev
Josev Community
Open source
Plug & Charge
How Switch is opening the door to advanced EV charging capabilities
Featured
ISO 15118
Plug & Charge
OCPP 2.0.1
OCPP
Have you ever wondered how to take your fleet into an electrified future? Learn from industry experts of Switch and Nuvve how remote diagnostics, charging infrastructure and software platforms will help you electrify your fleet with ease. In episode 5 of our free Switch webinar series, you learn how Switch and Nuvve support the switch to EVs on a commercial scale. Study the differences between V2H (vehicle-to-home), V2B (vehicle-to-building/business), V2L (vehicle-to-load) and V2G (vehicle-to-grid) and get an idea of the business potential of the supported use cases.
Featured
Webinar
V2G
V2B
V2H
This is episode 4 of our free Switch webinar series, where you will learn how our design-led approach helped to create the Switch platform: our game-changing software solution that future-proofs EV chargers. In this episode we covered: the importance of user feedback in designing our customer-focused product, how rapid front-end prototyping helped us explore vital next-step questions and the challenges and solutions of recruiting users for research.
Featured
CCS
Sara
Webinar
ISO 15118
Learn the key concepts across all communication layers of this future-proof technology so you can actively shape this thriving e-mobility market with your innovative and interoperable EV charging products.
ISO 15118-2
Featured
ISO 15118-20
CCS
Plug & Charge
Our founder and CEO, Marc Mültin, talks about Josev Community, our new, free-to-all open source implementation of ISO 15118, and why it’s so important to us and the electric vehicle (EV) charging industry.
Josev
ISO 15118-20
ISO 15118-2
Featured
Josev Community
Switch CEO and founder Marc Mültin tells us how his passion for protecting the environment led him to support the Eden Reforestation Projects not once but twice.
NetZero
Featured
Welcome to our recurring industry smart-up for the EV charging sector. Episode two of our webinar series shines a light on 'What’s new in ISO 15118-20'. Our Switch engineers André and Shalin joined CEO Marc Mültin to discuss the new features introduced with ISO 15118-20.
Josev
ISO 15118-20
ISO 15118-2
Webinar
ISO 15118
Welcome to our recurring industry smart-up for the EV charging sector. In episode one, our engineers Hugo and Chad joined CEO Marc Mültin to shed light on the key benefits of OCPP 2.0.1 over OCPP 1.6, specifically the new and powerful device management functionality, also known as “Device Model”
Sara
CCS
Webinar
OCPP
OCPP 2.0.1
In this article, you’ll get a short overview of the currently available charging standards, we’ll talk about the one with the biggest chances of success, and explain why it’s so important to bring mature software solutions to market. I’ll let you in on the biggest hurdles we’re currently facing and also present to you a solution called JOSEV that will help us get there quicker. Oh, and for those who wonder where Tesla might be headed regarding ISO 15118, I have some news for you, too.
ISO 15118-2
ISO 15118-20
Josev
Plug & Charge
CCS
Want to be a frontrunner for EV charging? Here are the four key ingredients for a thriving e-mobility ecosystem: (1) Customer convenience (2) Smart charging (3) Cyber security (4) Digital services. The Switch system has the capabilities to deliver the EV charging of tomorrow, future-proofing you and your business. Read our blog post for the full story.
Plug & Charge
Josev
OCPP
ISO 15118
Advanced uptime diagnostics
As part of the Combined Charging System (CCS), ISO 15118 is a communication protocol covering all use cases for charging electric vehicles across the globe.
Featured
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-2
ISO 15118-20
ISO 15118-3
Switch, a UK software company, is eliminating poor user experience that is growing exponentially across public electric vehicle charging networks because multiple devices are operating with many different standards. The company is creating the first open source operating system that can be used by every device, eliminating all complexity for charger manufacturers and facilitating interoperability within the e-mobility market.
Seamless charging
Featured
NetZero
Plug & Charge
An in-depth discussion on the ISO 15118 ecosystem with industry leaders who represent seven stakeholders from throughout the electric vehicle industry.
ISO 15118
OCPP
NetZero
V2G
Plug & Charge
The AMA webinar will take place in November 2021 (exact date coming soon) and will be recorded.The details on how to register for and participate at the webinar will follow soon.
Learn the key concepts across all communication layers of this future-proof technology so you can actively shape this thriving e-mobility market with your innovative and interoperable EV charging products.
ISO 15118-2
CCS
Plug & Charge
Take a deep dive into the topic of secure charging communication with the user-convenient Plug & Charge feature of ISO 15118. We’ll focus on the certificate concept, necessary public-key infrastructures, encrypted communication via TLS, and XML-based signatures.
ISO 15118-2
Plug & Charge
Today, I have an exciting announcement that I've been wanting to share with you for weeks.Five years ago, I started as a freelancing e-mobility consultant specialising in future-proof communication standards. This was to help companies around the globe better understand ISO 15118, in order to bring the user-friendly and seamless Plug & Charge experience to market.
Josev
Sara
Featured
Open source
V2G
Plug & Charge is a technological concept initially introduced by the ISO 15118. It enables the today's most user-convenient and secure way of charging EVs.
Featured
Plug & Charge
ISO 15118
CCS
Seamless charging
A webinar hosted by Newcastle University covering many topics related to ISO 15118 and its development (the ecosystem, V2G, smart charging, cyber-security)
ISO 15118
Webinar
Seamless charging
V2G
OCPP
V2G Clarity’s compliance Testing-as-a-Service for OCPP 2.0.1 is being offered alongside comemso’s testing suite for 15118 compliance tests
V2G Clarity’s compliance Testing-as-a-Service for OCPP 2.0.1 is being offered alongside comemso’s testing suite for 15118 compliance tests
ISO 15118
OCPP
OCPP 2.0.1
Learn how various e-mobility market players (e.g. EV OEMs, CPOs, MSPs) need to collaborate in order to bring ISO 15118’s Plug & Charge ecosystem to life.
Calibration law
ISO 15118
Learn about the new features of ISO 15118-20, which include bidirectional power transfer (V2G), wireless power transfer, enforced data security, and more.
Featured
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-20
V2G
V2B
This white paper addresses existing calibration law regulations (“Eichrecht”) and ways to facilitate a transparent and tamper-proof billing process for EVs.
Data security
Calibration law
Take action now to combat climate change – Join efforts to fund reforestation projects worldwide and make a lasting impact for our and future generations
NetZero
V2G
Auto motor und sport's podcast "Moove" with an episode on ISO 15118: "Geld verdienen mit dem Akku des E-Auto – geht das?" (in German).
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-20
Data security
Plug & Charge
Josev
This article shows you how a first-tier supplier for the automotive industry uses RISE V2G to test ISO 15118 on EV on-board chargers (videos included).
Explore the differences between Autocharge and ISO 15118’s Plug & Charge in an extensive report. Both approaches differ in security, complexity, and implementation costs.
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-2
Data security
Plug & Charge
Seamless charging
Imagine your electric vehicle being more than just a means of transportation from point A to point B. What if it could be part of a green energy revolution — a new trend that emerges from the ever-growing number of…
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-20
V2G
Seamless charging
An electric vehicle is capable of both recharging its battery and feeding energy back into the grid. This feature is referred to as vehicle-to-grid (V2G).
V2G
V2H
V2B
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-2
This free, one-hour keynote speech on “Secure and User-Convenient Charging With ISO 15118” is your perfect jumpstart to learn about the EV charging standard
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-20
Plug & Charge
Did you know that the ISO 15118 communication standard currently consists of eight different parts? It can be overwhelming to work with this complex and future-proof technology due to the vast amount of charging-related use cases the standard covers. The…
Featured
ISO 15118
ISO 15118-20
V2B
V2H
That annual feeling is upon us: goal setting and resolutions sweep the public discourse and flood social media, as they do every January. But what if we made collective, societal goals? After spending a decade in the electric mobility industry,…
OCPP
Open source
Advanced uptime diagnostics
We are relatively early in developing an industry that many hope will completely overhaul the current transportation ecosystem worldwide. This means there is an opportunity at every turn to mold the future of our slowly but surely interconnecting world of…
Open source
OCPP
ISO 15118
Data security
When new technology enters the market, we – as a community of experts – need to make sure that each implementation is working according to international specifications. The interoperability of ISO 15118-related charging solutions is key for user acceptance and…
Data security
CCS
Seamless charging
Did you make it to Shanghai this April 19th and 20th? Hundreds of top EV engineers and programmers descended on the 8th International CCS & ISO/IEC 15118 Testing Symposium. These important industry events aim to increase the interoperability of charging…
CCS
Data security
ISO 15118
Seamless charging
.jpeg)
It’s that time again. Twice a year, e-mobility giants and industry cohorts come together with one purpose: to make sure their electric vehicles (EVs) and charging stations conform to the ISO 15118 standard, guaranteeing a future-proof, secure, and user-convenient way…
CCS
Seamless charging
ISO 15118
RFID card technology is not working. Sure, it is the most widely used tool to charge electric vehicles but, at the same time, unsecure RFID cards put both vehicles and drivers at incredible risk to hackers. Electric vehicle charging stations…
Featured
OCPP 2.0.1
Data security
ISO 15118
A common question I receive from the EV community is whether there is a difference between ISO 15118 and DIN SPEC 70121. The answer tends to leave many of you quite surprised. This is an essential distinction to understand in order…
Featured
ISO 15118
Data security
Plug & Charge
Seamless charging
We all know that the rise of e-mobility closely links to a charging infrastructure which is readily available, reliable, and sufficient regarding the number of charging stations installed. These are the primary concerns of those who asses for themselves if…
Data security
ISO 15118
Josev
Josev Community
Plug & Charge
What do you do if you are working on an ISO 15118 implementation, be it for an electric vehicle (EV) or a charging station, and want to make sure that it is a) interoperable with other implementations in the market…
ISO 15118
I am proud to finally announce version 1.0 of RISE V2G – the only complete open source reference implementation of the smart charging communication standard ISO 15118. ALL GOOD THINGS ARE WORTH WAITING FOR I have been tirelessly working the past couple of weeks…
ISO 15118
Josev
Josev Community
Plug & Charge
Time has come again for another international testing symposium, formally known as the 6th International ISO/IEC 15118 Interoperability and Conformance Testing Symposium. This time it will be held in Versailles, France, from June 22nd to June 23rd, at VEDECOM. FIVE…
ISO 15118
Seamless charging
In one of my previous articles called “The Charging Stations’ Backend Protocol OCPP Will Develop – through OASIS and IEC“, I introduced you to a new standardization initiative. This initiative aims at internationally standardizing the communication interface between a charging station…
Data security
Open source
ISO 15118
OCPP
Seamless charging
.jpeg)
The ISO/IEC 15118 Testing Symposium initiative now invites you to the “5th International ISO/IEC 15118 Interoperability and Conformance Testing Symposium”, which will be held on 10 and 11 November in South Korea on the island of Jeju-do. Host of the…
ISO 15118
Plug & Charge
Seamless charging
The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), launched by the Open Charge Alliance, an industry alliance of public and private charging infrastructure providers, is the most widely used communications protocol between charging infrastructure and charging operators. Its further development will now take…
OCPP
OCPP 2.0.1