The world’s first large-scale migration of OCPP based PEV charging infrastructure

The Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure is a growing business, however there is still a lot to be learned and much knowledge to be acquired in the field of e-Mobility and the subsequent operational and business aspects.

With a growing number of EV’s, 3,000 public charging points in the Netherlands, an extensive partners network (service center, maintenance parties) and a large number of different interfaces to external systems – the migration from the first charge point management system to the next was no small or easy task.

The charging infrastructure consists of a variety of organizations and technologies; charging stations (various makes & models), ICT (Information and Communications Technology), infrastructure (back office and cellular network operators), and various interfaces to 3rd parties such as roaming partners, the vehicles’ clouds, charging station websites & apps as well as organizations such as customer and technical support, service providers and others.

In this complex environment, a need to replace the ICT of an operating network with thousands of active charging points arose. In hindsight, the migration process proved successful, and despite the fact that occurrences were only found in well less than 5% of the stations, this process holds lessons and conclusions that can contribute to the knowledge base of the entire industry. This document describes the process and the lessons learned.