The Open Charge Alliance is a formed industry alliance of EV charging hardware and software vendors, and charging network operators and service providers. OCA’s mission is to foster global development, adoption, and compliance of the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) and related standards through collaboration, education and testing.
Frequently asked questions
OCA was formed to continue and extend the work of the OCPP Forum, adding an international dimension, stronger organizational structure, and capabilities for protocol compliancy and formal certification.
OCA’s Originating Members are E-Laad, the EV charging network operator launched by a consortium of Netherlands DSOs (utilities); ESB, the Irish national utility; and Greenlots, a North American vendor of open standards-based EV charging solutions. In 2015 the board has grown with two new members: RWE, an electricity and gas company and G2 mobility an electric vehicle (EV) smart charging solutions company specialized in energy optimization.
The Open Charge Alliance is focused on the development of the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) and Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP), including the upcoming publication of OCPP v2.0 and OSCP v1.0 Specification and compliancy and certification services. OCA is also promoting and informing stakeholders about OCPP and OSCP worldwide, and developing Alliance membership services and market/business value.
OCA provides members with the opportunity to help shape current and future versions of OCPP to meet their market and product requirements. By leveraging the technical expertise, market intelligence, and industry leadership of its members, OCA can help drive the adoption of open standards and deliver low-cost, interoperable and universal EV charging infrastructure. The ultimate goal of OCA is to provide a superior experience for drivers, site owners, network operators, and the entire EV industry.
The specification for OCPP v1.5 was published in 2012 and is being used in multiple charging networks today. In 2015 OCA has published a Release Candidate of OCPP 1.6 and work has started on finalizing 2.0 in 2016. OCA has released in 2016 the Compliance Testing Tool for OCPP 1.6.
The three Originating Members (E-Laad, ESB, Greenlots) comprise the OCA Board at present. In 2015 the board has grown with two members: G2 mobility (France) and RWE (Germany).
The following table describes the OCA Membership categories and annual fees.
| Participant Category | Description | Participation Fee (2015) |
| Adopter | An organization that deploys EV charging networks utilizing OCA Standards (e.g., OCPP). | Revenue ($/€)* Annual Fee 1M €900 1M < 10M €2.250 10M < 50M €4.500 50M+ €7.530 |
| Implementer | A vendor that offers hardware and/or software products that implement the OCA Standards, or that offers technical services in support of such vendors. | |
| Individual | An individual who has a professional interest in the development, distribution, installation, maintenance, or use of the OCA Standards. | €270 |
| Institutional | An organization with an institutional interest in OCPP (other than Adopters or Implementers), e.g. research or consulting groups, laboratories, regulatory bodies. | €900 |
| Liaison | A standard setting or defining organization (SSO, SDO) that has a supportive interest in OCA Standards. | free |
* Gross revenue of the smallest organizational unit responsible for using or marketing OCPP products or services, in the unit’s accounting currency.
Please visit our enrollment process page: www.openchargealliance.org/contact/ and follow the simple directions:
- Download and review the Participants Agreement (PA).
- If you / your organization agree to abide by its terms and conditions, send email with your contact information (name, title, organization, phone, and business and email addresses) and the following attachments:
- a signed copy of the PA (PDF file)
- a Purchase Order (PO) addressed to the Open Charge Alliance for the appropriate 2015 Participant Fee (see above) to: info@openchargealliance.org
About OCA
We are a global consortium of public and private electric vehicle infrastructure leaders that have come together to promote open standards through the adoption of the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) and the Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP).
We are welcoming new members. So please send us your email and we will contact you about how to join us in our mission to promote open standards.
News
Open Charge Alliance launches OCPP 2.0
A new open standard protocol for charging stations worldwide
On April 11th the newest version of the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) became available for all charging stations manufacturers and operators. The Open Charge Alliance...
OCA welcomes SMATRICS
Austrian company SMATRICS has joined the Open Charge Alliance! SMATRICS offers a high performance charging network all across Austria – and beyond. It's a nationwide network of around 400 charging spots every 60km. Charging...
