Why do we love the OCPI Roaming API?

You have probably already noticed that OCPI is not a simple protocol. It’s nothing like OCPP. It can take quite a long time to implement push and pull for Locations, Tariffs and Tokens, and to provide some simple support for remote commands and reservations. To make it robust and scalable is another topic.

How can you make the job easier? Let’s take a look at the OCPI Roaming API. The CPMS, the mobile app or the MSP backend connects directly to the API. It provides a simple set of endpoints, one set for the CPO and one for the MSP. For example, when the CPO needs to update a status for a charge point, it makes an API call with the new status and the charge point ID. Here’s a curl example for a practical demonstration:

curl "http://mycompany.ocpiconnector.com/api/cpo/v2/chargepoint/status_change/" -u username -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"evse_id": "3020", "status": "charging"}'

In a similar way you can authorize an RFID token, start and stop charging, and send meter values. The OCPI Engine takes care of the rest, maintaining state, Location list, Tariffs and all the rest. You can access and modify the Locations, Tariffs and Tokens using the admin user interface. This means that you don’t need to create one of your own. You can show results very quickly.

Do you want to try it yourself? Book a meeting with our founder and CEO, and we will get you going quickly and make sure your time-to-market is as short as possible.

Erkki Tapola is a multi-faceted IT professional with a background in technology, leadership and products. Since 2020 he has focused on EV roaming and the OCPI protocol. Erkki founded SolidRoam in 2023 to continue the work of ChargerHub.EU, and he acts as CEO. His passion is to improve the reliability and ease of use of electric mobility. In his spare time he’s into electric road trips, couples dancing, bicycling and photography.