Virta Blog

Grid Flexibility and Trust: Virta at ICNC26 | Virta

Virta — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:49:06 GMT

At ICNC26, Virta's Eemil Rauma showed how invisible grid flexibility, energy resilience and public trust will shape Europe's charging network towards 2040.

Eemil Rauma, Head of Government Relations and Advocacy at Virta, joined the ICNC26 panel "Powering 2040: Clean Energy, Smart Grids, and the Drivers They Serve". He shared the stage with Johannes Pallasch (NOW GmbH) and Eduard Schlutius (reev).

Eemil Rauma spoke as chair of Eurelectric's e-mobility working group and brought insights from the Nordics.

In brief:

Good flexibility is invisible. Finnish public chargers have supported the grid for over three years without affecting drivers.
Flexibility lowers costs. It reduces grid investment and saves money for operators, fleets and drivers.
Charging is critical infrastructure. Electrified transport makes Europe less dependent on imported fossil fuels.

Invisible flexibility is already here

In Finland, public chargers have taken part in the Frequency Containment Reserve for Disturbances (FCR-D) market for more than three years. Around ten times a day, charging power drops by 10 to 20% for about ten seconds. The driver notices nothing. The grid gets a fast, reliable reserve.

Virta offers this to charging operators today. See how it works.

Flexibility lowers costs

A 2025 study by Eurelectric and EY estimates that European distribution system operators could save around €4 billion a year as flexibility reduces the need for grid expansion. Drivers could save €450 to €2,900 a year through smart and bidirectional charging.

Eemil Rauma also pointed to results from Virta's own energy services. They have lowered fleet energy costs by 27%.

Charging is critical infrastructure

According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the Netherlands, Italy, France and Spain paid almost €41 billion more for fossil fuel imports between March and August 2026. They received no additional energy for it.

Transport that runs on European electricity is more resilient. In Finland, companies critical to society already prepare for crisis scenarios together through the National Emergency Supply Agency.

"Moving to 2040 is not a technological issue. It is a trust issue. As an industry, we need to do better at communicating that electrification makes everyone better off. People need to understand the value, otherwise even the best technology will not be adopted," said Eemil Rauma on the panel, speaking as chair of Eurelectric's e-mobility working group.

Watch panel:

Turn your charging network into a revenue stream

Virta's grid flexibility service lets charge point operators earn from infrastructure they already own. Operators are paid for making charging capacity available to the power system. Individual networks are too small to access these markets alone, so Virta pools capacity across operators.

Additional revenue. Earnings grow with your charging volumes. No additional hardware is needed.
Any platform. It works regardless of which charge point management system you run.
AC and DC. Your whole network can contribute.
Limited impact. Charging power is only reduced at times of grid stress or extreme price volatility, within limits agreed with you.

French operator Modulo, with around 1,600 charging points, is among the first to take part. Read the announcement.

Ready to earn from grid flexibility?

Available to charging operators in the Nordics, France and the UK.

Explore grid flexibility

Virta Boost: Integrate renewable energy sources at your charging sites

Virta — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:15:01 GMT

With Virta Boost you can put on-site renewable energy – solar, battery, wind, or hydro – directly to use for EV charging, instead of exporting surplus at low rates while your chargers draw from the grid at peak prices.

Virta Boost is a new extension to Virta's Adaptive Load Management (ALM) technology. If you're already running Virta ALM, it builds directly on the setup you have – no new platform, no added complexity.

If you're new to Virta, it's one more way our load management technology turns your electrical infrastructure into a smarter, more cost-efficient system.

What is Virta Boost?

Virta Boost (formerly Virta Solar) is an advanced extension of Virta's Adaptive Load Management system, built to put locally produced renewable energy – solar, battery, wind, or hydro – directly to work charging EVs.

It measures the surplus your site is generating and temporarily raises the import limit for that charging group, so vehicles draw on your own green energy first.

The moment production drops or building demand rises, Virta Boost automatically scales charging power back down – the grid connection stays protected either way.

How it works

Boost adapts to the metering you already have on-site:

With a dedicated second production meter, Virta Boost tracks your solar, battery, wind, or hydro output directly and allocates that exact surplus to EV charging – the most precise option.
With just your standard ALM grid meter, Virta Boost can still put local surplus to work in a lighter-weight mode – no second meter required, so it's easier to get started if you haven't fully instrumented your site yet.

Either way, the logic is the same: when local surplus is available, charging power goes up; when it isn't, charging power comes back down, and the grid connection stays protected throughout. No manual intervention, no separate platform to learn.

💡 Want to go deeper? Our support article walks through the hardware, setup, and configuration steps in detail.

➡ Go to support article

Why this is a big deal

Turn surplus into revenue. Solar, battery, and wind installations pay back faster when their output goes straight into revenue-generating charging sessions, instead of being exported at low feed-in rates or curtailed.

Attract more EVs when production is high. Pair Virta Boost with tariff management to lower pricing during your peak renewable output windows — pulling in more charging sessions exactly when you have the most surplus to sell, and lifting utilisation of the renewable capacity.

Lower energy costs. Peak demand charges drop automatically as self-consumption rises — you're using energy you've already paid to generate, instead of buying it back from the grid at peak prices.

Easy on the grid. Charging draws on locally generated power first, so less demand hits the grid connection at once — no manual balancing required.

Seamless integration. Boost plugs into your existing Virta ALM setup. There's no new platform to learn and no change to how your chargers are managed day to day.

Why upgrade your ALM with Virta Boost?

Without Virta Boost	With Virta Boost
Solar/battery surplus exported at low rates	Surplus used directly for EV charging
Grid fees based on full site demand	Grid fees reduced through higher self-consumption
Standard ALM protection only	Active utilisation of locally generated green energy
Slower payback on renewable assets	Accelerated ROI on existing renewable assets

Who should care about Virta Boost?

If any of the following sound familiar, Boost is worth a look:

You already have solar, battery, wind, or hydro capacity on-site – with or without dedicated production metering – and want more of it going into charging sessions instead of being exported.
You're managing peak demand charges and want self-consumption to do some of that work automatically.
You run fleet, workplace, or public charging sites with variable renewable output and want charging power to track it in real time.
You're reporting on sustainability targets and want a higher share of EV charging running on green energy, without adding a new platform to manage.

Boost turns renewable capacity you've already invested in into charging capacity you can actually use.

Existing Virta customers can reach out to their representative to switch it on. If you're new to Virta and want to see how it fits your site, our team is happy to walk you through it.

Get started with Virta Boost.

How to choose the right EV charging platform (CPMS) in Europe | Virta

Virta — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:31:08 GMT

Europe's charging market isn't short on vendors, it's short on platforms that can actually prove their AFIR, hardware, roaming, VAT and support claims before you sign anything.

For a charge point operator (CPO) or e-Mobility Service Provider (EMSP) evaluating a Charge Point Management System (CPMS), five things usually decide the choice: regulatory compliance, hardware compatibility, roaming reach, cross-border VAT handling, and support. This guide walks through each, with the specific questions worth asking before you sign anything.

What an EV charging platform must do

A CPMS is the software layer that connects, monitors and controls charging stations, manages sessions and payments, and exchanges data with roaming partners and back-office systems.

It's the operational backbone underneath the charging network, regardless of who owns the hardware or the site.

AFIR compliance is now the baseline

The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR, EU 2023/1804) has been in force across the EU since 13 April 2024. All publicly accessible charging points had to be digitally connected by 14 October 2024.

Ad hoc payment without a subscription or app has been mandatory since the regulation took effect, and charging points built or renovated after those dates must support smart recharging. Requirements continue to tighten through 2030, including newer technical mandates such as EN ISO 15118-2:2016 support for AC stations from January 2026.

Ask specifically how a platform handles ad hoc payment without an account, how pricing transparency is displayed at the charge point, and how the vendor tracks upcoming AFIR deadlines rather than only today's requirements.

The Virta guide to AFIR covers the regulation's requirements in more detail.

Hardware compatibility caps network growth

A platform is only as useful as the hardware it can actually run. Networks that grow by acquisition, or by mixing vendors across markets, need a CPMS that doesn't force a hardware replacement every time.

Virta Hub, for example, is compatible with over 2,000 charging station models, a figure worth checking against any vendor's own compatible chargers list rather than taking on faith.

Ask concretely which charger brands are already integrated, what the process and timeline is for onboarding a brand that isn't, and whether adding new hardware requires a new commercial agreement or just a technical integration.

OCPP alone isn't a differentiator

Nearly every modern CPMS supports the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), so OCPP support alone isn't meaningful.

What matters more is how a vendor handles OCPP version differences across older and newer hardware, and how quickly they roll out support for a specific charger model your network already uses or is planning to buy.

Roaming reach decides your revenue

A charging station that only your own app can unlock earns less than one visible across roaming partners.

The Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) protocol is what makes roaming between different CPOs and EMSPs possible, and AFIR itself reinforces this by requiring CPOs not to discriminate against EMSPs, including on pricing.

Virta Managed Roaming connects a network to the wider Virta Network via two major roaming hubs, Hubject and Gireve, giving access to over 800,000 charge points across more than 60 countries without negotiating a separate agreement per partner.

"With Virta Roaming, our members can access a wide charging network – that is an important advantage for us," says Niila Rajala, CEO at AL-Lataus.

That kind of reach only matters if it converts into actual usage. More visibility across roaming partners' apps generally means more sessions on a network's own chargers, since drivers charge wherever is nearest and cheapest rather than only within their home provider's app.

Built-in hubs vs. bilateral agreements

Some platforms include a roaming hub as a built-in feature, connecting a network to multiple EMSPs through a single integration. Others require negotiating and maintaining bilateral agreements with each roaming partner individually, which scales poorly as a network expands across more countries.

For a network with ambitions across several European markets, the built-in hub model generally reduces both integration time and ongoing operational overhead.

Where VAT handling quietly falls short

Running a charging network across several European countries means dealing with different VAT rates, registration requirements, and reverse-charge rules for cross-border transactions.

Most platforms leave this entirely to the operator, meaning separate accounting relationships in every market a network touches.

The Virta platform includes VAT management as a dedicated function within its pricing and settlement engine, handling cross-border VAT logic automatically for roaming-in transactions as part of the monthly payout. This removes a genuinely underestimated cost for larger CPOs and network owners operating in several VAT jurisdictions.

Ask any vendor specifically which transaction types their VAT handling covers, and which, if any, still require manual reconciliation, since automation in this area is rarely all-or-nothing across every transaction type a network generates.

Energy management affects cost and speed

As DC and high-power charging sites scale, the local grid connection often becomes the real constraint, not the number of physical chargers a site could otherwise support.

A platform with genuine dynamic load management can allocate available power in real time across active sessions, letting a network add chargers within existing grid capacity rather than paying for a grid upgrade immediately.

For sites already hitting this limit, this Virta blog post on scaling a DC charging network with battery storage walks through how load management and on-site storage work together in practice.

Ask any vendor whether load management is dynamic or static, whether it integrates with on-site solar or battery storage, and whether it supports time-of-use pricing, since all three affect how much a network can grow before the next infrastructure investment becomes unavoidable.

Reliability and support matter most

A charger going offline outside your own working hours needs a response regardless of time zone, and this is where platform choice shows up in driver experience rather than on a feature comparison sheet.

Ask about self-healing diagnostics, remote firmware management, and published uptime data, not just an SLA figure in a contract.

Support language coverage matters specifically for European networks spanning several markets. Virta, for example, offers support in English around the clock, with Finnish, French, German and Swedish covered during extended business hours, at no cost to the caller.

For a network operating across multiple countries, ask whether support is offered in the languages your own site managers and drivers actually use, not just English.

Evaluate the vendor's compliance roadmap

AFIR's requirements are phased through 2030, and standards like OCPP and OCPI continue to evolve.

A platform that satisfies every current requirement but has no clear plan for what's coming next puts the compliance burden back on the operator.

Ask the vendor directly how they've handled past regulatory deadlines, and what's already built for the requirements still ahead.

Before signing with a CPMS vendor in Europe, get clear answers on:

AFIR compliance: where the platform stands today, and a documented plan for requirements through 2030.
Hardware compatibility: the exact number and range of charger manufacturers and models already supported.
Roaming model: whether roaming runs through a built-in hub or requires bilateral agreements per partner, and what network reach that actually delivers.
Cross-border VAT: which scenarios are automated, and which still require manual handling.
Load management: whether it is dynamic or adaptive and whether it integrates with on-site renewables or storage.
Support coverage: what it looks like by language and time zone, and what uptime data the vendor is willing to share.
Regulatory track record: how the vendor handled past deadlines, as a proxy for how they'll handle future ones.

A platform that answers all seven clearly is one built for how European charging regulation and operations actually work, not just for a sales demo.

Virta Hub is built around this exact set of requirements, for operators evaluating what a CPMS needs to cover across a European network.

Load management and battery storage: Scaling a DC charging network

Virta — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:38:21 GMT

As DC and HPC charging networks scale, operators keep hitting the same limit: the local grid connection wasn't built for the load it's now expected to carry.

Two solutions solve this without waiting months for a grid upgrade: dynamic load management and battery energy storage system (BESS). Both are already being deployed together at real charging sites – Finnish network Faast, for example, pairs its nationwide DC fast-charging stations with on-site battery storage to support high, consistent charging power at every location.

Beyond solving a technical constraint, both levers have a direct economic case: avoiding or delaying a costly grid connection upgrade, reducing peak demand charges, and getting more revenue-generating chargers onto a site without expanding its power supply.

In this article, we take a closer look at how each approach works, where they differ, how on-site renewables fit into the picture, and how to decide which combination fits your network.

Why static power allocation doesn't work for multi-charger DC sites

Static load management sets a fixed power cap per charger and per site. It's simple, and it's the default approach at many mixed AC/DC sites with only a few charge points.

But at a DC or HPC site with several 150 kW+ chargers – the kind you'll typically find at EV charging hubs or dedicated ultra-fast charging locations – static caps are inefficient by design: if power is split evenly across chargers regardless of how many vehicles are actually plugged in, most of that capacity sits unused most of the time, while the site's grid connection still has to be sized for the theoretical worst case of everyone charging at once.

For a network of a few large loads rather than many small ones, that gap between "worst case" and "typical case" is expensive. It's the reason dynamic approaches matter more at DC/HPC sites than at residential or small AC installations.

Lever 1: Dynamic load management

Dynamic load management (DLM) continuously measures how much power is actually being drawn across a site and reallocates it in real time. If only one vehicle is charging, it gets the full available power. As more vehicles plug in, the system redistributes power across all active sessions – automatically, without derating every charger to a fixed cap.

In practice, this means:

The site's grid connection can be sized closer to realistic average demand rather than theoretical peak demand.
Sessions still get meaningfully fast charging even when several vehicles are connected simultaneously, instead of everyone getting a diminished, evenly-split rate.
Operators avoid or delay a costly grid connection upgrade as they add more chargers to a site over time.

This is a software-side solution: it requires a charge point management system (CPMS) that can monitor and control power distribution across the network in real time, but no additional hardware on-site. Virta's own energy management solutions, including Congestion Management, work exactly this way.

Lever 2: Battery storage (BESS) as a grid buffer

Battery energy storage system (BESS) takes a different approach to the same problem. Instead of managing how power is split across chargers, a BESS installed at the site draws power from the grid – or from on-site renewables such as solar, where available – steadily, even when no vehicle is charging, and stores it.

When a vehicle plugs in and needs a high-power burst, the battery discharges to meet that demand, supplementing (or in some designs, entirely replacing) grid power for that session.

The effect is similar to load management from the grid's perspective: peak demand on the grid connection is smoothed out. But the mechanism is different – it's a hardware buffer rather than a software allocation rule.

Faast's nationwide Finnish charging network is a good real-world example: its DC stations run on the Virta platform, with on-site battery storage helping the network guarantee high minimum charging power rather than just headline peak speeds – even at busy hubs.

BESS is particularly relevant for:

Sites in genuinely grid-constrained locations, where even smart software-side allocation can't free up enough capacity.
Sites that want to pair charging with on-site renewable generation or take advantage of time-of-use electricity pricing.
Operators who want backup capacity for grid outages, not just peak shaving.

Where on-site renewables fit into the picture

Solar (and less commonly, on-site wind) adds a third variable to the same problem, and it interacts with both levers above rather than replacing either of them.

On its own, solar generation is intermittent – it doesn't line up neatly with when vehicles actually plug in, and it can't be relied on for guaranteed power the way a grid connection or a battery can.

That's why renewables at a charging site are almost always paired with one of the two levers, not used in isolation:

With dynamic load management: the CPMS can factor on-site solar generation into its real-time allocation, prioritising self-generated power for active sessions when it's available and drawing more from the grid when it isn't. This requires an ALM Kit – an on-site meter and gateway that measures real-time consumption and communicates it to the CPMS – but no changes to the charging hardware itself.

With battery storage: the BESS stores solar generation for use later, when a vehicle actually needs it – turning an intermittent, non-dispatchable source into charging power the site can rely on, day or night. This is the more common pairing for sites that want to seriously reduce grid dependence, since a battery can bridge the gap between when the sun is generating and when EVs are actually charging.

For most DC/HPC sites, renewables aren't a substitute for grid capacity – a single 150 kW+ charger draws far more than a typical on-site solar array can generate in real time. Their value is in offsetting grid draw and lowering energy costs, not in replacing the need for load management or storage.

Pairing either lever with renewables also opens up a commercial angle: operators can use dynamic, time-of-use pricing to offer lower rates when renewable generation (or stored renewable power) is actually available, nudging drivers toward greener — and for the operator, cheaper — charging windows instead of peak grid-draw times.

Software vs. hardware: which lever fits which site?

The two approaches aren't mutually exclusive, and the right choice depends on the site:

Dynamic load management is the lower-cost, faster-to-deploy option. It's the right starting point for most DC/HPC sites, especially where the existing grid connection has some headroom and the main goal is using that capacity as efficiently as possible.
Battery storage requires more upfront capital and site space, but solves problems load management can't: sites where the grid connection is fundamentally too small, or where there's separate value in storing cheap or renewable power for later use.
Combining both is common at larger or more constrained sites – dynamic allocation handles day-to-day efficiency, while the battery covers demand peaks the grid connection genuinely can't support.

What to evaluate when planning a DC network with grid constraints

None of these decisions have to be made blind. Virta Hub's Insights & reports give operators site-by-site data – utilisation, session volume, and energy consumption per charger – which is the actual evidence most of the questions below come down to.

Current and planned grid connection capacity at each site, the realistic cost/timeline of an upgrade if needed, and expected simultaneous usage patterns – how many chargers are realistically active at once, not just total charger count.

Whether a CPMS with real-time dynamic load management is already in place, and whether site economics support the added capex of a battery system, including local time-of-use tariffs.

Whether on-site solar or another renewable source is planned or already in place, and which lever it should be paired with.

Long-term network growth plans – a setup that works for 4 chargers may need to be reassessed at 12.

How Virta Hub supports load management for DC charging networks

Virta Hub gives operators real-time visibility and control over power distribution across their charging network, including Insights & Reports that break down utilisation, session, and energy data by site – so DC and HPC operators can scale within existing grid capacity before committing to a grid upgrade or a battery investment.

Virta H1 2026 Product Release Highlights

Virta — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:00:01 GMT

Celebrating progress made together in the first half of 2026 – from reaching 100 million EV charging events to launching new improvements that help charging businesses operate more efficiently, reliably and profitably.

In April this year, Virta reached 100 million EV charging events. With almost one charging event handled every second, this milestone shows the scale of what Virta is achieving together with CPOs, resellers, partners and EV drivers – and the momentum being built for electric mobility.

This mid-year update brings together the key highlights from the first half of 2026 – what has been delivered, what has been achieved together and how customer feedback continues to shape the solutions built to help charging station operators run more efficient, reliable and profitable charging businesses.

Product Release Highlights – What’s new?

In the first half of 2026, Virta introduced and improved solutions across Virta Hub, tariff management, AI-powered uptime optimisation, energy services, roaming and fleet charging.

These updates are designed to reduce operational friction, improve network visibility, support higher uptime, unlock new revenue opportunities and prepare businesses for what’s next.

Easier access to station actions in Virta Hub

Customer feedback helped shape the latest improvements to station management in Virta Hub. The station view has been updated to bring key station actions together in one place, making them easier to find and use.

Less time spent searching, faster troubleshooting and smoother day-to-day operations for charging networks.

Clearer insights into network utilisation

New insights and reports in Virta Hub turn network data into clear, visualised views that can be acted on. Operators can track sessions, energy, utilisation rates and charging patterns at a glance – with drill-downs by charging pool, organisation or time period.

Better visibility into data helps improve operations, plan investments, increase utilisation and support revenue growth.

Custom Plan for more flexible tariff management

Custom Plan in Virta Hub helps operators manage tariffs across their network with greater flexibility and precision. Tailored prices can be set for specific organisations, partners, regions or charging pools, with updates managed efficiently from one place.

A more flexible pricing strategy helps charging businesses optimise pricing across different customer groups, locations and use cases – while keeping charging operations efficient and profitable.

Customer Spotlight: Faast scales high-power charging with Virta

See how Faast is growing its high-power charging network with Virta – improving operational efficiency, supporting reliable charger performance and delivering a better driver experience.

Virta partners with Evailable for AI-powered uptime optimisation

Through its partnership with Evailable, Virta is making AI-powered uptime optimisation available as an add-on to Virta Hub. It helps operators monitor charger performance, spot issues earlier and automate selected operational actions.

More uptime, fewer failed sessions and less manual work – combined with Virta Self-healing, Evailable helps keep chargers online and unlock more charging revenue.

Strengthening our role in the energy system

Virta refined its FCR capabilities – Frequency Containment Reserve – to meet governmental TSO requirements across selected FCR markets, including demanding reaction-time requirements for grid frequency events. Designed beyond market minimum benchmarks, Virta’s FCR system supports security of supply even in corner-case scenarios.

Additional revenue potential from charging infrastructure – Virta Energy Services help customers participate in flexibility markets while supporting efficient operations and grid stability.

Smarter energy management for DC charging sites

Virta expanded Energy Services to DC chargers to help operators manage high-power charging sites more efficiently – from limited grid capacity and peak demand to power distribution across multiple chargers and on-site energy sources.

More from existing infrastructure – helping operators scale DC charging, manage peaks and reduce the need for costly grid upgrades.

Upgrading our roaming backbone to OCPI 2.2.1

Virta upgraded its platform to OCPI 2.2.1 to strengthen charging interoperability and roaming. The update enables more reliable data exchange with roaming partners and improves readiness for flexible tariffs and advanced roaming use cases.

A stronger roaming foundation for smoother partner connections and future market and regulatory requirements.

A ready fleet charging solution for businesses

Northe, part of Virta, gives businesses access to a leading Nordic fleet charging solution that can be integrated into their operations. It is now expanding to Finland, France, the UK and Germany, with calibration law compliance to support regulated, transparent and verifiable billing for fleet charging.

Simpler fleet charging for businesses – helping businesses manage charging, support drivers and handle billing more efficiently across key markets.

What’s coming in the second half of 2026

Virta is continuing to build with customer feedback in mind. Here are some of the updates planned for the second half of 2026.

For CPOs

Finance insights & reports
Scheduled firmware updates
OCPI 2.3.0
AI-powered dynamic pricing optimisation
Heavy-duty bookings
Virta CO2 Cashback in France

For fleets

Improved true-cost reimbursement for home charging
Workplace & depot charging solution

Looking ahead together

The first half of 2026 has shown what is possible when technology, customer feedback and shared ambition come together.

From reaching 100 million EV charging events to improving everyday station management, expanding AI-powered uptime optimisation, strengthening energy services and supporting fleet charging growth, every update is part of a bigger mission: helping customers build commercially viable, scalable and future-ready charging businesses.

Virta looks forward to building on this momentum together with customers, partners, CPOs, resellers and EV drivers in the second half of 2026.

Let’s charge the world together.

The future of electromobility – IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2026 | Virta

Virta — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:01:44 GMT

After another record year for electric vehicle sales in 2025, the global EV market is set to grow again in 2026. Let’s dive into the latest facts, figures and forecasts from the IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2026.

Note: In this article, “electric cars” and “EVs” follow the IEA definition and include both battery electric cars and plug-in hybrid electric cars, unless stated otherwise.

EV sales in 2025

Like the years before, 2025 was another record year for electric vehicles. Worldwide, more than 20 million electric cars were sold, meaning that one in four new cars sold globally was electric.

Compared with 2024, global electric car sales grew by around 20%. This marked the fifth consecutive year in which annual electric car sales increased by about 3.5 million vehicles.

Market developments varied strongly by region. Europe saw the strongest growth among the major EV markets, while China remained by far the largest market. In the United States, sales remained relatively stable, but policy changes and the end of EV tax credits affected sales towards the end of the year.

Battery electric cars also gained ground again in 2025. Their share of total electric car sales increased to around 65%, reversing the trend seen in the previous two years.

Key figures of 2025

More than 20 million electric cars were sold worldwide in 2025, around 20% more than in 2024.
25% of all new cars sold globally were electric in 2025.
China remained the largest EV market, with more than 13 million electric cars sold and EVs accounting for almost 55% of new car sales.
Europe recorded strong growth: electric car sales rose by more than 30% to over 4 million vehicles, reaching a market share of around 28%.
The United States remained below 10% EV market share, with sales relatively stable overall but weaker towards the end of the year after tax credits ended.
Southeast Asia more than doubled its annual electric car sales, reaching a sales share of nearly 20%.
Latin America grew by 75%, led by Brazil and Mexico.
More than 100 countries recorded growth in electric car sales in 2025.
Chinese automakers supplied around 60% of global electric car sales in 2025.

What does 2026 have in store?

The IEA expects global electric car sales to rise to around 23 million in 2026. That would mean electric cars account for about 28% of total car sales worldwide.

The first quarter of 2026 showed a mixed picture. Global electric car sales were around 8% lower than in the same period in 2025, mainly because of lower sales in China and the United States following important policy changes. However, many other markets continued to grow strongly.

In Europe, electric car sales were up by close to 30% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. Countries in Asia Pacific excluding China recorded growth of around 80%, while electric car sales in Latin America were up by 75%.

For 2026, the IEA expects Europe to see the strongest growth among the major markets. Sales are projected to increase by around 20%, meaning that roughly one in three cars sold in Europe could be electric. In China, electric cars are expected to approach 60% of new car sales.

Higher petrol and diesel prices are also making the lower running costs of EVs more visible. According to the IEA, annual fuel cost savings from driving an EV in the European Union were around 35% higher in April 2026 than in 2025.

Electric trucks and buses

Electrification of the heavy-duty sector is becoming increasingly important for reducing transport emissions. Trucks represent a smaller share of the total vehicle fleet than cars, but they account for a disproportionately large share of road transport energy use and emissions.

In 2025, global electric truck sales more than doubled compared with 2024. Electric trucks reached around 9% of total truck sales worldwide.

China is driving most of this growth. In 2025, one in four trucks sold in China was electric. Electric truck sales also grew in Europe and North America, although from a much lower base.

Electric trucks are still more expensive to buy than diesel trucks, but their total cost of ownership is becoming increasingly competitive. In China, electric trucks are already cost-competitive in many use cases thanks to falling battery prices. In Europe, the IEA expects electric trucks to reach total cost of ownership parity with diesel trucks by around 2030.

Charging infrastructure is key to enabling this shift. The European Union now has more than 1,000 charging points exclusively for electric trucks, and megawatt charging is becoming a central technology for long-distance electric trucking.

And how about EV charging infrastructure?

Most EV charging still happens at home or at work. But as millions more EVs hit the roads, public charging networks must keep pace, especially in dense urban areas, for long-distance travel and for electric fleets.

The IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2026 places growing emphasis not only on the number of charge points, but also on charging power, location quality, reliability, grid connection and utilisation.

Worldwide, private charging remains essential. In 2025, there were more than 43 million private chargers for light-duty electric vehicles globally, with Europe accounting for around one-third of them.

Public charging remains particularly important for drivers without access to private charging, for long trips and for commercial use cases. In Europe, the rollout is supported by initiatives such as the AFIR Regulation, which sets requirements for charging coverage along major transport routes.

Fast charging infrastructure on the rise

Fast and ultra-fast charging is becoming increasingly important. Higher charging speeds help reduce waiting times, improve the long-distance driving experience and make EVs more convenient for users without access to home charging.

Technological advances in power electronics, battery cells and battery pack architecture are enabling faster charging. In 2025, the first 1,000-volt vehicle models came to market, and announcements of charging times below 10 minutes continued into 2026.

However, only a small share of the global EV stock can currently use very high charging power. According to the IEA, electric cars capable of using chargers above 250 kW still represent less than 5% of the global vehicle stock.

Forecast: Stronger and smarter charging infrastructure

The majority of charging will continue to take place at home and at work. Nevertheless, public charging infrastructure must expand and become more powerful, especially to support dense urban areas, highway travel, fleets and heavy-duty vehicles.

For the next phase of EV adoption, it will not be enough to simply install more charge points. The market increasingly needs high-power chargers, reliable uptime, transparent pricing, easy payment options and grid-ready planning.

New technologies: Megawatt Charging System

The Megawatt Charging System is becoming increasingly important for heavy-duty electric vehicles. Large truck batteries need to charge quickly during planned breaks to make electric long-distance transport viable.

Megawatt charging enables charging power above 1,000 kW, significantly reducing charging times for large batteries. However, deploying this infrastructure requires strong grid connections, smart energy management, load balancing and often battery storage to manage peak demand.

Megawatt charging is therefore not just a charging hardware topic. It is becoming an integrated energy and infrastructure challenge for logistics hubs, truck depots and highway charging corridors.

Charging stations and energy grids are merging

As EV adoption grows, electricity demand from transport will rise. According to the IEA, electricity demand from EVs could exceed 1,500 TWh by 2035, around six times the 2025 level.

Globally, this would increase total electricity demand in 2035 by only about 4%. However, the impact differs by region. Across Europe, EV deployment in road transport could increase electricity demand by more than 10% by 2035, compared with less than 6% in China.

This makes smart charging, load management and grid integration increasingly important. By closely connecting charging infrastructure with energy systems through smart charging and technologies like Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), charging can be adapted to grid capacity, electricity prices and renewable energy availability.

At Virta, we’re committed to contributing to a sustainable future made possible by connected EVs and energy systems. That’s why we’re excited to be included in the IEA’s Task 53, an initiative to improve the interoperability of V2G.

EV growth in new markets

While China, Europe and the United States remain the largest EV markets, some of the fastest growth is now happening in emerging economies.

In Southeast Asia, annual electric car sales more than doubled in 2025, reaching a sales share of nearly 20%. Growth was led by Viet Nam, Indonesia and Thailand.

In Latin America, electric car sales grew by 75% in 2025, led by Brazil and Mexico. More affordable imports, especially from China, are helping to accelerate adoption in several markets.

In many emerging markets, policy support remains crucial. Tax incentives, import duty exemptions, charging infrastructure programmes and local production policies can all help make EVs more affordable and accessible.

Other developments in e-mobility

Price development

Affordability remains one of the most important factors for EV adoption. In China, the shift is already far advanced: in 2025, around 70% of battery electric cars sold were cheaper than the average conventional car.

In Europe, the market is still more dependent on regulation, model availability and pricing strategies. In 2025, stricter CO2 standards encouraged manufacturers to adjust prices and introduce more affordable electric models.

In several emerging markets, affordable Chinese imports are also reshaping the market. In Thailand, electric car prices have been roughly on par with comparable ICE cars for the past two years. In Indonesia, the average price premium for electric cars fell from over 50% in 2024 to around 40% in 2025.

Vehicle size and its effect on the environment

The trend towards larger vehicles and SUVs continues to affect the environmental footprint of transport. Larger vehicles generally require larger batteries, more materials and more energy during production.

This can increase demand for critical minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. It can also increase manufacturing emissions, even if the vehicle is fully electric.

More compact and efficient electric cars can help reduce battery demand, raw material use and costs while still meeting the needs of many everyday drivers.

Battery production and supply chains

China continues to dominate global EV and battery production. In 2025, China accounted for nearly 75% of global electric car production and more than 80% of global battery cell production.

China also holds even higher shares in the production of active battery materials. Almost all battery cells used worldwide are supplied by companies headquartered in China, Korea or Japan.

Europe and the United States are investing in regional battery supply chains, but the gap remains large. According to the IEA, China is set to remain the largest producer of batteries and battery materials to 2035 based on stated policies.

Range and charging performance

Range continues to improve across many vehicle segments, especially mid-size cars and SUVs. However, for many users, the key question is no longer maximum range alone, but the combination of price, range, charging speed and access to reliable charging infrastructure.

Faster charging is becoming more relevant as vehicles, batteries and charging networks evolve. The first 1,000-volt vehicles entered the market in 2025, while ultra-fast and megawatt-scale charging are expanding in parallel.

Electricity and oil demand

As e-mobility grows, electricity demand rises. But EVs also reduce oil consumption significantly. In 2025, the global EV fleet avoided around 1.7 million barrels of oil per day.

By 2030, annual oil displacement from EVs is on track to reach around 5 million barrels per day. China alone displaced around 1 million barrels per day in 2025 and is set to displace around 2.7 million barrels per day by 2030.

This makes EV adoption not only a climate issue, but also an energy security issue, especially for countries that rely heavily on oil imports.

Technology trends: software, AI and autonomous vehicles

The Global EV Outlook 2026 also highlights the growing importance of software and artificial intelligence in the automotive industry.

Following the lead of pure-play EV manufacturers, many major automakers are developing vehicles with more centralised software systems. These allow key vehicle functions to be updated remotely and support a wide range of new services and performance improvements.

Battery electric vehicles are currently among the most advanced software-defined vehicles. Important applications include advanced driver assistance systems, automated steering and speed control, better battery management and autonomous driving.

Driverless taxis are now operating commercially in more than 20 cities, mainly in China and the United States. According to the IEA, all of these robotaxis are electric.

At the same time, software-defined and autonomous vehicles create new challenges, including cybersecurity risks, higher semiconductor demand and more geographically concentrated supply chains.

The IEA’s outlook to 2035

In the Global EV Outlook 2026, the IEA works with exploratory scenarios based on current policies and stated policy settings. Even without new policy announcements, the global EV fleet is expected to grow strongly.

Current Policies Scenario

The Current Policies Scenario reflects policies that are already in place. Even under this scenario, the global EV fleet could grow more than sixfold from 2025 levels by 2035, reaching up to 510 million vehicles. Electric two- and three-wheelers are not included in this number.

Stated Policies Scenario

The Stated Policies Scenario also considers announced policies and targets that have a realistic implementation perspective. Across the IEA’s exploratory scenarios, EVs could account for around 50% of global car sales by 2035.

In China, electric cars could exceed 90% of total car sales by 2035. In Europe, CO2 standards continue to drive EV adoption, while Southeast Asia could see a strong increase in EV sales shares as affordability improves.

Conclusion

The Global EV Outlook 2026 shows that electric mobility is continuing to grow, despite political uncertainty, regional differences and changing market conditions.

China remains the global leader in EV sales, production, exports and batteries. Europe regained momentum in 2025, supported by stricter CO2 standards and new model launches. The United States remains an important market, but policy changes have slowed growth. At the same time, emerging markets in Southeast Asia and Latin America are becoming increasingly important.

For charging infrastructure, the next phase is not just about more charge points. It is about more powerful, reliable, user-friendly and grid-integrated charging networks. Ultra-fast charging, megawatt charging, smart charging and Vehicle-to-Grid will be key technologies for the coming years.

Challenges remain around affordability, battery supply chains, grid connections, charging deployment and policy stability. But the overall trend is clear: EVs are becoming an increasingly important part of the global transport and energy system.

Are you interested in running an EV charging business? See how Virta can help you become profitable:

Source:

IEA Global EV Outlook 2026

The IEA (International Energy Agency), based in Paris, was established in response to the oil crisis. It was initially created to help countries respond to oil supply disruptions. Today, it provides data and analysis across the energy sector, including the future of electric mobility.

Custom Plan: Pricing that matches your business

Virta — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 12:44:04 GMT

EV charging has outgrown simple, one-size-fits-all pricing. Energy costs vary by region, locations play different roles, partners and customers expect tailored deals – and you need pricing that keeps all of this consistent and transparent.

Custom Plan in Virta Hub is built for exactly this world. It gives you a smarter way to structure tariffs so they follow your business logic, not your limitations.

What is Custom Plan?

Custom Plan is an advanced tariff layer in Virta Hub that lets you define distinct price strategies for specific organisations and locations inside your network.

You still have a Default Plan in the background – your safety net that ensures every station always has a valid tariff. On top of that, you create Custom Plans wherever you need something different: for a country, a partner, a city, a single high-traffic site.

Instead of maintaining dozens of disconnected tariffs, you design a few clear plans and assign them where they belong.

How it works

Think of it as three layers:

Default Plan – your always-on base pricing for the whole organisation.
Custom Plans for organisations – special pricing for selected CPOs, sub-organisations or partners.
Custom Plans for pools (locations) – highly targeted pricing for specific sites or location groups.

In practice, Virta Hub checks for pricing in this order: first a pool-level Custom Plan, then an organisation-level Custom Plan, and if neither applies, the Default Plan.

This simple logic keeps things predictable: you always know which plan is in charge at any point in your network.

💡 Want to go deeper?
Our support article walks you through setting up Custom Plans in Virta Hub step by step – including a video tutorial.

➡ Go to support article & video walkthrough

Why this is a big deal

The real value of Custom Plan is not “more settings”; it’s what it unlocks for your business.

You can reflect real-world complexity without losing control.
Energy prices, grid fees and competition differ from region to region. With Custom Plan, you stop forcing everything into one tariff and instead give each region or partner a plan that fits – while still keeping a common baseline.

You react faster to change.
When costs shift or a competitor changes prices, you update one plan and all connected sites follow. That applies just as well to a single flagship location as to an entire country. No more touching every pool or organisation separately.

You reduce risk and manual work.
The Default Plan guarantees that “no tariff” is never an option. Custom Plans override it only where you decide. That structure, combined with validation in Virta Hub, sharply lowers the chance of misconfigurations and accidental free charging.

You unlock location-level strategy.
A city-centre car park, a highway fast-charging hub and a fleet depot can all live in the same network, but with different pricing logic that fits how each location creates value. Custom Plan makes that normal, not a workaround.

Beyond tariff management: a strategic pricing tool

Custom Plan is especially powerful when combined with Virta Hub’s Loyalty Plans. Custom Plan decides where and for which operator or site a tariff applies. Loyalty Plans then fine-tunes which drivers receive discounts or surcharges.

Together, they let you:

differentiate by region and location,
honour partner agreements,
reward or segment users,

without building a maze of one-off tariffs.

This is the shift: pricing stops being “something operations maintains” and becomes a lever to position your charging business in the market – by location, by partner, by customer segment.

Who should care about Custom Plan?

If any of the following sound familiar, Custom Plan is likely relevant for you:

You operate in multiple regions with different cost structures.
You manage several brands, partners or sub-organisations under one umbrella.
You run a mix of public, semi-public and private or fleet locations.
You’re increasingly adjusting prices and want to do it without spreadsheets and stress.

For these scenarios, Custom Plan turns complex requirements into a clean, manageable structure – and gives you the confidence that your pricing is consistent, intentional and ready to scale.

If you’d like to see how Custom Plan could model your specific network – regions, partners, locations and driver groups. get in touch with our sales team to explore the feature and discuss your specific use cases.

Virta Q4 2025 Product Release Highlights

Virta — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 08:46:57 GMT

We listen—and we act. Every update this quarter is shaped directly by your feedback and needs, helping make your daily operations even more efficient, seamless, and ready for the future.

In this blogpost, we'll walk you through the key highlights from Q4 2025. If you prefer to consume your content in a video format, watch our Product Release Highlights video guide:

Product Release Highlights – What's new?

This quarter, we’ve introduced powerful new features across Virta Hub, Fleet, Payments, Roaming, and Energy. Each update is designed to help you maximise charger utilisation, reduce operational friction, improve the driver experience, and prepare your business for what’s next.

Virta Hub Insights Dashboards

Running a charging network requires fast, informed decisions. With the new Virta Hub Insights Dashboards, you can now:

Instantly see how your stations are performing
Spot utilisation gaps at a glance
Optimise your network with confidence

This means higher efficiency, smarter planning, and smoother charging experiences for your drivers. And this is just the beginning—expect even more insightful dashboards throughout 2026.

Fleet Reservation Calendar

We know that waiting at chargers costs time, money, and trust. That’s why we’ve enhanced our existing Fleet Reservation feature with the new Fleet Reservation Calendar.

This upgrade lets you easily pre-book charging slots using a calendar view, ensuring charger availability for your drivers and eliminating queues and detours. The result: predictable routes, maximum vehicle uptime, and full visibility and control—even when schedules change.

Enhanced Batch Operations

Managing a single charger is easy—managing hundreds shouldn’t be hard. With Enhanced Batch Operations, you can now update firmware, reboot stations, change configurations, and manage entire charger pools with just a few clicks.

What used to take hours now takes seconds, empowering you to scale without complexity.

Apple and Google Pay for Web One-Time Payment

We’ve made payments even easier for drivers. With Apple and Google Pay now available for web-based one-time payments (OTP), drivers can pay quickly—no accounts, forms, or registrations required.

This means higher conversion rates, faster sessions, and happier drivers every time they plug in.

Full OCPI 2.2.1 CPO Parity

We’ve reached full OCPI 2.2.1 CPO parity, ensuring seamless roaming, higher-quality data, fewer integration issues, and stronger partner connectivity.

EV drivers benefit from more reliable charging information wherever they go. eMSP feature parity is coming in the first half of 2026, with continued enhancements planned throughout the year.

EV Energy Flexibility in Sweden

We’ve launched EV energy flexibility through our charging network in Sweden, delivering real-time grid support, new revenue opportunities, and scalable smart charging.

This reinforces our leadership in energy flexibility and lays the foundation for expanded grid-balancing services. Charge point operators can now unlock new revenue streams while strengthening grid stability.

Custom Pricing Plans with Pool-Based Tariffs

Early 2026 will bring Custom Pricing Plans with pool-based tariffs. You’ll be able to create and update tariffs instantly across charger pools, ensuring clear, consistent pricing for drivers and enabling faster reactions to competitor pricing, energy costs, or market demand.

Introducing Virta ChargeAI – Your 24/7 Assistant

Meet Virta ChargeAI, your new AI-powered assistant, now available on our website and support pages.

ChargeAI helps you access information instantly, troubleshoot faster, and save time—delivering less effort, faster resolutions, and smoother charging experiences for both operators and drivers.

Your Voice Matters

Everything you see here exists because you spoke—and we listened. In 2025, we strengthened our Voice of Customer program by analysing Virta Hub insights, Net Promoter Scores, support interactions, app reviews, and EV driver surveys. These insights directly shape our roadmap and will continue to guide us in 2026.

Thank you for being part of our journey. We’re building this platform with you.

Stay tuned for the next Virta Release Highlights!

Virta Q3 2025 Product Release Highlights

Virta — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 08:43:48 GMT

In the past few months, our team has been focused on strengthening our product offering and building features and capabilities that make our customer's everyday lives easier.

As the EV charging market grows, we're constantly working towards a stronger offering with useful features that help our customers grow and optimise their charging operations. That way, our +1.000 B2B customers and 1.5M EV drivers registered on our platform can enjoy a scalable, customisable and user-friendly product that makes their everyday lives easier.

In this blogpost, we'll walk you through the key highlights from the past quarter. If you prefer to consume your content in a video format, watch our Product Release Highlights video guide:

Product Release Highlights – What's new?

In Q3, our releases spanned all parts of the EV charging ecosystem. We strengthened our fleet and energy offerings as well as focused on supporting CPOs on their journey to boost profits and achieve operational excellence. Let's start with a very exciting update, specifically interesting to fleet operators.

Strengthening our fleet offering

Virta acquires Northe

Fleet is the fastest-growing segment of electric mobility in the European market. Businesses are increasingly looking to optimise their electric fleet and charging costs and ensure cost-efficiency in operational management and reporting. That's why Virta decided to strengthen our fleet offerings and acquired Northe, the Scandinavian market leader in advanced electric vehicle fleet management software and services for leasing companies and other large fleet operators.

How do you benefit?

Combining Virta's and Northe's strengths creates a comprehensive, seamless and cost effective solution for leasing companies, rental car firms, and corporate and light commercial vehicle (LCV) stakeholders. One seamless platform for public, home and workplace charging, offering access to +700.000 charge points all over Europe.

What does the solution include?

One single platform for public, home and workplace charging
Access to +700.000 charge points across Europe
Cross-border access with only one app
Flexible charging to save costs
Simple reimbursement models
Integrated reporting
Trip logs via digital mileage tracker
ERP integration and single invoice system

Find out more in our news article!

Simplifying large EMP operations

Private Charging Only

This new feature enables E-mobility Service Providers to restrict drivers on their organisation-level to charge exclusively within their assigned charging network. Specifically for large fleets, this setting cuts through a lot of complexity of access management.

How do you benefit?

If there's one thing charging providers need to be is efficient, especially as networks scale rapidly. And managing permissions across large organisations can become complex quickly. With Private Charging Only setting, you can manage access of your whole organisation with one click, bringing you efficiency and centralised control. No need to manage each driver individually.

How does it work?

To set up “Private charging only”, you log in to Virta Hub and navigate to the Organisation tab, where you either restrict access to private charging only or choose no restriction in Driver Settings.

When restricted access is enabled, all existing drivers will be limited to private charging within their assigned charging network, and this applies to all drivers added in the future, too.

Enhancing energy solutions to boost CPO profits

Virta Adaptive Load Management for DC stations

Virta Adaptive Load Management (ALM) is a cloud-based technology that intelligently balances your site's total energy usage, ensuring EV charging happens efficiently without overloading the grid or exceeding power limits.

It integrates seamlessly with other on-site electrical systems, dynamically adjusting charging power in response to fluctuations in overall energy demand. Instead of fixed or manual control, ALM automatically prioritises essential operations, while maintaining charging performance whenever possible.

It’s designed for EV charging operators managing multiple chargers, complex facilities, or sites participating in energy markets, offering centralised, real-time control without the need for physical connections between chargers.

How do you benefit?

By using ALM, you can cut energy costs, avoid power peaks, and reduce the risk of grid penalties or downtime, all while getting the most out of your existing infrastructure. The system helps you maximise site capacity safely and sustainably, optimising your return on investment.

With automated, intelligent adjustments, you gain smoother operations, better visibility into site performance, and less manual management. In short, ALM gives you smarter energy control that adapts in real time, helping your site run more efficiently, reliably, and profitably.

How does it work?

In Virta Hub's Energy section, you can set up ALM similarly to how Dynamic Load Management (DLM) is set up. First, you need to configure several ALM-specific settings such as safe limit, maximum current rating, meter device provider, etc.

After these settings are completed, ALM activates immediately and can be turned on and off at any time.

Virta CO₂ Cashback

Virta CO₂ Cashback lets public Charge Point Operators (CPOs) monetise their EV charging infrastructure by participating in carbon credit trading. The system works by bundling the emissions reductions (based on the amount of electricity used for charging) from multiple charge points, verifying them, and then selling those carbon credits to fossil fuel suppliers who are required by regulation to reduce their emissions.

Virta handles the entire process: collecting data via Virta Hub, running audits, verifying eligibility, and facilitating the trades.

We're organising a webinar on the topic of carbon credits and energy flexibility and its power to boost your profits as a CPO. Save your seat now from the banner below!

How do you benefit?

You get a new revenue stream on top of your usual charging operations. Instead of relying solely on charging fees, you start earning money from carbon credit sales. Virta offers a fixed rate per kWh charged, so even though carbon markets can fluctuate, your income from this feature is predictable.

How does it work?

First of all, if interested in CO₂ Cashback, our Sales team will provide you with a quote and a contract. After signing, CO₂ Cashback can be set up in Virta Hub. There you will submit your public charge points, eligible for the program. Once confirmed, your charge points can start collecting cashback payouts.

Enabling CPOs to increase charger uptime

Partnership with Evailable – AI powered self-healing

Keeping your chargers online and functional at all times is key to running a successful EV charging network. In the current market, there's no tolerance for downtime. That's why we have teamed up with Evailable, the AI-powered automation platform for EV charging, to offer a “Plug & Play” integration for data driven and automated charge point operations.

How do you benefit?

Evailable's predictive analytics and self-healing algorithms improve charger reliability, uptime, and performance. In a pilot run, we witnessed higher number of successful sessions, less failures and *€ 81,000 recovered in potential lost revenue over a short period.

*Sessions 2h after proactive restart at 0,59€/kWh, 4min working time savings per restart at 60€/h.

How can you get started?

To celebrate the launch, Virta and Evailable are offering three months of free usage to the first three CPOs who sign up for the Plug & Play solution, giving operators the chance to experience the benefits of AI-powered automation risk-free.

Talk to our sales!

And that concludes our Q3 product releases. These updates, features and capabilities are all here to help our customers stay ahead in a rapidly changing industry. As the EV charging market continues to grow and evolve, we’ll keep delivering the tools and technology you need to scale efficiently, serve your users better, and stay compliant with new standards.

Want to explore how we can support your business goals? Reach out to our team!

OCPI protocol explained: The backbone of EV charging interoperability

Virta — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 07:00:01 GMT

If there is one thing the EV charging industry needs, it is simplicity offered to EV drivers. The number of Charge Point Operators and E-mobility Service Providers out there is vast, and they don’t always work together. This creates friction for EV drivers, who cannot charge everywhere they need to. But to succeed with e-mobility, we need charging to be as simple as refuelling a petrol car. That’s why roaming protocols exist and why they’re so crucial.

So, how about the OCPI protocol? What is it, how does it work and most importantly, why does it matter? In this blog, we’ll talk OCPI from the ground up.

What is OCPI

The Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) is an open protocol that allows communication between Charge Point Operators (CPOs) who operate charging stations and E-mobility Service Providers (EMSPs) who manage a network of EV drivers.

So why is this important? The adoption of electric vehicles is continuously growing, and charging should be as simple as fuelling a petrol car. Simply said, charging shouldn’t become a hindrance to further EV adoption. By adopting one widely used roaming protocol such as OCPI as the de facto standard of the industry, CPOs and EMSPs can easily connect and let EV drivers charge regardless of which charging network the belong to, as long as there’s a contract in place between the CPO and EMSP.

The OCPI protocol’s first development started in 2014, and its first version, OCPI 2.0, was released in 2015. Since 2020, the EVRoaming Foundation has managed and maintained the protocol and ensured its free availability.

What does OCPI enable

OCPI facilitates communication between the CPO and EMSP and lets them exchange data directly. This makes charging across different networks possible and helps bring convenience to charging.

Here are the functionalities OCPI provides for its 2.2.1 and 2.3.0 versions:

1. Roaming via hub

In OCPI 2.2.1, the Hub feature makes it possible for CPOs and EMSPs to connect like a central hub instead of each building dozens of separate links. This makes roaming easier, because one connection can open access to many partners at once.

2. Roaming peer-to-peer

Peer-to-peer roaming happens when CPO and EMSP build a direct connection, and each one’s OCPI endpoints enable them to communicate directly. Access to data is managed through bilateral contracts and the exchange of access keys (tokens).

3. Roaming with mixed roles

The mixed model combines both hub and peer-to-peer roaming. This approach is often chosen by large networks looking for optimal levels of control and reach. It also benefits EV drivers the most.

4. Manages authorisation

OCPI authorises charging sessions by identifying a driver’s RFID, app ID or Plug&Charge credential with their EMSP.

5. Shares charging station data

OCPI sends detailed charging station information, such as location, availability, connector types, and payment method, so EMSP can display this information in the app in real time.

6. Transfers tariff information

All tariff information is being transmitted. Tariffs can be static or dynamic, with clearly defined per-kWh, per-minute, or session-based models.

7. Handles session and CDR data

OCPI logs and transfers all session data, such as start and end times, kWh delivered or cost, and CDR data, which is crucial for billing.

8. Supports remote management

OCPI also allows EMSPs to start and stop charging sessions remotely via the mobile app, which is convenient for EV drivers.

9. Transfers CDR data for billing

While the OCPI protocol is not responsible for billing and invoicing, it does transfer Charge Detail Records (CDR), that are crucial for billing, between CPOs and EMSPs.

10. Supports smart charging

OCPI enables EMSPs to control when and how charging happens by setting constraints, i.e. setting maximum power or scheduling sessions.

11. Allows reservations

OCPI allows EMSPs to make and modify charger reservations, guaranteeing EV drivers will charge when they need to. This is particularly important for heavy-duty fleets that need to implement charging into their resting or unloading times.

12. Enables platform monitoring

OCPI parties can monitor the health and functionality of the OCPI connections to catch any errors before customers notice.

What OCPI doesn't do

While the list of what OCPI does is long, there are a few things OCPI doesn’t do. For one, it doesn’t communicate with hardware; that’s on the OCPP protocol. Sounds familiar? We have a specific blog all about OCPP, and we’ll also discuss the difference between the two later in this blog post.

Neither does OCPI process payments. It gives the EMSPs the data they need to bill the EV driver, but it doesn’t run any transactions.

Overall, OCPI facilitates communication between the two main players, CPO and EMSP. We have OCPP for communication between the charger and the back-end.

➡️ Learn about roaming at Virta!

Benefits for CPOs & EMSPs

OCPI was developed to facilitate the integration of Charge Point Operators with E-mobility Service Providers and vice versa. CPOs and EMSPs can enter into scalable roaming partnerships and provide simple charging experiences to consumers.

Increased utilisation:

By expanding to roaming customers, CPOs increase their revenue and build a business case for the future.

Attracting new customers:

When roaming is enabled, charging stations can be found and accessed by customers of other charging networks.

No reliance on specific manufacturers:

CPOs can install any OCPI-compliant charger without entering into specific agreements with individual manufacturers.

Strengthening customer loyalty:

EMSP’s customers won’t have to swap operators when they travel out of their own charging network, meaning they stay loyal to their service.

Offering broader access:

OCPI enables EMSPs to offer their EV driving customers the ability to charge at a larger number of chargers thanks to roaming contracts with various CPOs, enhancing their overall experience.

Benefits for EV drivers

To quote the EVRoaming Foundation,

“The ultimate goal is to allow any EV driver to charge at any charging station in the EU: simplify, standardise and harmonise.”

OCPI gives EV drivers more charging options, a better user experience and unified billing no matter where they charge.

Convenience:

Thanks to OCPI, EV drivers can access real-time charger location and status data and start charging at any of them.

Openness:

The EV driver does not need to create multiple customer accounts. A single account will enable them to charge at chargers from a variety of providers.

Easy payments:

EV drivers can easily pay through a single app or RFID tag.

Transparency:

The protocol provides EV drivers with up-to-date, transparent information on charging prices and the time it takes to charge up beforehand.

The evolution of OCPI

The first official release of OCPI, version 2.0, was published in 2015. Its core mission was to enable peer-to-peer roaming between CPOs and EMSPs without a central clearinghouse. From its first version, OCPI was meant to encourage EV adoption and avoid provider lock-in.

Version 2.1.1

This version is widely adopted, but limited in its optional features. New modules focused on enhancing Location, Sessions, and Tariff modules, enabling broader adoption and stability. The 2.1.1 version created a foundation for large-scale interoperability.

Version 2.2

In 2019, version 2.2 came to life and brought significant updates. Some key improvements included remote start and stop, enhanced tariff structures, improved CDR handling, and, probably the most important, support of roaming through hubs such as Hubject or Gireve.

Version 2.2.1

This version improved on the previous one, addressing identified issues and solving bugs. This improved version helped smoothen interoperability even more.

Version 2.3

In February 2025, the EVRoaming Foundation released the protocol’s latest version, 2.3. This was mainly an answer to the EU’s AFIR (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation). Version 2.3 complies with National Access Point regulations (part of AFIR) and includes optional Booking and Payment Terminal modules.

The future: OCPI 3.0

The OCPI protocol has now become the de facto standard for roaming in Europe and is quickly gaining traction in other continents. That’s why it needs continuous improvement.

A new protocol version, 3.0, is soon to be released, and it’s expected to include some exciting new features and functionalities. Here is a glimpse at some of them.

Plug&Charge and Autocharge support

This is probably the most awaited update as these authentication methods become prominent in the EV charging sphere. Plug&Charge and Autocharge automatically authenticate the vehicle only by plugging in. The EV driver doesn’t have to use any RFIDs or mobile apps; they simply plug in.

Direct messaging available

With OCPI 3.0, EMSPs can communicate pricing changes or charging issues directly via the charger screen. Something that wasn’t possible with the previous OCPI versions. This feature will improve transparency and user satisfaction.

Dynamic pricing, ad-hoc tariffs and crypto

The new OCPI version plans to support ad-hoc tariffs at payment terminals and allow EMSPs to accept multiple currencies, including cryptocurrency and display them in real time.

Grid integration

As the conversion of electric vehicle charging and energy systems becomes more important, OCPI 3.0 takes this development into account by enabling the sharing of meter values, load, and AC frequency measurements with Distribution System Operators (DSOs). This makes grid balancing smarter and helps avoid local grid congestion.

Data privacy and GDPR tools

Some OCPI 3.0 features are designed to support GDPR compliance, streamline contract management, and facilitate the transition of drivers to a new EMSP.

How OCPI supports AFIR compliance

With the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) coming into effect in April 2024, charging networks face stricter requirements around openness, transparency, and accessibility. OCPI has become the technical backbone to help CPOs and EMSPs comply.

Here’s how OCPI 2.3 addresses key AFIR obligations:

National Access Point (NAP) integration

OCPI 2.3 includes modules that share location, availability, and tariff information with each country’s NAP, ensuring that charging data is easily discoverable for EV drivers and regulators.

Tariff transparency

AFIR requires that EV drivers see transparent and comparable prices before starting a session. With OCPI, tariffs can be shared in real time and expressed in per-kWh, per-minute, or session-based formats.

Ad-hoc payments

AFIR mandates that all publicly accessible chargers support ad-hoc charging. OCPI 2.3 enables the exchange of data needed for EMSPs to support card or QR code-based payments at the charger.

Roaming enablement

AFIR’s emphasis on cross-border accessibility aligns perfectly with OCPI’s roaming design. By adopting OCPI, CPOs can meet regulatory and market expectations for a seamless driver experience.

Difference between OCPI and OCPP

The EV industry is a jungle of acronyms, and it’s easy to get lost in the meaning behind them all, especially when they’re so similar and enable similar things.

Take OCPI and OCPP, for example. Both are EV charging protocols that have something to do with interoperability. So, what is the difference between the two, and what are the things each protocol is for? Let’s dive into it.

As we established, OCPI is a protocol that enables communication flow between Charge Point Operators and E-mobility Service Providers.

OCPP, or Open Charge Point Protocol, is the global standard for communication between the hardware (EV charging station) and the software (Charge Point Management System (CPMS)).

OCPI inherently enables roaming in EV charging, i.e., EV drivers can charge at other charging providers than their own without any hurdles. OCPP enables charging network providers to integrate various hardware and software platforms as long as they are both OCPP compliant.

OCPI at Virta

Virta enables OCPI (version 2.2.1) to support seamless peer-to-peer connections between charging networks, creating a solid foundation for commercial agreements without the burden of high costs. Since OCPI is free to implement, two parties can connect directly without intermediary fees, making collaboration more efficient and scalable.

By adopting OCPI, Virta gives partners greater flexibility in price setting, data and network management, while also unlocking higher levels of automation across operations. This not only streamlines processes but also fosters a more open, cost-effective, and future-proof charging ecosystem.