Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation

-
AFIR for EV Charging Stations

Implementation Guide
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 3
Contents
Of
Table
1.1 About this document 3
1.2 Applicable Products 3
1.3 Applicable Documents 3

EN
2. Configuring 4
2.1 Prerequisites 4
2.2 Changing Configuration (OCCP 1.6) 4
2.3 Changing Configuration (OCCP 2.0.1) 4
2.4 OCCP Keys 4
2.5 Display Setting 5
2.6 Tariff Information 5
2.7 Changing tariffs (OCCP 1.6) 7
2.8 Changing tariffs (OCCP 2.0.1) 7

3. Transaction Process with QR codes 8

3.1 Transaction with QR codes - overview 8
3.2 QR Code Generation 8
3.3 Offline behaviour 9

4. Glossary 10

Alfen ICU B.V. | Implementation Guide | Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation | AFIR for EV Charging Stations | V1.0 | EN | 02/2024 |
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 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 About this document

Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for
setting up a Charge Point Management System (CPMS) that
uses Alfens products in a way that complies with the rules

EN
of then Alternate Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR).
AFIR allows two options for ad hoc payments for charging
equipment with a power output below 50kW:
• QR code payments (Art 5 lid 1a)
• Payment terminal
This document only describes the implementation of QR
code payments.

1.2 Applicable Products

This document applies to then following charger products:
• Eve Single Pro-line (9044600xx)
• Eve Single Pro-line DE (9044601xx)
• Eve Double Pro-line (904461xxx)
• Eve Double PG-line (9044620xx)
• Twin 5 with display (9344527xx)

1.3 Applicable Documents

ID Content

AFIR Regula- https://european-union.europa.eu/

tion institutions-law-budget/law/types-
legislation_en

AFIR Publica- https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/

tion document/PE-25-2023-INIT/en/pdf (PDF
document)

Open Charge https://openchargealliance.org/

Point Protocol download/7b06ab293c68fb6b4f4ae09
1.6 60e502579c1c5516aa2b7acf0fdcedba
585b9ea7f (ZIP archive)

Open Charge https://openchargealliance.org/

Point Protocol download/6fa6112ab65d343b997f3b4
2.0.1 c82cde6230dd543b4d56ff2934ba8aa
c5ea027c4e (ZIP archive)

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 2. CONFIGURING

The configuration of the charging station can be changed by the CPMS by sending a message to the charging station
Configuring
changes OCCP keys.
The methods to do this depend on the OCCP version that is used.

2.1 Prerequisites • Charge point management system (CPMS) with OCPP

EN

The prerequisites for using the ad-hoc changing function 1.6J or higher
are: • Implemented payment service provider in CPMS
• Alfen charging station with display (see list of • The OCCP configuration keys must be defined correctly
compatible chargers) • The tariff information must be defined
• For Eve Single/Double products with firmware 6.6 or Payments by means of the QR code are an addition to
higher Alfen’s existing user interface and requires a license code
• For Twin 5 products with firmware 2.0 or higher for direct payment solutions. This license is available from
• Activated Direct Payment Solutions license (one time Alfen’s webshop or through the sales support department.
fee)

2.2 Changing Configuration (OCCP 1.6)

To change the configuration, the CSMS sends regular ChangeConfiguration message. For example, this can be used to
change the URL that will be used to generate the QR code that is displayed.
ChangeConfiguration(“qrCodeURL1”:x“www.alfen.com/QRpayment/AL1000/socket1”)
ChangeConfiguration(“qrCodeURL2”: “www.alfen.com/QRpayment/AL1000/socket2”)

2.3 Changing Configuration (OCCP 2.0.1)

To change the configuration, the CSMS sends regular SetVariables message. For example, this can be used to change
the URL that will be used to generate the QR code that is displayed.
SetVariables("setVariableData":
{"component":{"name":"TariffCostCtrlr","evse":1},
"variable": "qrCodeURL","attributeValue":"www.alfen.com/QRpayment/AL1000/Socket1"},

SetVariables("setVariableData":[
{"component":{"name":"TariffCostCtrlr","evse":2},
"variable": "qrCodeURL","attributeValue":"www.alfen.com/QRpayment/AL1000/Socket2"}]}

2.4 OCCP Keys

The following backoffice configuration keys are implemented in the firmware to support the use of QR codes for payment.
The correct values for these keys must be defined. Earlier versions of the software used configuration keys that have
changed.
Table 1: OCPP Configuration Keys

Older OCCP Key New OCPP Key New values Behaviour

DSPAvailableMethods -- Giroe, QR, OTS, PnC15118 OTS:Always

Giro-E: with compatible read-
er only
QR: if screen available
PcC15118

DSPGiroeMethodStatus DPSConfiguredMethods Giroe, QR, OTS. PnC15118 read/write

Authorization method RFID, P&C

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 2. CONFIGURING

Table 1: OCPP Configuration Keys

Older OCCP Key New OCPP Key New values Behaviour

QRCodeURL1/2 Any value Link for QR code 1/2

EN
Pricing-EnergyPrice price.kWh decimal Price per kWh

Pricing-StartPrice price.session decimal Price to start a session

Pricing-MinutePrice price.minute decimal Price per minute

Pricing-Other price.other decimal Price for ‘Other’ tariff

Pricing-OtherSpecifier price.otherSpecification string[32] Description for the ‘Other’

tariff. If left empty, no ‘Other’
tariff will be displayed

Pricing-Currency price.currency string [3] ISO 4217 currency code Ex-

ample: EUR

Pricing-ShowDiscalaimer price.disclaimer

price.showComponentst comma separated list of Determines which pricing el-

the strings disclaimer, perK- ements will be displayed on
wh, perMinute, perSession, the screen
perOther

qrCodeURL qrCodeURL string[223], cardinality 1..2 The string that will be encod-
ed as a QR code, containing
the URL for starting a trans-
action on a at a single sock-
et.

The authorization key UnlockConnectorOnEVSideDisconnect must be set to true in order to unlock the cable at the
charger side when the cable is disconnected at the EV side.

NOTE
The exact behaviour of the disconnect depends on the setting of the DisconnectAction key

2.5 Display Setting

In order to optimize the readability of the code that is shown on the display, several settings are available.
When the QR code is displayed, the screen is set to full brightness.
An auto-dim function can be configured. This dimming can depend on:
• time of day (the display will dim during night). This requires accurate time synchronization.
• period of in activity (the display dims, but when a user interacts with the station the display will light up again.
• if a QR code is displayed
• a combination of the above options

2.6 Tariff Information

AFIR requires price transparency (article 5, item 4). This means that the following price components must be show (if
applicable), in this order.
• price per kWh

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 2. CONFIGURING

• price per minute

• price per session
• any other price component that applies
EN

NOTE
AFIR requires full price transparency. It does not allow a disclaimer stating that “additional costs may apply”. Such a
disclaimer must not be used in countries that apart of the European Union. The functionality of displaying such a disclaimer
is only present for the use in non-EU countries.

These price components are shown on the display of the charger.

Figure 2.1: Example of tariff information displayed

The information about these price components is supplied by the CSMS to the charging station through OCCP.
Table 2: OCPP Configuration Keys

OCCP Key Type Cardinality Description

price.currency string[3] 1..1 ISO 4217 alphabetic code of

the currency symbol

price.showComponents list 1..1 List to show the various

components on the display

price.kWh decimal 0..1 Price per kWh when charging

price.minute decimal 0..1 Price per minute

price.session decimal 0..1 Flat (or session) fee for the

charging session

price.other decimal 0..1 Other price components

price.otherSpecification string[32] 0..1 Specification for other price

components, mandatory
when price.other is specified.

To update the pricing information the CPMS can send a message to the charging station. The exact format of the message
depends on the OCCP standard that is used.

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 2. CONFIGURING

2.7 Changing tariffs (OCCP 1.6)

To change the tariff information, the CPMS sends regular ChangeConfiguration message.
ChangeConfiguration(“price.currency”: “EUR”) Alternatively, the CSMS can send a consistent dataset in a
ChangeConfiguration(“price.kWh”: “0,50”) single message:

EN
ChangeConfiguration(“price.minute”: “0.02”) ChangeConfiguration(“price”:”{
ChangeConfiguration(“price.session”: “0.50”) “currency:”EUR”, ”kWh”:0.50,
ChangeConfiguration(“price.other”: “1.0”) ”minute”:0.02, ”session”:0.50,
ChangeConfiguration(“price.otherSpecificatio ”other”:1.0, ”other specification”:”Idle fee
n”: “Idle fee per hour”) per hour”,
ChangeConfiguration(“price.showComponents”: “showComponents”:”disclaimer,
“disclaimer, perkWh,perMinute,perSession, perOther”}”)
perkWh,perMinute,perSession,perOther”}”)

2.8 Changing tariffs (OCCP 2.0.1)

To change tariff information, the CPMS sends the information to the chaging station by means of a regular SetVariable
messsage.
SetVariables(“setVarableData”:[
{“component”:{“name”:”TariffCostCtrlr”},”variable”:”currency”,”attributeValue”:”EUR”},
{“component”:{“name”:”TariffCostCtrlr”},”variable”:”kWh”,”attributeValue”:0,50},
{“component”:{“name”:”TariffCostCtrlr”},”variable”:”minute”,”attributeValue”:0.02},
{“component”:{“name”:”TariffCostCtrlr”},”variable”:”session”,”attributeValue”:0.50},
{“component”:{“name”:”TariffCostCtrlr”},”variable”:”other”,”attributeValue”:1.0},
{“component”:{“name”:”TariffCostCtrlr”},”variable”:”otherSpecification”,”attributeValue”:”I
dle fee per hour”},
OCCP 2.01 has a feature called “variable instances”. This means that there is an alternative implementation where there is a
variable price with instances kWh, minute, session and other.

NOTE
The implementation choice is up to the developers but must be consistent across all platforms.

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 3. TRANSACTION PROCESS WITH QR CODES

3.1 Transaction with QR codes - overview 11. The charging station display a message to the user to
codes
QR
with
Process
Transaction
This section describes the transaction processes. insert the cable
12. The user inserts the cable
The transaction process uses a URL that is provided by 13. The charging station locks the cable and starts the
the CPMS. This URL is encoded in a QR code that can be energy transfer
EN

scanned by the user, using a smartphone or equivalent

device. To end the charging session
1. a. The user uses his mobile device to tell the CPMS
This can be a URL that changes often, but a CPMS may to stop the charging
have a single page for initiating all QR code payments. b. Alternatively, the user disconnects the cable from
In such cases the Alfen charging station adds dynamic the EV
content to the base URL to identify the charging station/ 2. The charging station unlocks the cable
socket and add some additional code that facilitate 3. The charging station informs the CPMS that the
periodical change of the QR code. This is done by adding charging has ended
additional parameters to the base URL in the HTTP GET 4. The CPMS provides the charging station about the final
request. costs of session
More details about this are described ion the section on QR 5. The charging station shows the session details and
code generation. cost on the display
6. The CPMS settles the payment with the payment
provider
7. The user removes the cable from the charging station
By matching the <object_id> to the
chargePointSerialNumber from the
BootNotification message, the CPMS has all the
necessary information to remotely start a transaction on
the correct charger/ connector.

3.2 QR Code Generation

The AFIR regulation requires that transaction is started by
scanning a QR code. This code must link to EBA-authorized
credit / payment / e-money institution. It ·may not link to
web-portal or smartphone application of (e)MSP / CPO.
The QR code is a code of 223 characters that starts a
transaction on a single socket. This QR code contains a
URL. This URL consists of the static URL provided by the
CPO, to which a number of parameters are added to form
Figure 3.1: CSO Landing Page the complete HTTP GET request. As is the standard for a
The transaction process consist of the following steps: GET request, the base URL is followed by a question mark
1. The charging station shows the QR code ‘ ?’ and a list of parameters. Each parameter consists of
2. The user scans the QR code with a mobile device a parameter name followed by an equal sign (‘ =’) and the
3. The mobile device decodes the QR code and opens the parameter value. The parameters are separated by and
landing page ampersand character ‘ &’).
4. The user selects the payment provider The software of the charging station randomizes the
5. The mobile device opens the page of the payment QR code every minute in order to create unique code for
provider. every transaction. The randomizing steps ensure a a new
6. The user authorizes the payment URL even when the URL provided by the CPO does not
7. The CPMS checks the payment details with the change.This code is constructed as follows:
payment provider 1. The charge point received a static URL for payment,
8. The payment provider checks the payment details, and supplied by the CPMS. In the following example this
acknowledges the approved payment to the CPMS is indicated as CPOURL. This CPOURL is similar to
9. The CPMS acknowledges the payment to the user https://mycpo.com.
10. The CPMS commands the charging station to start the
transaction

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 3. TRANSACTION PROCESS WITH QR CODES

2. The ID of the charging station, the socket number and

the timestamp are appended at the end of the CPOURL
as parameters of a HTTP ‘GET’ request.
a. The ID of the charging station is provided as the ‘
id’ parameter of the request. It is truncated to 11

EN
characters. This example uses ACE1234567 for
this ID
b. The connector (socket) ID is provided as the ’ c’
parameter of the request. It has the value ‘ 1’ for a
single-socket charging station, or the value ‘ 1’ or ‘
2’ for a double-socket charging station.
c. The actual time is provided as the ‘ h’ parameter
of the request. This timestamp is a hash code
consisting of 8 hexadecimal characters such as ‘
A763FEC2’.
The ID and the socket number remain readable, but the
timestamp is not.
This results in a URL like CPOURL?
id=ACE1234567&c=2&h=A763FEC2.

3.3 Offline behaviour

The charging station does not display a QR code if there is
no active network connection.This avoids a situation where
the QR codes can be scanned, but the charging cannot
start because there is no connection between CPMS and
charger.
If charger is offline, the landing page for payment (at
the URL that is encoded in the QR code) must not be
able to process the payment. This implementation is the
responsibility of the CPO.

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 4. GLOSSARY

AFIR (e)MSPs are getting thinner, and the two company types
Glossary
Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation is a policy are harder to distinguish.
framework or regulation focused on the development and EVSE
deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels. It aims Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment: a charging station or
to promote use of alternative fuels, development of infra- charging point for electric vehicles.
EN

structure (such as charging stations), set regulatory stan- EVSE ID

dards and guidelines, let governments provide financial Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Identifier: a unique
incentives to encourage adoption and supports collabo- identifier assigned to an individual Electric Vehicle Supply
ration among stakeholders. AFIR addresses price trans- Equipment (EVSE). Each EVSE has a unique ID that can be
parency and ad-hoc payments (payments without mobil- used to track the location of charging stations, in transac-
ity service provider (MSP) subscription e.g. charging card). tion processing and network mangement.
Specifics of AFIR can vary widely, depending on the legisla- Hashing
tive environment and the strategic goals of the region or Hashing is a process to transform any input (or 'message')
country in question. into a fixed-size string of bytes. The output, known as
EBA a hash value or hash code, or just the ‘hash’ is typically a
European Banking Authority is a regulatory agency of the sequence of numbers and letters. Even a tiny change in the
European Union input should produce a significantly different hash, and It
CPMS should be hard to find two different inputs that produce
Charge Point Management System. It handles remote mon- the same hash value. A hash function is typically one-way:
itoring and management, user authentications and access given a hash value, it should be computationally infeasible
control, billing and transaction management, energy man- to find any input that hashes to that value. The hashing
agement and data analytics and reporting, integration with process is sometimes compared to the scrambling of eggs:
other systems (such as payment gateways), and provides a there is feasible way to unscramble them.
user-friendly interface for users and providers ISO 15118
CPO ISO 15118 Road vehicles -- Vehicle to grid communication
Charge Point Operator: the entity that operates and man- interface is an international standard defining a vehicle to
ages a network of EV charging stations. The CPOs are grid (V2G) communication interface for bi-directional charg-
responsible for the installation of charging stations. They ing/discharging of electric vehicles
also handle ongoing maintenance and repair. The CPOs JSON
manage the network of charging stations, which involves JavaScript Object Notation. It is a lightweight data-inter-
monitoring their performance, managing their usage, and change format that is easy for humans to read and write,
ensuring that they are properly integrated into the broader and easy for machines to parse and generate.
power grid. CPOs manage the financial transactions related OCPP
to charging services. They set pricing models, process pay- Open Charge Point Protocol: a communication standard
ments, and handle billing for the use of their charging sta- used in the field of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastruc-
tions. See also EMSP; the lines between CPOs and (e)MSPs ture.
are getting thinner, and the two company types are harder
PCI DSS
to distinguish.
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a set of
CS security standards designed to ensure that all companies
Charging Station that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card informa-
CSMS tion maintain a secure environment
Charging Station Management System. See CPMS (Charge PSP
Point Management System) Payment Service Provider handles the payments. This
(e)MSP includes payment processing, secure transactions that
E-Mobility Service Provider (EMSP) is a company offering comply with standards such as PCI DSS) and integration
an EV charging service to drivers of electric vehicles. While with CPMS or other systems used by the CPO.
the CPO manages and sets up the charging infrastructure QR code
and maintains the charging stations, the EMSP offers this Quick Response code is a type of two-dimensional barcode
charging infrastructure to actual customers, helping the that can store information. They are typically scanned using
CPO make money with their chargers and taking care of smartphones or dedicated QR code scanners.
the billing. An (e)MSP can have more than just one CPO in
URL
their pool – this will grant more value to the end user of the
Uniform Resource Locator is a reference (an address) to a
(e)MSP, as their customers can now access an even larger
resource on the Internet.
network of charging stations. The lines between CPOs and

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 4. GLOSSARY

V2G
Vehicle-to-Grid
V2G-PKI
Vehicle-to-Grid Public Key Infrastructure is is a set of roles,
policies, hardware, software and procedures needed to cre-

EN
ate, manage, distribute, use, store and revoke digital certifi-
cates and manage public-key encryption.

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_
Contact

Alfen ICU B.V.

Hefbrugweg 28
1332 AP Almere
The Netherlands

P.O. box 1042

1300 BA Almere
The Netherlands

Alfen Knowledge Base: knowledge.alfen.com

Alfen Service Portal: aftersales.alfen.com
Tel. Service: +31 (0)36 54 93 402
Website: alfen.com