The security of electrical vehicle (EV) charging systems has been improving over the past years. However, privacy concerns are yet to be addressed as profiling attacks can be accomplished on EV ...charging meter readings. This paper proposes a new communication protocol that preserves the privacy of users while retaining the aggregate metering values to be used by the EV charging management system. The proposed protocol extends the existing Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) specifications. OCPP is an open and widely used protocol for EV chargers but it provides no privacy-preserving mechanisms. Differential privacy concepts are applied in the proposed paper along with key masking to hide private data from different kinds of adversaries. A lightweight implementation of the proposed approach is implemented and tested on a hardware testbed to ensure the practicality of the implemented system. Experimental results and analysis show that this method is able to preserve the confidentiality of metering values with minimal computation
Wireless charging of electric vehicles (EVs) has become an important research topic in recent years. During the wireless charging process, wireless data exchange must take place between the EV and ...the charging station. Battery status, current, and voltage of the charger or the EV identification may be required on the primary side in order for the system to operate properly. This data exchange can be carried out through commercial wireless communication solutions, such as Bluetooth, 802.11, or Zigbee. However, these technologies introduce cybersecurity problems, high and variable transmission delays, and possible connection losses during communication. To address these issues, numerous solutions have been proposed based on wireless data transmission through the wireless power transfer circuit. This article gives a comprehensive review of the different issues that need to be considered for simultaneous wireless power and data transfer (SWPDT) for wireless EV charging applications. This context represents a challenge for SWPDT due to the power levels and the high probability of operating with notable misalignments or even with the EV on the move. Specifically, a classification of SWPDT systems is described, and six different criteria to consider when designing an SWPDT system are analyzed for EVs. The suitability of different system configurations is evaluated according to three representative use cases: 1) providing maximum efficiency; 2) synchronization for bidirectional wireless chargers; and 3) dynamic charging. We have also analyzed the feasibility of using the open charge point protocol (OCPP) together with ISO 15118, which is the most popular communication protocol used in EV charging infrastructures.
The increased use of smart Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEV) opened a new area of research and development. The number of EV charging sites has considerably increased in ...residential as well as in public areas. Within these EV charging sites, various entities need to communicate in a secure and efficient way. The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) offers a way to coordinate this communication and is already being used in many implementations. However, only the latest OCPP 2.0 version of the protocol includes certain security features. In this article, we present the entities that take part in an OCPP-based smart charging scenario, we identify security issues and threats and present solutions that have been proposed by scholars. We identify open security issues for OCPP and propose future research directions for the security enhancement of the protocol.
One benefit postulated for the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is their ability to act as stabilizing entities in smart grids through bidirectional charging, allowing local or global smoothing of ...peaks and imbalances. This benefit, however, hinges indirectly on the reliability and security of the power flows thus achieved. Therefore, this paper studies key security properties of the already-deployed Open Charge Point Protocol specifying communication between charging points and energy management systems. It is argued that possible subversion or malicious endpoints in the protocol can also lead to destabilization of power networks. While reviewing these aspects, we focus, from a theoretical and practical standpoint, on attacks that interfere with resource reservation originating with the EV, which may also be initiated by a man in the middle, energy theft, or fraud. Such attacks may even be replicated widely, resulting in over- or under-shooting of power network provisioning, or the (total/partial) disintegration of the integrity and stability of power networks.
The new surge of interest towards mass integration of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in distribution smart grids can expose the high-voltage grid to instability conditions, for instance, through cyber ...threats initiated from the residential or public EV Supply Equipment (EVSE). This paper (i) investigates the impact of switching attacks on EV charging infrastructure and their impacts on the inter-area stability of the transmission grid, and (ii) proposes a two-stage detection and mitigation technique for those attacks. Initially, we demonstrate that leveraging the existing vulnerabilities in charging stations' cyberspace and the topology of the grid, an adversary can switch the injected or absorbed power of EVs with inter-area frequency and cause a blackout by destabilizing the angular speed of the grid's generators. Then, a Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) scheme is designed and hosted at the central management system (CMS) of a public EVSE network. Using this BPNN scheme, the switching attacks are accurately detected by analyzing the features of charging/discharging requests. Moreover, the detected attacks are mitigated by delaying or discarding the request execution. Finally, to cope with the conditions where the residential chargers are under-attack, or when the BPNN fails to provide accurate detection, a wide area <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\text{H}^{\infty } </tex-math></inline-formula> controller is designed to keep the angular speed of the synchronous generators within the acceptable limits. The effectiveness of the proposed techniques is evaluated using two-area Kundur and 5-area Australian grids.
Electric vehicles are widely regarded as pivotal in driving the sustainability of transportation networks forward, thanks to their capacity to diminish carbon emissions, enhance air quality, and ...bolster the robustness of electricity grids. The accessibility of charging infrastructure and the subjective norms that endorse electric mobility actively shape the electric vehicles acceptance. In this study, Our main goal is to provide off-grid electric vehicle charging infrastructures and the data communication protocols that connect to servers. We analyze the specifications of the OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) with an emphasis on its applicabillity for electric charging stations for vehicles. Our research concludes that off-grid electric vehicle charging systems can be effectively applied to small electric vehicles such as electric motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles. The OCPP data communication protocol can also support interactions between small electric vehicle charging stations and central server management systems (CSMS). Furthermore, we tested the electric vehicle charging process for a duration of two hours, and the charging station consistently produced stable voltage, current, and power output, matching the inverter outputs and fulfilling the specifications required by electric vehicle charging adapters. Analysis of throughput data indicates a positive correlation between the number of operational ports at a charging station and the volume of data processed by the server. However, beyond a certain threshold a decline in data transactions was observed, attributable to data loss.
This paper proposes a new approach to the design of smart charging systems. It aims to separate the role of the Smart Charging Service Provider (SCSP) from the role of the Charge Point Operator (CPO) ...to provide real flexibility and efficiency of mass deployment. As interoperability is required for this purpose, the challenge is to use standard equipment and protocols in the design of the smart charging Energy Management System (EMS). The use of an Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) is crucial for an interface between the EMS and the Charge Point Operator. The smart charging EMS developed has been implemented and successfully tested with two CPOs, with different use cases: (1) EV charging infrastructure at office buildings, and (2) EV charging infrastructure installed at a public car park facility.
Summary
Over the last few decades, the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and the environmental degradation have reached alarming rates. Nevertheless, we have started to witness a shift ...toward more robust environmental protection, with regulation policies being enforced and with a steady increase in public awareness. In our study, we focus on worldwide pollution by investigating low‐emission mobility. We analyze the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) specifications with emphasis on application design based on the current state of the art; we provide an overview of hybrid plug‐in and electric vehicles, a classification of charging stations topologies, as well as a classification of the OCPP protocols in consideration of future research directions.
Highlights
OCPP protocol implementations, problems, and performance evaluation.
Overview of hybrid plug‐in and electric vehicles.
Classification of charging station topologies.
Classification of the OCPP protocols in consideration of future research directions.
Application example of OCPP protocols based on experimental observations.
The widespread adoption of electromobility constitutes one of the measures designed to reduce air pollution caused by traditional fossil fuels. However, several factors are currently impeding this ...process, ranging from insufficient charging infrastructure, battery capacity, and long queueing and charging times, to psychological factors. On top of range anxiety, the frustration of the EV drivers is further fuelled by the uncertainty of finding an available charging point on their route. To address this issue, we propose a solution that bypasses the limitations of the "reserve now" function of the OCPP standard, enabling drivers to make charging reservations for the upcoming days, especially when planning a longer trip. We created an algorithm that generates reservation intervals based on the charging station's reservation and transaction history. Subsequently, we ran a series of test cases that yielded promising results, with no overlapping reservations and the occupation of several stations without queues, assuring, thus, a proper distribution of the available energy resources, while increasing end-user satisfaction. Our solution is independent from the OCPP reservation method; therefore, the authentication and reservation processes performed by the proposed algorithm run only through the central system, authorizing only the creator of the reservation to start the charging transaction.
The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) has been considered the de-facto standard for communication between charge points and the central management system of the charge points. This paper presents a ...novel messages testing tool based on OCPP 1.6 to evaluate the conformance of the central system to the field category definitions specified by OCPP. The authors propose the test method, discuss the test case scenarios (positive and negative) used by the messages testing tool, and describe how to set up a test case to examine the system under test. Additionally, this study highlights the difference between the messages testing tool and the OCPP 1.6 Compliance Testing Tool (OCTT) provided by the Open Charge Alliance (OCA). To test its reliability, the message testing tool has been applied to an open-source central system platform. The result shows that the system under test is able to pass 100% of the positive test case scenarios, but only 33% of the negative test case scenarios. It is worth noting that similar results may occur in other central system platforms as well. The study's findings underscore the significance of using comprehensive messages testing tools during the development and release of central system platforms. This ensures conformance to the OCPP field category definitions and promotes reliable interoperability between charge points and central management systems.
