TORONTO, June 17, 2025 – Today, ChargeLab is announcing the launch of OpenOCPP, an open-source embedded software for EV chargers. OpenOCPP is the industry's first truly hardware-agnostic, pre-certified software stack that supports both OCPP 1.6J and 2.0.1. Built by ChargeLab and released under an Apache 2.0 open-source license, OpenOCPP eliminates the traditional barriers to OCPP implementation—from microcontroller limitations to certification complexity.
The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) has become the global standard interface between electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) and charging station management systems (CSMS). However, OCPP is merely a communication protocol, requiring each EV charger manufacturer to develop its own firmware to utilize the protocol. This results in high costs for manufacturers, integration difficulties for CSMS providers, and delays in adopting new protocol versions.
“OpenOCPP transforms OCPP adoption for EV charger manufacturers from an 18–24 month integration challenge to a weeks-long sprint,” said Ehsan Mokthari, CTO of ChargeLab and co-chair of the Open Charge Alliance’s OCPP 2.lite working group. “We’ve designed an incredibly memory-efficient embedded software stack that can run on any underlying hardware, from a lightweight ESP32 microcontroller to a full Linux embedded system. OpenOCPP comes with enterprise-grade security pre-built, making it truly ready for rapid adoption by EV charger manufacturers.”
ChargeLab is a member of the Open Charge Alliance (OCA), the non-profit organization governing the Open Charge Point Protocol. OpenOCPP will be included in the OCA Validation Test Bed to help improve OCPP conformance testing. OpenOCPP will also be featured at the OCA’s upcoming Grand Challenge India event next month.
OpenOCPP offers EV charger manufacturers distinct advantages over existing solutions:
- Enterprise-grade security: Full implementation of OCPP 2.0.1 Security Profile 2
- Zero vendor lock-in: Compatible with ChargeLab CSMS or any other OCPP-compliant back-end
- Pre-certified for OCA & CTEP compliance: OpenOCPP passes the OCA's conformance test tool out of the box and is CTEP-ready
- Memory-efficient & hardware agnostic: Designed for resource-constrained microcontrollers with as little as 4 MB of memory
- Future-proofed: Modular architecture ready for future standard changes; Apache 2.0 license welcomes innovation and collaboration
One early adopter of OpenOCPP is FractalEV, a manufacturer of robust and scalable Level 2 AC chargers for electric vehicles. FractalEV has used a beta version of OpenOCPP as its embedded software stack while deploying chargers across North America with over 20 different CSMS providers.
“ChargeLab’s embedded software stack allowed us to significantly shorten our firmware development timeline when designing our first EV charger,” said Chris Mendes, founder of FractalEV. “OpenOCPP gives us a fully compliant and secure OCPP stack, allowing FractalEV to focus on differentiation—including our industry-leading commissioning process, maintenance tools, and touchscreen. With OpenOCPP going open source, there is really no reason to look elsewhere for an OCPP communication stack.”
OpenOCPP is already running on over 4,000 EV chargers through manufacturer beta programs. This includes chargers deployed for Fortune 500 customers with the most stringent cybersecurity requirements. As OpenOCPP exits beta today, ChargeLab is looking for new adopters and contributors to the open-source project. To learn more, visit OpenOCPP’s new website at www.openocpp.com.
About ChargeLab
ChargeLab builds software for managing electric vehicle chargers. Its mission is to solve smart EV charging at scale. ChargeLab helps building owners and installers deploy EV chargers across multi-family, workplace, destination, and public charging use cases. They leverage ChargeLab’s charging station management system (CSMS) and open APIs to efficiently manage thousands of EV chargers. Learn more: www.chargelab.co
About FractalEV
FractalEV is a manufacturer of connected, reliable, and flexible EV charging solutions. FractalEV’s Level 2 charger is designed specifically for people who install and maintain EV chargers. FractalEV has integrated with over 20 CSMS providers and deployed chargers across North America. Learn more: www.fractalev.com
Contacts
press@openocpp.com
1 (800) 636-0986 ext. 210
