ISO 15118 is the international standard for high-level communication between electric vehicles (EV) and charging stations (EVSE). It enables:
• Plug & Charge — automatic authentication without RFID card or app
• Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) — bidirectional energy transfer between EV and grid
• Secure data exchange — encrypted, certificate-based communication
From January 2026, ISO 15118-2 is mandatory for newly installed public AC charging points in the EU under the AFIR regulation. ISO 15118-20 becomes mandatory for new public points from 2027.
ISO 15118-2 is the established standard covering AC and DC charging, Plug & Charge and basic V2G via Powerline Communication (PLC). It is the current regulatory baseline.
ISO 15118-20 is the next-generation standard introducing full bidirectional charging (BPT – Bidirectional Power Transfer), dynamic energy services, wireless communication options and an extended security architecture. It is mandatory for new EU public chargers from 2027.
chargebyte products support both ISO 15118-2 and ISO 15118-20, ensuring full backward compatibility and future readiness.
DIN 70121 is the German predecessor standard to ISO 15118 for DC charging communication. It is still widely deployed in existing CCS Combo 2 infrastructure across Europe and is required for backward compatibility with older charging stations.
All chargebyte EVCC and SECC products support DIN 70121 alongside ISO 15118-2 and ISO 15118-20, ensuring seamless interoperability with both legacy and new infrastructure.
OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) governs communication between charging stations and backend management systems (CSMS). Compliance with OCPP 2.0.1 — the latest version — means chargebyte EVSE products integrate with any OCPP-compliant backend, enabling remote monitoring, smart charging, energy management and billing.
OCPP and ISO 15118 are complementary: ISO 15118 handles EV-to-charger communication, OCPP handles charger-to-backend communication.
EVCC (Electric Vehicle Communication Controller) is the communication unit inside the electric vehicle — it handles the EV side of the ISO 15118 protocol.
SECC (Supply Equipment Communication Controller) is the communication unit inside the charging station (EVSE) — it manages the station side.
Both communicate via Powerline Communication (PLC) over the charging cable according to ISO 15118-3 / HomePlug Green PHY (QCA7006 chipset). chargebyte supplies both as hardware modules and as software stacks.
Plug & Charge (standardized in ISO 15118-2/-20) enables fully automatic authentication and billing — no RFID card, no app. The process works as follows:
1. Driver plugs in the vehicle
2. EV and charging station exchange digital certificates (TLS)
3. Authentication and contract verification happen automatically
4. Charging starts — billing is handled in the background
chargebyte's EVCC and SECC hardware and software products fully implement Plug & Charge.
V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) allows the EV battery to feed energy back into the power grid, acting as a distributed energy storage unit. This enables grid stabilization, demand response and monetization of stored energy.
V2G requires bidirectional communication (ISO 15118-20) and bidirectional power electronics. chargebyte's EV controllers (e.g. Charge Control L) and EVSE controllers (e.g. Charge Control C) are V2G-capable, supporting ISO 15118-20 BPT (Bidirectional Power Transfer).
Powerline Communication (PLC) transmits data signals over existing power lines — in EV charging, over the charging cable itself. No additional communication wire is needed.
The ISO 15118-3 standard specifies HomePlug Green PHY as the PLC physical layer, typically implemented with the Qualcomm QCA7006 chipset. This enables data rates sufficient for ISO 15118 high-level communication at charging speeds up to megawatt level.
chargebyte has 20+ years of PLC expertise and offers standalone PLC modules: PLC Stamp Mini 2, PLC Stamp Micro 2, PLC Stamp Multi.
The following chargebyte products support ISO 15118-20 including V2G / bidirectional charging:
EV Controllers (EVCC): Charge Control L, Charge Control L MCS, Charge Module S
EVSE Controllers (SECC): Charge Control C, Charge Control D, Charge Module E, Charge Control F, Charge SOM, EVAcharge SE
Software: CB V2G Core EV (EVCC), CB V2G Core EVSE (SECC)
All products are backward-compatible with ISO 15118-2 and DIN 70121.
chargebyte EVCC solutions are designed for:
• Passenger vehicles — all CCS-equipped EVs
• Commercial vehicles — trucks and vans (CCS or MCS)
• Electric buses
• Off-highway machinery — construction, agricultural, mining
• Special-purpose vehicles
The Charge Control L MCS additionally supports the Megawatt Charging System (MCS) for heavy-duty vehicles charging at up to 3.75 MW. All products are automotive-grade and E1-type approved.
CB V2G Core is chargebyte's hardware-independent ISO 15118 software stack. It runs on Windows, Linux and other operating systems — giving customers freedom of hardware choice.
• CB V2G Core EV — targets EVCC applications (vehicle side), integrating ISO 15118-2, ISO 15118-20 and DIN 70121
• CB V2G Core EVSE — targets SECC applications (charging station side), with the same protocol coverage
The stack integrates seamlessly with chargebyte hardware and third-party hardware alike. Learn more.
The Charge SOM is a System-on-Module based on the NXP i.MX 9x processor — chargebyte's most powerful EVSE controller. It is designed for AC and DC charging stations requiring maximum compute performance, future-proofing and long-term support.
The Charge SOM runs on the EVerest framework and supports ISO 15118-2, ISO 15118-20, V2G and Plug & Charge. Ideal for OEMs building the next generation of smart charging infrastructure.
EVerest is an open-source framework developed under Linux Foundation Energy that provides a complete software stack for EV charging stations.
chargebyte is one of EVerest's leading contributors:
• Exclusively developed the ISO 15118 Stack for EVerest
• Built the EXIdecoder for ISO 15118-20 (efficient EV-EVSE data decoding)
• Released all Board Support Packages (BSPs) as open source
• All chargebyte Linux products (Charge Control C, Charge SOM) are built on EVerest
Yes. chargebyte's Board Support Packages (BSPs) for all Linux-based products are released as open source. This supports the developer community and enables transparent, collaborative innovation in the EV charging ecosystem.
Technical documentation is available at chargebyte-docs.readthedocs.io.
chargebyte provides comprehensive support throughout the entire development journey:
• Expert guidance from the first inquiry — right product, right architecture
• Customized solutions tailored to specific project requirements
• Fast response times to minimize delays
• Proactive assistance to prevent issues before they escalate
• Integration services for seamless onboarding
Additional services: PSD Calibration for PLC components, Engineering Services for custom development, and Training on EV charging communication standards.
chargebyte operates a dedicated customer servicedesk for technical support and project inquiries: chargebyte Servicedesk (Atlassian)
For general inquiries, use the contact form on the homepage.
Technical documentation is available at chargebyte-docs.readthedocs.io.
Yes. chargebyte offers Evaluation Tools and Development Kits to accelerate EV and EVSE development: Browse evaluation tools.
These kits enable rapid prototyping, software development and integration testing of chargebyte hardware and ISO 15118 stacks without requiring a full production setup.