New Resource Provides API Implementation Tips to Improve the Public Charging Experience
Sept. 5, 2024
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) is dedicated to improving the public’s electric vehicle (EV) charging experience. As the national charging network expands and more EVs are sold, drivers need to easily find working and available chargers.
To support this effort, the Joint Office just released, “Standardized Protocol for Real-Time APIs as Required by Title 23 CFR 680.116(c),” a resource with recommendations for deploying an application programming interface (API) that allows third party software developers to aggregate charging station data and provide mapping services and other applications to drivers. This will make it easier for EV drivers to find places to charge and count on them being available when needed."
“In order to support America’s quickly expanding network of EV drivers, we need to ensure that robust tools and information are available for trip planning, including when and where to charge,” said Gabe Klein, executive director at the Joint Office. “This new paper aims to help accelerate data sharing to get vital charging information into the hands of our drivers with ease. By leveraging the power of data, EV drivers are able to navigate charging infrastructure along American roadways—right from their phones.”
The protocol provides recommendations on how to structure data, data update frequency, and best practices for making API data usable for improving public transparency and improving the customer experience . Specific recommendations include:
- What data to share.
- When to share data.
- Who can access data.
- How data are to be shared.
In addition to the API recommendations, the National Charging Experience (ChargeX) Consortium recently released a report with key performance indicator (KPI) recommendations to elevate the EV charging experience. The report provides the EV charging industry with two sets of clearly defined customer-focused KPIs that measure key aspects of the charging experience, including finding and accessing a charger, starting and completing a charge, getting help, and feeing safe.
About the Minimum Standards
According to the Federal Highway Administration’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI ) Standards and Requirements, 23 CFR 680.116(c) , or minimum standards, charging providers receiving federal funding for EV charging infrastructure are required to deploy and maintain an application programming interface (API) to make charging data easy to access.
Programs impacted by this requirement include the NEVI Formula Program, Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program, and other funding programs as made available under Title 23 of the U.S. Code, or those treated as a project on a federal-aid highway for construction of publicly accessible electric vehicle chargers.