The Virtual Charging Point (VCP) is a tool to test whether the connection from an EMP to a CPO is working properly. In the portal you can test RFID and Plug&Charge Authorization, and you may test remote Authorization using an API tool like Postman.
Prerequisites
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Your EMP is subscribed to the Virtual Charging Point CPO's (DE*ICE) Offer2All.
Step 1: Go to the Virtual Charging Point environment
Log into the eRoaming portal as an EMP Admin or a Standard User. Click on Testing Tools in the Application section to access the Virtual Charging Point environment.
You will see a list of available virtual charging stations to simulate a charging process.
Step 2: Start Charging
From the selection of Virtual Charging Points, choose one that is not currently occupied by clicking on Available. Subsequently, you will be asked to enter a UID - make sure you enter it in the correct format.
Proceed by clicking Authorize Start.
If you are correctly set up, and the UID is valid, the Virtual Charging Point will request an authorization process to Hubject. If the RFID card was authorized, a session will be created, showing its session ID and a timer counting down from 15 minutes.
Step 3: Charging Notifications (optional)
In addition to the charging process, the VCP also allows EMPs to test their Charging Notification setup. However, this is an optional step and will only work if you have configured the endpoint in your Service Type Settings.
The following notifications can be triggered several times while the charging session is running:
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Start
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Progress
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End
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Error
You will be notified about the successful or non-successful release of the notification.
Step 4: Stop Charging
The charging process will be stopped automatically 15 minutes after starting. If you want to stop the charging process manually, click on Authorize Stop.
The VCP sends an AuthorizeStop request and closes the session. A message informs you about this.
Step 5: Send CDR
After stopping the authorization, a Charge Detail Record (CDR) is ready to be sent to you. By clicking on Send CDR you will trigger it and then find it in your process monitor.
Clicking on Send CDR will take you back to the EVSE overview - feel free to start another session!
AuthorizeRemoteStart/Stop
In order to test remote start and stop, please use the API calls defined for this service with our VCP CPO.
Select an available EVSE from the list and put them into the call you make.
Please note:
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the EVSE you selected is going to be shown as occupied (see below) - you will not be able to access it via the frontend once you have started a remote charging session
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the response you get is going to contain VCP Remote Start or VCP Remote Stop
Please check out our OpenAPI specification on Github.