With ChargePilot, your charging stations communicate with the ChargePilot controller via OCPP. There are predefined messages (actions) that are exchanged between the charging station and the ChargePilot controller. These include messages to authenticate a charging event, status and error messages, and reboots of a charging station.
How do you access the OCPP logs?
- Navigate to the OCPP logs in the dashboard.
- Use the search function to enter terms such as charging point ID, status or specific actions. You can combine several search terms to narrow down the results.
What log levels are there?
ChargePilot offers three log levels that provide different levels of detail:
Minimal logs
Standard for locations with a mobile data connection. These only log basic messages that are important for firmware updates, such as
- UpdateFirmware - Request to the charging station to update the firmware.
- BootNotification - message from the charging station after a restart.
- FirmwareStatusNotification - Progress of the update.
Info log level
Standard for locations with a local network connection for data exchange. This level is ideal for monitoring normal operation and contains logs in addition to the minimum logs:
- Authorize - Authentication before starting a load process.
- StartTransaction - Start of a loading process.
- StatusNotification - Status changes or errors.
- StopTransaction - End of a loading process.
Debug log level
The debug level provides the most detailed information and also contains, among other things
- ChangeAvailability - Change in the availability of a charge point.
- RemoteStartTransaction - Remote start of a charging process.
- Reset - Restart of the charging station.
Important notes on the log levels
You cannot change the log levels yourself. If you would like to make an adjustment, please contact the support team at The Mobility House.
Not every charging station supports all OCPP messages. However, some messages are mandatory for integration with ChargePilot. You can find more information here: OCPP “must” requirements for connecting new charging stations.
Contents of the OCPP messages
Each action consists of several data points, which are explained in the table below:
| Value | Description |
| action | Type of message, e.g. “StatusNotification” |
| connector_id | charging point ID |
| request | Request. Depending on the action, the request contains different information. |
| site_id | ID of the site |
| charger_id | charging station ID |
| response | Response. Depending on the action, the response contains different information. |
| datetime | date and time of the OCPP message |
| source | Source: The source indicates where the message came from.
|
OCPP Logs Download
ChargePilot provides downloadable OCPP logs to enable detailed charging event and error reporting. The download is filterable by charging station ID, OCPP status messages, and actions as well as by date and time. This enables users to sort for the information relevant to their analysis and decreases the amount of fields in the download.
Descriptions and examples of each field in the download are shown in the below table. Please note that at the moment, this feature has a maximum of 10,000 displayable records. In order to successfully export, the filtering option can be used to refine your search.
For more detailed information about each field, please review the Open Charge Alliance’s OCPP 1.6J documentation, linked below.
| Header in OCPP Log Download | Description | Example | Sent by every EVSE? |
Datetime | Time and date of message sent via OCPP, in UTC | 2024-11-26T10:03:49Z | ✔ |
| Action | Refers to the specific operation or command being performed in a message exchange between the Charge Point and the Central System (in this case, ChargePilot) | StatusNotification,StopTransaction, Heartbeat | ✔ |
Charger ID | Charging station ID (unique for each charging station) | Charger 5 | |
Connector ID | Charging point ID. Indicates which port on the charging station the information is coming from (e.g. 0,1,2). Typically, 0 indicates the main cabinet and 1, 2, or 3 indicate additional charging ports on the charging station. | 1 | ✔* |
Request Vendor Error Code | A manufacturer-specific error code that provides additional information for debugging or error reporting. Charger manufacturers have different error codes, which provide different levels of granularity. please reach out to your EVSE manufacturer for a detailed explanation of each. | CHARGER_DOOR_OPEN | |
Request Timestamp | Time and date of message when processed by ChargePilot. There may be a minor delta (<2s) between this field and datetime, due to data granularity discrepancies. Associated with StartTransaction, StopTransaction, StatusNotification. | 2024-11-26T10:03:49Z | ✔ |
Request Status | Refers to the operational state of a charging point and is communicated using | Faulted | ✔ |
| Request Error Code | Indicate various issues encountered during communication between a charging station and a back-end system. These errors are usually reported through OCPP's | EVCommunicationError or ConnectorLockFailure | ✔ |
Request Info | Denotes any additional information related to the message, typically an error. | State transition | |
Request Vendor ID | Unique identifier used to specify the manufacturer or vendor initiating a particular request, often associated with | HLX | |
Request ID Tag | Vehicle RFID, often associated with | 43434 | |
Request Meter Stop | The energy meter reading when a transaction ends (in watt hours), sent along with StopTransaction. EVSE’s send this data differently, either continuously or resetting at every transaction/ | 1387299 | ✔ |
| Request Transaction ID | A unique identifier for a charging session, consistent between Start Transactions, Stop Transactions, and | 4356987 | |
| Request Reason | Indicates the reason for stopping a transaction. Only associated with StopTransaction messages. | PowerLoss | |
Response ID Tag Info Status | Indicates the authorization status of a charging session linked to a specific RFID tag or identifier. Often associated with Authorize, StartTransaction, or StopTransaction messages. | Accepted | |
L1 Voltage** | Output voltage delivered to the EV via the connector, in volts | 31.234 | |
L2 Voltage** | Output voltage delivered to the EV via the connector, in volts | 31.234 | |
L3 Voltage** | Output voltage delivered to the EV via the connector, in volts | 31.234 | |
Voltage** | Output voltage delivered to the EV via the connector, in volts | 101 | |
L1 Current.Import** | Instantaneous current flow to EV (in L1), in amps | 5 | |
L2 Current.Import** | Instantaneous current flow to EV (in L2), in amps | 5 | |
L3 Current.Import** | Instantaneous current flow to EV (in L3), in amps | 5 | |
Current.Import** | Instantaneous current flow to EV, in amps | 15 | ✔ |
| L1 Power** | Instantaneous active power imported by EV. (usually W or kW) in L1. Corresponds to Power.Active.Import | 12 | |
L2 Power** | Instantaneous active power imported by EV. (usually W or kW) in L2. Corresponds to Power.Active.Import | 12 | |
L3 Power** | Instantaneous active power imported by EV. (usually W or kW) in L3. Corresponds to Power.Active.Import | 12 | |
| Power** | Instantaneous active power imported by EV. (usually W or kW). Corresponds to Power.Active.Import | 12 | ✔ |
*If blank, this may indicate a single port charger.
**Different chargers report these fields in different formats. This means that depending on the charger, certain columns may be blank. Also, not all chargers report these additional data points. When the charger does report this data, it will appear in the OCPP logs download as reported by the charger. Please check with your EVSE manufacturer for more detailed information on these granular fields.
Why are OCPP logs useful?
With OCPP logs, you can identify and resolve technical problems more quickly, monitor the status of your charging stations in detail and analyze the communication between the charging station and controller.
Detailed information on the OCPP standard can be found in the appendix.
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