EV Charging Terminology

A Charge Point Management System is software used to monitor, control, configure and manage EV charging infrastructure. It is normally considered alongside charge point management systems, OCPP support, firmware updates, reporting and remote diagnostics.

A Charge Point Operator (CPO) is the organisation responsible for operating one or more EV charge points. Under UK public charging regulation, the CPO is the charge point owner or the person operating it on the owner's behalf. Depending on the commercial arrangement, the CPO may manage availability, maintenance, pricing, payments, roaming, data, customer support and backend operation directly or through contracted service providers.

A client is a device or software component that connects to a server to request services, exchange data or maintain a communication session. In EV charging it can describe a networking or software client, but in some controller-based architectures it may also be used as a modern alternative to “slave” for a device coordinated by a controller.

A controller is hardware or software that manages charger operation, load control, communication or site-level coordination. In modern controller-worker terminology it can also replace the older term “master” in master-slave configurations, referring to the coordinating device or system that directs one or more worker/client devices.