When you’re scaling EV charging infrastructure across multiple sites or markets, the temptation is to focus on charger count. More stations, more revenue. It’s simple math right?

The operators pulling ahead are the ones whose systems can talk to the grid, to roaming networks, to any charger vendor, and especially to emerging flexibility markets. Interoperability turns charging infrastructure from a cost center into a strategic asset.

And that AFIR is in force, this stuff isn’t optional.

AFIR Changes the Baseline

The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation compliance deadlines are starting to stack up. Ad-hoc payments are already mandatory. By January 2026, ISO 15118 will become mandatory for new installations. By 2027, ISO 15118-20 (enabling bidirectional charging and Plug & Charge) applies to both public and private infrastructure.

These requirements assume your systems are interoperable. If your CPMS can’t expose real-time data through standard APIs, can’t integrate with roaming networks, can’t support evolving charging protocols, it’s a major issue.

AFIR isn’t just a regulation, though; it’s a major opportunity.

The Economics Reward Flexibility

Three shifts make interoperability strategic, not just regulatory:

  • Capacity tariffs are spreading. Flanders already bills partly on your monthly peak demand, measured as the highest 15-minute average kW. Uncontrolled charging spikes those peaks. Other markets are following. Your CPMS either manages load intelligently or you pay the penalty.
  • Grid access is constrained. New connections can take two years in some EU markets. You can’t install your way out of capacity limits. You need software that maximizes what you already have.
  • Flexibility has value. Grid operators will pay for the load you can shift or shed. But only if your systems speak their language. OpenADR is gaining traction across Western Europe for exactly this reason. A charger that can’t respond to grid signals generates less value than one that can.

Open Standards as Strategy

This is about building infrastructure that compounds in value rather than depreciates.

OCPP means you own your hardware decisions. Mix vendors. Switch CPMS providers if needed. Avoid proprietary lock-in that constrains your options in two years.

OCPI makes your chargers visible. Roaming networks, aggregator apps, and any driver with a charging card can find and use your stations. If drivers can’t discover your chargers, those chargers don’t generate revenue.

OpenADR connects you to grid flexibility markets. When your site can respond to a demand response signal automatically, you’re participating in energy markets, not just selling kWh.

ISO 15118 enables Plug & Charge today and bidirectional flows tomorrow. AFIR mandates this trajectory. Better to build this in from the start, it’s a way better customer experience as well.

Each standard alone is useful. Together, they create infrastructure that gets more valuable as markets mature.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Picture an operator with charging across multiple countries. Thousands of charging points. Varying grid constraints at each site. Different tariff structures. Different roaming partnerships.

The right CPMS architecture balances load dynamically at each site, staying under peak thresholds without manual intervention. It participates in demand response when grid prices spike. It surfaces all chargers to roaming networks with real-time availability and transparent pricing. It accepts any OCPP-compliant hardware, keeping procurement competitive. And it reports the data AFIR requires without custom integration work for each deadline.

The alternative is stitching together proprietary systems that don’t communicate, missing flexibility revenue, and replacing hardware whenever you change vendors.

The Build Question

For operators at scale, the real question is: do you control your interoperability layer, or does your vendor?

SaaS platforms optimize for their economics, not yours. Fully custom builds require sustained investment that most operators can’t justify. The middle path involves purpose-built CPMS on open standards, giving you flexibility without the development burden.

What matters: whoever builds it, the standards are non-negotiable. OCPP. OCPI. OpenADR. ISO 15118. If your provider can’t certify against these, you’re buying infrastructure with an expiration date.

The energy transition rewards systems that connect. Your competitive advantage comes from the ability to plug into whatever emerges next.