What does Charger Availability mean?

Explanation

Charger availability refers to the real-time status of a charging station, showing whether individual connectors are free, occupied, or out of service. Most charging apps display this information on their map, using colors or icons to indicate status. Green typically means available, blue or grey means in use, and red means offline or faulted.

This information flows from the charger through OCPP to the network's backend, then to the app on your phone. There can be a delay of 1-5 minutes between reality and what the app shows. If you are driving to a station with only one available stall, it might be taken by the time you arrive.

For road trip planning, charger availability is important but unreliable for exact planning. Use it to get a general sense of how busy a station tends to be. If a 4-stall station consistently shows all stalls occupied during peak hours, plan to stop elsewhere or time your arrival differently. Some apps also show historical busy patterns, similar to how Google Maps shows popular times for restaurants.

For official definitions, visit European Alternative Fuels Observatory.

Where you'll see this

• In charging network apps

Common confusion

The availability shown in apps is not perfectly real-time. A charger shown as 'available' might be occupied by the time you arrive, especially during busy travel periods. Always have a backup charger in mind.

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