Simulating a charger

This guide walks through a complete OCPP 1.6 session, from boot to a stopped transaction, and shows where to inject the edge cases worth testing. To deploy the lab station in the Dashboard (1.6 or 2.0.1), use Virtual charger.

Session walkthrough

1. Boot

   On connect the charger sends BootNotification. Until it receives Accepted, a compliant charger should only send BootNotification and Heartbeat.

2. Connector status

   In OCPP 1.6, StatusNotification drives the connector through its lifecycle, including Charging. Test that your Central System reflects each transition and handles Faulted / Unavailable out-of-band. OCPP 2.0.1 StatusNotification is only Available, Occupied, Reserved, Unavailable, or Faulted — charging state lives on TransactionEvent.

   Available → Preparing → Charging → Finishing → Available

3. Authorize and start

   If the CPMS returns Accepted on authorize, follow with StartTransaction carrying the connectorId, idTag, meterStart, and timestamp.

   authorize.json

   [2, "msg-020", "Authorize", { "idTag": "TAG-123" }]

4. Meter values

   During the session, emit MeterValues on the configured interval. Vary the sampled values to exercise billing and live-session UI.

5. Stop

   StopTransaction closes the session with meterStop, a reason, and an optional transaction data array. Confirm the CPMS computes the correct energy delivered.

Sample messages

1[
2  2,
3  "msg-021",
4  "StartTransaction",
5  {
6    "connectorId": 1,
7    "idTag": "TAG-123",
8    "meterStart": 0,
9    "timestamp": "2026-01-15T12:00:00Z"
10  }
11]

Edge cases to inject

• Disconnect between StartTransaction and StopTransaction
• MeterValues with a decreasing register (clock/meter rollback)
• StopTransaction with reason: "PowerLoss"

The left sidebar lists Overview, Actions, and Test cases only (not every message). Open the index pages below or use ⌘K search — hit labels include the protocol version (for example · OCPP 1.6) so same-named actions stay distinct.

Related

• Connect a charger
• Connecting to your CPMS
• OCPP 1.6 actions