AC power ranged from 11 to 22 kW, multi-site deployment and dynamic load sharing became widespread. OCPP became widespread, paving the way for independent monitoring and billing systems. Charge Amps Aura offered space-saving dual car charging with two 22 kW outlets, while Zaptec brought scalable community charging with cloud-based management. Customers gained in aesthetics, reliability and future-proofing; for installers, remote monitoring and OTA updates reduced the total cost of ownership. Dynamic load sharing enabled the deployment of large numbers of points with limited power, and OCPP became the norm by the end of the era.

AC chargers are now network-enabled, OTA-upgradeable and typically OCPP 1.6 compliant, as the market moves towards 2.0.1. Zaptec Go helps you charge more cost-effectively with eco mode and consumption tracking, while Zaptec Sense protects the main fuse. Easee 2024 compliance tests confirmed European compliance of the RCD and related safety features. Amina offers a range from 7.4kW home solutions to commercial models, with local OCPP capability and smart home integration. Charge Amps Dawn MID supports accurate billing and transparent operation with a certified meter, 22kW and permanent cloud connectivity. For customers, this means more convenient, cheaper, more predictable charging; operators experience better KPIs and fewer outages. AFIR will strengthen user-friendly, ad-hoc and card payments at public points from 2024, while ISO 15118-20 provides the foundations for identification and bidirectional energy flow on the AC side.

The standardization of Plug and Charge and the introduction of standard PKI bring fast-start charging without apps and cards, even in AC environments, with fewer incorrect transactions and lower support workload. Following AFIR, open, card payment and ad-hoc access will become more predictable everywhere, and brands will adapt their terminal and software solutions accordingly. Zaptec and Easee’s strong OCPP integration enables unified management of access, billing and reports in external CPMS systems. Amina C is hardware-ready for OCPP 2.0.1 and advanced encryption, which promises a longer product lifecycle and better cybersecurity. Charge Amps opens the way to dynamic pricing and solar self-consumption with MID metering and advanced scheduling. The next step for installers is the combination of local control and the cloud, which provides reliable operation even in the event of an internet outage.

With bidirectional AC power exchange based on ISO 15118-20, the vehicle can not only charge, but also return energy: V2H at home, V2G at grid operators. In practice, this means that households and fleets can help the grid as flexible energy storage, while the user can automatically charge during the cheapest and greenest periods based on tariff signals, and reduce the load during peak times or even sell back. Zaptec's price-following modes and phase-by-phase load control are well suited to household needs, Easee and Amina rely on local OCPP and strong security profiles to provide stable operation even in mixed grid environments. Charge Amps with MID metering and flexible connectivity are ideal for billing-sensitive condominium and corporate installations. With OCPP 2.0.1 and open APIs, operators can automate more and more error handling, reporting, and dynamic tariffs, while OTA upgradability and modular architecture ensure a longer lifecycle. All of this works in a friendly, almost invisible way for users in the background.