Proposal:Charging Stations v2

Charging Stations v2
Proposal status:	Proposed (under way)
Proposed by:	GA Kevin
Tagging:	amenity=charging_station Data item
Applies to:
Definition:	2025 update to amenity=charging_station and it's elements.
Statistics:
Draft started:	2025-03-21
RFC start:	2025-05-21

Background

amenity=charging_station has been around since 2015^[1] and aims to give OSM contributors a way to represent charging stations and their associated (optional) elements. Previous discussions in 2023^[2] surrounding stations vs charge points led to a rough consensus surrounding the amenity=charging_station and man_made=charge_point. The main opposition to this proposal was the existing data and data consumers use of this tag was on an individual node and would now be associated with nodes or areas, consisting of many (sometimes implied) energy dispensers.

Proposal

This proposal aims to address the need for clear, consistent charging station tagging as the rise of Electric Vehicles (EVs) continues and with it the rise of charging infrastructure (such as Tesla's Supercharger network.) This proposal aims to align current nomenclature and address current technologies (as of 2025) while remaining flexible so future innovations can be added without needing significantly new tagging. This proposal will also eliminate the isolated man_made=charge_point as it will still be considered a station even if only 1 charging bay exists.

Logic

Multi-unit charging stations can span a large area while still being considered as part of the same station or project. Knowing this, a type=site + site=charging_station should be used to associate charging_bays to the overall amenity=charging_station and a charging bay's elements to the bay itself. One bay is a space where one vehicle may charge, regardless of how many an energy dispenser can dispense to.

However, some mappers may find relations confusing or overly complex. If this is the case, it will be encouraged to use amenity=charging_station and place a note=Please expand to relation where other contributors can complete the relation organization.

Finally, in the context of EV charging stations, socket:*:power_delivery=* should refer to if the charging bay provides Alternating Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC) (values of socket:*:power_delivery=ac or socket:*:power_delivery=dc.) socket:*:current=* should capture the amount of amperes the charging bay can provide. socket:*:voltage=* and socket:*:output=* remain unchanged. This is important in EV charging since the conversion needs to happen with the vehicles onboard converter if AC power is supplied whereas DC Fast Chargers off load that conversion to the dispenser / station. AC chargers are typically slower and lack the pins for DC charging making them less ideal for roadside chargers.

Tagging

Element	Members	Required Tags	Highly Recommended Keys	Recommended Keys	Encouraged Keys
Charging Station	charging_bay label	type=site site=charging_station
label		amenity=charging_station	name=* addr:*=* network=* network:wikidata=*	access=yes brand=* brand:wikidata=* opening_hours=*	ref=* website=* phone=*
Charging Bay charging_bay	dispenser parking_space	type=site site=charging_bay	socket:*=* socket:*:current=* in Amps socket:*:output=* in kW socket:*:voltage=*in Volts socket:*:power_delivery=*	ref=* fee=* charge=* payment:*=* authentication=*	socket:*:length=* covered=* lit=* level=* reservation=*
Charging Parking parking_space		amenity=parking_space parking_space=charging	Please see amenity=parking_space for other common parking space tags.
Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) dispenser		man_made=charge_point	manufacturer=* manufacturer:wikidata=* model=* model:wikidata=*	ref=* name=*	colour=* height=* width=* depth=*

Roaming

Since a vast majority of charging stations are payment:cash=no, the payment options should reflect the payment terminal, app used, or roaming agreement in place to initiate a charge. For example, if a station is able to roam to the ChargePoint application to initiate charge and payment, payment:app:chargepoint=yes would be used. In Europe, the EVRoaming Foundation facilitates several protocols to accomplish roaming, including the Open Charge Point Interface. If roaming is available from a manufacturers application, use the manufacturers name in the payment:app:*=* such as payment:app:chevrolet=yes instead of payment:app:myChevrolet=yes.

Plug and Charge

Combination authentication/payment solutions such as "Plug and Charge" (ISO 15118), AutoCharge (DIN Spec 70121), or Tesla's proprietary "Plug and Charge" solution should use authentication:*=*. This does not include if you are able to pay for a session via another app, only "handheld-free" solutions.

Charge Point Operator

A Charge Point Operator (CPO) is the entity which installs, maintains, and manages the operation of a charging station. In OSM, we use operator=* to describe this. The CPO can also serve as the network for a particular site (such as IONNA stations in the United States) or be a partnership with the network or manufacturer depending on agreement. When unclear, brand=* and network=* should be sufficient. The CPO is rarely the location of the charging station. For example, many Walmart stores have Electrify America charging stations in their parking lot, but this does not mean operator=Walmart should be used.

Examples

For this example, I will be using a new IONNA "Rechargery Relay" site in Valdosta, Gerogia, United States of America. This site consists of 5 Alpitronic HYDC400UL dispensers serving 10 charging bays, with various amenities. For this example we will focus on charging bay "CCS 2A" but the others would be similar. The datasheet for these dispensers can be found in this PDF and is also present on the rear of the dispenser following a site survey.

amenity=charging_station
brand=IONNA
network=IONNA
capacity=10
socket:type1_combo=6
socket:nacs=4
covered=yes
note=Please expand to a relation.

type=site
site=charging_station

amenity=charging_station
name=Valdosta Rechargery Relay
addr:housenumber=278
addr:street=Norman Drive
addr:city=Valdosta
addr:state=GA
addr:postcode=31601
network=IONNA
network:wikidata=Q124528707
access=yes
brand=IONNA
brand:wikidata=Q124528707
branch=Valdosta
model=Rechargery Relay
opening_hours=24/7
ref=GA-0002
ref:ocm=OCM-312426
website=https://www.ionna.com/rechargery/valdosta/
phone=+1-833-466-2474

type=site
site=charging_bay
ref=CCS 2A

socket:type1_combo=1
socket:type1_combo:current=direct
socket:type1_combo:output=400
socket:type1_combo:amperage=600
socket:type1_combo:voltage=1000

length:cable=5
covered=yes
lit=yes
level=0
fee=yes
charge=0.39 USD/kWh

payment:cash=no
payment:visa=yes
payment:mastercard=yes
payment:discover_card=yes
payment:american_express=yes
payment:apple_pay=yes
payment:google_pay=yes
payment:samsung_pay=yes
payment:app:ford=yes
payment:app:bmw=yes
payment:app:cadillac=yes
payment:app:chevrolet=yes
payment:app:gmc=yes
payment:app:hyundai=yes
payment:app:kia=yes
payment:app:mercedes_benz=yes
payment:app:stellantis=yes
payment:app:chargepoint=yes
payment:app:shell=yes

authentication:autocharge=yes
reservation=no

man_made=charge_point
name=CCS 2
ref=GA-0002-02
colour=#72D2BD
manufacturer=Alpitronic
manufacturer:wikidata=Q131895757
model=HYDC400UL
model:wikidata=Q91487502
height=2.185
width=0.732
depth=0.663

Rendering

Rendering in Carto should use the current symbol for amenity=charging_station () where the label is placed. For each man_made=charge_point there should be a square with colour #0092DA (0,146,218) (■︎) to match the charging station icon with the name=* or ref=* as a label at low zoom levels.

Import Process

When importing datasets into OSM using this proposal, such as those from the U.S. Department of Energy, make each entry a node, and follow the instructions above for a amenity=charging_station with all available information and place note=Please expand to relation to each imported node. Unless the number of charging bays has changed, there should be no need to overwrite an existing charging station. Please follow all import guidelines.

Data Consumers

This proposal aims to make parsing of charging station data easy by splitting the station into 3 elements:

• The overall charging station
• Each individual charging bay
• Each energy dispenser regardless of shared capacity ability

When marking a charging bay as "in-use" be sure to mark the charging bay itself, not the dispenser it is attached to. In the example section, you will see we mapped "CCS 2A" however "CCS 2B" was in use. Regardless that they share the same dispenser ("CCS 2") one can be marked as "in-use" and the other as "available", "reserved", "unavailable", etc.

Since not every charging station has a name, consider the brand or network for a more readable label instead of what it is in proximity to. Please see above, just because a station is in a places parking lot does not necessarily mean they are connected in any way to the station beyond a land sharing agreement.

A common aspect of charging station maps is amenities nearby, please consider using something like Overpass to query places nearby for this feature or filter (i.e. "only stations with 200+ kW charging bays available and within 0.25 miles of a restaurant" is possible.)

Features/Pages affected

• amenity=charging_station
• man_made=charge_point
• socket=*
• amenity=charging station/Tesla Motors

External discussions

• Thoughts on new type of relation: charging_station
• Request for comment

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.