What changed: charging profiles instead of vehicle APIs
Until now, many public smart charging projects in Europe have relied on a direct connection between the mobility service provider and the vehicle. That works, but it limits participation to EVs with compatible APIs. The new Ubitricity–Deftpower rollout flips the model. Using the open OCPI 2.2.1 Charging Profiles standard, the provider sends a charging schedule — tailored to the driver’s preferences — to the charge point itself, not the car. The charge point operator keeps control of its infrastructure, and the vehicle does not need any special interface.
Ubitricity says it is the first charge point operator to deploy this functionality at scale. The first wave covers 1,500 public charging points in the Netherlands. Deftpower says 65% of users who opt into smart charging keep the feature enabled by default, and drivers can receive cashback for shifting sessions away from peak grid load.
“With OCPI 2.2.1 Charging Profiles we have unlocked a new level of scale for public smart charging,” says Deftpower CEO Jacob van Zonneveld. The announcement follows Deftpower’s earlier work with Allego on overnight smart charging, which started with 4,500 AC points in April and is set to expand to around 9,000 across the Netherlands.
Why the Dutch grid is the right testbed
The Netherlands is not doing this for fun. In several regions the low-voltage grid is already near capacity, and new connections for charging infrastructure can be difficult to secure. Shifting charging sessions to off-peak hours reduces peak load and makes better use of existing grid capacity. It does not remove the need for grid upgrades, but it buys time while more EVs arrive.
We reported in July that Europe’s EV sales jumped 51% year-on-year, taking a quarter of the new-car market. That growth is exactly why Dutch grid operators are pushing load shifting. Our own supercharger database lists 483 high-power locations across Europe, but this rollout is about slower AC public charging — where a car may sit for hours and can easily be shifted without affecting the driver’s morning departure.
What it means for drivers
The practical appeal is simple: charge when the grid is less stressed and get a discount in the app. The exact cashback amount varies, and Deftpower has not published a fixed tariff. What matters is that the driver can see the benefit without changing their routine beyond setting a departure time. If you leave your car plugged in overnight, a schedule from 23:00 to 06:00 is usually no inconvenience.
Whether the savings are meaningful depends on your local electricity rate. Our EV savings calculator can put a number on shifting your own charging, and our charging cost calculator lets you compare your current costs per 100 km. For public AC users, the difference between peak and off-peak pricing can be enough to make smart charging the default setting — which is exactly what Deftpower is seeing.
The open standard, not the principle, is the news
Incentive-based smart charging itself is not new in the Netherlands. The new part is the implementation via OCPI 2.2.1 Charging Profiles, which means control is no longer limited to vehicles with compatible APIs. The catch is that widespread adoption requires more charge point operators and mobility service providers to support the same profiles. Ubitricity and Deftpower have shown it can work at 1,500 points; whether the rest of the ecosystem follows will determine if this becomes the default way to manage public AC charging.
For drivers who want to see where public points are, our charging station map tracks locations across Europe — though not all of them will offer cashback smart charging yet. For a different angle on charging speed, see our earlier look at Geely’s 1,000-volt plan and what 5.5-minute 10–80% charging means for families.
Source: electrive.com, Deftpower
