As specified in OCPI, the physical reference field is described as “a number/string printed on the outside of the EVSE for visual identification. As CPO this field can be used to simplify the identification of the correct EVSE for the driver. When this field is set, it will be shared over OCPI to roaming partners and will show in Charge Assist app with this value instead of the EVSE ID. The field is optional.
How to use Physical Reference field?
There are different ways to set the field on EVSE level:
- From the Platform API: in the charge station module the field ‘physical_reference’ can be used to add, change or remove the value. Please note the field allows a maximum of 16 characters according to OCPI
- Via EV Portal: this can be set through the display name of the Charge Station for simplicity reasons.
On Charge Station level, enable “Use as physical reference”. The EVSEs belonging to this Charge Station will automatically get “Display Name-1”, “Display Name-2” as Physical Reference.