IEC 61851-23/-24 System A (CHAdeMO) Runbook

ChargeLink implements the DC charging control communication of IEC 61851-23 / IEC 61851-24 System A (CHAdeMO), the CAN-based DC scheme of those standards. ChargeLink plays the station (charger) role with a simulated System A plant, or the EV (vehicle) role. Both roles run on one PC (dc-can chademo run) or on two PCs (dc-can chademo evse on the charger PC, dc-can chademo ev on the vehicle PC), with CAN over the network through ChargeLink's virtual CAN hub or on a real CAN bus (Kvaser Leaf v3), against a simulated power stage. Each session runs from start-up through the insulation check and energy transfer to shutdown, and the station judges it against ChargeLink's timing and state rules. Both roles run with ChargeLink at the other end. Testing a third-party EV or charger is not supported in 0.5.0. chademo in command names is the product identifier for IEC 61851-23/-24 System A (CHAdeMO).

$CL   = 'C:\Program Files\DEVlink\ChargeLink\<VERSION>\charger\bin\chargelink.exe'
$Data = "$env:ProgramData\DEVlink\ChargeLink\data"

The kit has a charger\ and a vehicle\ folder.

Before you start

Check the adapter and the cable before the first session:

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo kvaser-check
chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo kvaser-check --channel 0 --send 100              # send 100 test frames (identifier 0x7F0), 10 ms apart
chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo kvaser-check --channel 0 --listen-s 10 --expect 100   # at the other end: listen and require them

Without --channel the command only lists the CANlib channels: number, name (for example Kvaser Leaf v3 #0 (Channel 0) or Virtual #0 (Channel 0)), EAN, serial number, whether silent mode is supported and whether the channel is virtual; "status": "ok" with an empty problems list. With --channel it opens the channel at the System A bus parameters, reads them back, sends or listens for test frames and reports sent, received, received_by_id, send_errors and bus_health. Check the driver and channels with Kvaser's own tools as well; a missing DLL or channel is reported as a startup error, not as a protocol result.

Bench safety. When the Kvaser backend is attached to a physical bus, the bench is a live electrical environment even though ChargeLink only drives CAN. Use an isolated, current-limited supply or an approved HIL interface; verify CAN-H, CAN-L, reference ground and termination with the bench powered down; keep the emergency stop accessible; start with contactors inhibited.

Case matrix on one PC

dc-can chademo run runs the CHAdeMO case matrix on one PC: the charger and the vehicle on a virtual CAN bus, with a simulated power stage, no network and no CAN hardware. Each case is judged; the result is passed or not passed, with an evidence folder per run. The command needs a ChargeLink licence. Run it first on a new installation:

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo run --cases all --run-id matrix-<DATE>
chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo run --cases n1,k1,k5b --run-id matrix-quick

Expected with --cases all: exit code 0, "status": "passed", cycles_requested 29, cycles_run 29, cycles_passed 29, cycles_failed 0, cycles_blocked 0, one console line per cycle (<run-id> cycle 2 of 29: n1 passed), in about four minutes. The result records the other workload found on the PC at the start.

The case matrix, and the station and vehicle roles run against each other, are described in Self-test without a device under test.

ChargeLink as charger

The station role sends the periodic station messages of IEC 61851-23/-24 System A on the CAN bus, runs the simulated System A plant (voltage, current, contactors, latch, the CP, CP2, CP3 and CS pilot lines, isolation), and judges each session. The vehicle-side contactor, switches and measurements of the plant reach the station over the plant link, which the ChargeLink EV role connects to. Every station session runs with the ChargeLink EV role on the plant link. Testing a third-party EV is not supported in 0.5.0 (see Limits).

Commands

Validate the settings first. The dry run binds the hub and plant-link ports to prove they are free, then registers a dry-run session; it opens no CAN channel:

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo evse --dry-run --cases all

It answers "status": "validated" with session_status dry_run_validated, profile_id iec61851_23_24_system_a_station, role evse, the bind addresses, ev_wait_s, the case list and the claim boundary.

Station with CAN on a Kvaser channel (replace the address with the station PC's address on the network to the vehicle side):

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo evse --can-backend kvaser --kvaser-channel 0 --plant-link-bind 192.0.2.10:47101 --allow-network --cases n1 --run-id chademo-station-<DATE>

Station with CAN on the virtual hub:

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo evse --hub-bind 192.0.2.10:47100 --plant-link-bind 192.0.2.10:47101 --allow-network `
  --cases n1,n2,k1,k5b --sessions 1 --ev-wait-s 600 --run-id chademo-station-<DATE>

Start the station first; the EV role retries until the station serves the next session. The station decides which case runs in each session and tells the EV what to do through the plant link. Progress: chargelink --json runtime list shows the run with its role and run id while it is active, and chargelink --json evse status works as for the ISO 15118 roles.

Station phases

The station reports its progress with these phase names, as printed in roles\station-report.json: Handshake, WaitPermission, Latching, PreCheck, InsulationCheck, PostCheck, WaitEvContactor, EnergyTransfer, RampDown, WaitWelding, VoltageRemoval, EndCommunication and Finished. A fault or stop request in any phase goes to RampDown and runs the same shutdown chain; the report states the shutdown kind (normal or an error shutdown), its cause and the times at which current reached zero, the switches opened and the connector unlatched. A good session ends in Finished with a normal shutdown.

Rules the station enforces

ChargeLink checks these rules from the evidence of every session. The trace records every CAN frame with its bus timestamp, so the message-timing rule (L-004) is checked from the evidence, not assumed. A frame with a wrong length or an unknown identifier is counted as a bus error.

The station also watches the plant: the plant link carries a watchdog (case k4 trips it), the plant owner can revoke its grant at any time (case k7), and an insulation fault or earth leakage measured by the plant ends the session (cases k2a, k2b). The plant starts and must end in the safe state (contactors open, unlatched, zero voltage); each cycle records that as a pre- and post-cycle check.

Cases

ChargeLink as vehicle

The EV role sends the periodic EV messages of IEC 61851-23/-24 System A: it requests current, enables charging, closes its contactor and asks to stop. It puts its frames on a Kvaser channel or on the station's virtual hub, and it always connects to a ChargeLink station's plant link (--plant-link), which serves the vehicle-side plant values and tells the EV what each session runs. The EV role runs only against the ChargeLink station. Testing a third-party charger is not supported in 0.5.0 (see Limits).

Commands

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo ev --dry-run --hub 127.0.0.1:47100 --plant-link 127.0.0.1:47101

The dry run answers "mode": "dry_run", "status": "validated", session_status dry_run_validated, profile_id iec61851_23_24_system_a_ev, role evcc, a generated run id, and the settings it would use (backend, hub, plant link, connect_wait_s and the run directory <artifact-root>\t5-chademo\…); it opens no socket and no CAN channel.

EV with CAN on a Kvaser channel:

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo ev --can-backend kvaser --kvaser-channel 0 --plant-link 192.0.2.10:47101 --run-id chademo-ev-<DATE>

EV with CAN on the station's virtual hub:

chargelink --runtime-root "$Data\runtime" --artifact-root "$Data\artifacts" --json dc-can chademo ev --hub 192.0.2.10:47100 --plant-link 192.0.2.10:47101 `
  --sessions 4 --connect-wait-s 600 --run-id chademo-ev-<DATE>

• --sessions counts sessions, one per case the station offers; 0 runs until chargelink evcc stop --run-id <id>, and a stop lets the current session finish. The EV needs no case list.
• --connect-wait-s bounds how long the EV retries until the station serves the next session (default 300); 0 retries until stopped.
• --listening-file reads the hub and plant-link addresses from the station's listening file in place of --hub and --plant-link.
• chargelink --json evcc status shows the run while it is active.

A good session ends with the EV report finished (not killed or timed out), frames sent and received, no bus errors and a normal shutdown record.

Results and evidence

The station writes <artifact-root>\t5-chademo\t5-<timestamp> unless --out is given; the case matrix writes to --out (default <artifact-root>\t5-chademo) under a folder named after the run id. The EV writes its own session-NNN\ev-report.json per session; keep it with the station's run folder. For run ids, manifests and archiving, see Trace, Evidence and Reports.

A complete 29-cycle case matrix writes 238 files. The evidence is plain JSON and JSON Lines; nothing in it is a credential, so the whole folder can be archived or attached to a support case. Verify the MANIFEST.json hashes before you rely on a copied run.

Reading the verdict

• The run is passed or not passed. status: passed with all cycles passed is the only passed outcome, and the only one that supports a statement such as "the ChargeLink System A station and EV pass the 29-case matrix on version X".
• A failed cycle names the failing check in CYCLE.json; read the station and EV reports and the CAN trace around the timestamp in the check detail.
• blocked means the cycle never ran because its pre-checks failed (bus not empty, plant not safe, owner not active, or no EV within --ev-wait-s). A blocked cycle never counts as a pass.
• stopped records an operator stop; incomplete a run that ended without a verdict for every requested cycle.
• The run record states whether diagnostic settings were used. A run made with them is a diagnosis run and does not count as evidence.

Limits

• Third-party devices. Both roles run only with ChargeLink at the other end. Testing a third-party EV or charger is not supported in 0.5.0.
• Station role. Every station session runs with the ChargeLink EV role on the plant link, which supplies the vehicle-side contactor, switch and measurement values of the simulated plant. With --plant bench --plant-grpc-endpoint, the station uses a HIL bench power stage for one normal session; it still serves ChargeLink's own EV and is not a set-up for a real vehicle.
• EV role. The EV role needs a ChargeLink station's plant link (--plant-link); it does not run against a real charger.
• Simulated plant. The station's voltage and current values are the model's, not measurements, and must not be used to control a real power stage. There is no power stage, no pilot-circuit hardware and no connector latch hardware.
• CAN adapters. Physical CAN uses Kvaser CANlib only (classic CAN).
• Timing. The roles are Windows processes, not real-time controllers. A timing margin close to its limit on a loaded PC is a scheduling artefact, not a protocol defect.
• No transport security. The virtual hub and the plant link are plaintext TCP links.
• No conformance claim. A passing run is evidence of ChargeLink's CAN layer, timing and state rules; it is not a CHAdeMO conformance or certification statement.
• Scripted DC-CAN commands. The dc-can commands (dc-can catalog, virtual-run, chademo-live-run, chademo-can-adapter-loop, chademo-fault-campaign, chademo-longrun-campaign) play fixed, pre-scripted frames; they are not the System A session. See Scripted DC-CAN Sequences.

Troubleshooting

For general failures (licence, ports, firewall) see Troubleshooting.