The EV charging industry generates vast amounts of session data daily, but inconsistencies in reported meter readings, energy delivery calculations, and session timing can significantly impact both revenue accuracy and operational reliability.
What is charging session data validation?
Charging session data validation represents a comprehensive framework that allows examination of charging sessions against a set of predefined, but configurable validation rules such as energy or power delivery inconsistencies and session overlaps on the same EVSE. The system can automatically detect and correct known errors in reported meter readings from the charger, but there are cases where the inconsistency in the reported values cannot be detected by automated correction rules.
By using these rules to validate sessions, the AMPECO platform can determine if a session is likely to have wrong data and flag it for manual review by an operator. The system provides CPOs with detailed information about the Session Validation checks process outcome and includes the option to manually re-run validation checks on a single session.
Key definitions
Validation rule: Criteria against which the platform examines a session to determine whether the validation checks pass or fail.
Validation check: An action performed to verify which validation rules the session complies with. The validation check itself has a status, which is either “PASSED” – when NO validation rules have failed, or “FAILED” – when there is at least one validation rule that has failed the check.
Why do CPOs need charging session data validation?
Without systematic validation, issues such as sessions reporting zero energy despite long durations, impossible power readings exceeding EVSE capabilities, or overlapping sessions on the same EVES, often go unnoticed until they accumulate into significant operational and financial impacts.
Other examples include roaming sessions where the platform acts as the eMSP, the CDR coming from the roaming CPO is the only source of truth and can pass sanity checks related to energy delivered, total cost, or other parameters even if it contains incorrect data.
There are cases where automated correction cannot be implemented either because the system doesn’t know how to correct the error or because the inconsistency in the reported values is not one that can be caught by automated correction rules.
How charging session data validation works
AMPECO’s Session Data Validation feature provides a comprehensive framework for automatically examining charging sessions against configurable validation criteria. The system evaluates each session across multiple dimensions including energy delivery consistency, power consumption patterns, session duration parameters, and EVSE-specific constraints.
Automatic execution criteria
The platform automatically runs these checks on commercial public, private, and qualifying personal charging sessions, flagging anomalies for manual review while maintaining detailed audit trails of all validation activities.
These criteria for the automatic run of validation checks are hardcoded as per the initial scope of this feature.
Configurable validation rules
CPOs can configure validation rules tailored to their specific operational context and control whether the system performs any session validations and what validation rules are included when a validation check is performed. The following validation rules are configurable:
Zero-energy delivered detection
One of the most critical validation checks monitors sessions that run for extended periods without delivering any energy. The system flags sessions as failed when they exceed a minimum duration threshold (typically 1 minute) while recording zero energy delivery. This helps identify potential hardware malfunctions or connection issues that could affect the charging experience.
Session overlap protection on the same EVSE
The overlapping rule detects when two charging sessions on the same EVSE have any temporal overlap, regardless of whether their start or end times are identical. For example, if one session runs from 11:00 to 12:00 and another from 11:55 to 12:55, there would be a 5-minute overlap period. Since it’s physically impossible for a single EVSE to serve two sessions simultaneously, this overlap serves as a clear indicator that something is wrong with the data.
Power rating compliance
Each EVSE has a maximum power rating that must be respected during operation. The system continuously monitors average power consumption during charging periods and compares it against the EVSE’s configured maximum power output. If the calculated average power exceeds the maximum power rating beyond acceptable thresholds, the validation fails, indicating corrupted session data – either incorrect delivered energy values or inaccurate duration measurements. This validation ensures accurate billing calculations for end-users by identifying potentially erroneous charging session records.
Session duration boundaries
Proper session duration validation helps identify both technical issues and unusual usage patterns. Sessions are flagged as invalid if they fall outside acceptable time boundaries:
- Maximum duration: Sessions exceeding 24 hours typically indicate an unusually long charging session or a session for which the system did not receive or process a stop transaction.
- Minimum duration: Sessions shorter than the configured threshold (typically 90 seconds) often represent false starts, unsuccessful charging attempts, or connection failures. This validation flags such sessions to prevent billing users for minimal amounts when no meaningful charging occurred, and can also serve as an indicator that the charger may have operational issues preventing effective charging.
These thresholds help maintain data quality and identify potential system issues that require attention.
Energy consumption limits
The final validation check monitors total energy consumption per session. Sessions delivering more than 300 kWh (for example) are flagged for review, as this threshold represents unusually high consumption that may indicate metering errors or exceptional usage requiring verification.
Integration with billing status
The AMPECO platform separates session billing from session status. When a session status changes to “Finished,” the platform runs validation checks based on the validation rules feature prior to proceeding with billing. If these checks fail, the system sets the billing status to “Suspended.”
Billing status types:
- Pending: Session finished but waiting for additional data or timeout.
- Suspended: At least one validation check for this session failed. Multiple checks may fail.
- Completed: All checks passed and billing finalized, no validation checks were performed, or validation checks were ignored by an admin user/session billing manual completion.
Managing pending sessions
When a charging session shows “Pending” billing status, operators can use the “Expedite billing” action from the Charging Session Details view to bypass the billing timeout. This action is available only to admin users through the Export sessions menu and only when the session status is “Finished” and billing status is “Pending.”
When executed, the system proceeds with billing immediately. If validation checks are enabled, the outcome depends on the validation results: billing will either complete successfully or the status will change to “Suspended” if validation checks fail. All actions are logged in both the session record and audit log for full traceability.
Handling suspended sessions
Sessions with “Suspended” billing status offer CPOs three distinct resolution paths through the Resume billing action. The default option, “Bill session as is,” allows operators to proceed with billing using the original session data and amounts without any modifications. Alternatively, operators can set the session as free, automatically removing all tariffs and waiving associated charges, or manually correct session details with access to edit unit prices and quantities for each service type. The Resume billing action supports bulk operations for multiple suspended sessions, accessible through both the Sessions listing and Failed validation checks views, though bulk processing limits options to “Set session as free” and “Bill session as is” only. Recent improvements include enhanced filtering capabilities by failed validation rules and billing status, along with dedicated billing status columns that provide operators with better visibility and control when managing suspended sessions while maintaining full audit traceability.
These validation rules work together to ensure accurate billing by flagging sessions for operators to manually review and decide whether to mark as free, bill as is, or correct their data. This serves as a fail-safe to prevent incorrect billing amounts and potential disputes from consumer organizations and affected users.
Reduced extended sessions
By delaying billing until complete session data is available, the system reduces occasions when extended sessions are created, particularly for locally connected chargers that go offline during sessions. AMPECO now supports configurable billing timeouts per payment method, allowing operators to define separate timeout values for different charge point types across various payment methods like corporate billing and post-paid subscriptions. By extending timeouts for scenarios where charge detail records (CDRs) may be delayed, the system keeps sessions in ‘Pending’ status until complete data is received, significantly reducing the risk of incorrect extended sessions being generated.
What do CPOs get with charging session data validation
Proactive revenue protection
Session Data Validation transforms data quality management from a reactive troubleshooting process into a proactive operational advantage. CPOs gain immediate visibility into potential revenue leakage scenarios, enabling them to address billing discrepancies before they impact customer relationships or financial performance.
Operational automation and efficiency
The system significantly reduces the time spent on manual session auditing by automatically identifying sessions requiring attention, allowing operational teams to focus their expertise on resolving flagged issues rather than searching for them.
When validation checks fail, the system provides CPOs with comprehensive diagnostic information, clearly identifying which specific rules triggered the failure and enabling targeted investigation. Operators retain full control with the ability to manually re-run validation checks on individual sessions and access detailed historical records of all validation activities through a dedicated management interface. This targeted approach improves both operational efficiency and data accuracy.
Enhanced control and dashboard visibility
The validation system recognizes that not all failed checks require session rejection. CPOs maintain complete control over billing decisions, even when validation issues arise.
A new “Suspended Billing Charging Sessions” dashboard card displays the count of charging sessions with billing status = Suspended, featuring a yellow background when the count is not zero. This provides immediate visibility into sessions requiring attention.
Improved EV Driver experience and trust
Beyond operational efficiency, charging session data validation directly impacts customer satisfaction by ensuring billing accuracy and transparency. When EV drivers receive bills that accurately reflect their actual charging sessions – without overcharges from metering errors or disputes over phantom sessions – they develop greater trust in the EV charging network.
The system prevents billing for zero-energy sessions and resolves data inconsistencies before they reach customers, eliminating disputes and support calls. By ensuring users won’t accumulate charges during background validation, EV drivers can continue using the network seamlessly, creating a reliable experience that builds customer loyalty.
Extensive documentation and audit trails
The feature provides the documentation needed to resolve disputes with roaming partners or customers. Through a dedicated management interface, the system maintains detailed audit trails of all validation activities.
Building operational confidence
Session data validation represents more than just a technical feature – it’s a strategic investment in operational excellence that delivers measurable returns across multiple dimensions of EV charging business performance. By proactively identifying and resolving data inconsistencies before they impact revenue or customer relationships, CPOs can transform their approach from reactive problem-solving to confident, data-driven operations.
Most importantly, the system’s seamless integration with billing processes means customers experience uninterrupted service – they can start new sessions immediately while validation and billing resolution happens transparently in the background. This approach not only protects revenue and operational integrity but also builds the trust and reliability that drive long-term customer loyalty in competitive charging markets.
For CPOs ready to elevate their operational standards and customer experience, charging session data validation provides the systematic approach needed to ensure every session counts – both financially and operationally.
Looking ahead, AMPECO continues to expand the Session Data Validation framework with additional validation rules to address emerging operational challenges and data quality scenarios. We actively welcome feedback from CPOs regarding specific flows, edge cases, or validation scenarios that aren’t currently covered by our existing rule set. This collaborative approach ensures our validation capabilities evolve alongside the industry’s needs, helping operators maintain the highest standards of data integrity and operational excellence.
Ready to ensure every charging session counts financially and operationally? Schedule a demo with AMPECO and see how our comprehensive Data Validation framework can elevate your operational standards!
