ISO 15118 specifies the communication between Electric Vehicles (EV), including Battery Electric Vehicles and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, and the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). As the communication parts of this generic equipment are the Electric Vehicle Communication Controller (EVCC) and the Supply Equipment Communication Controller (SECC), ISO 15118 describes the communication between these components. Although ISO 15118 is oriented to the charging of electric road vehicles, it is open for other vehicles as well.

ISO 15118-1:2013 specifies terms and definitions, general requirements and use cases as the basis for the other parts of ISO 15118. It provides a general overview and a common understanding of aspects influencing the charge process, payment and load levelling.

ISO 15118 does not specify the vehicle internal communication between battery and charging equipment and the communication of the SECC to other actors and equipment (beside some dedicated message elements related to the charging). All connections beyond the SECC, and the method of message exchanging are considered to be out of the scope as specific use cases.