Types of electric vehicle charging: what kind of charging stations are there?

 

You need to choose a charging station for an electric car carefully, taking into account all its characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. However, before buying, you should familiarize yourself with various products in order to buy the best option.

Appointments

All existing charging stations can be divided by purpose into 2 types:

1. Commercial. They are installed in public places such as parking lots, shopping centers, hotels, gas stations, and near other public facilities. It can be both fast and slow charging. Commercial equipment may have different payment options, so owners monetize charging services.
2. Homemade. These are portable and stationary stations that are installed in private homes or garages and are intended for personal use. Home chargers are usually less powerful, but their advantage is the convenience of charging at night or at any other convenient time.

Stationary and portable charging

All charging stations are divided into stationary and portable. Portable ones are intended for home use and should be in the possession of every owner of an electric vehicle. They can be carried with you and charged not only at home. Mobile devices come in different capacities: from 3,7 to 22 kW (depending on the connector).

Fixed stations can be used for both business and home installation. Large floor units are powerful equipment that require a separate power supply line. Also, wall-mounted stations with power from 7 to 44 kW are quite common. Such devices can be installed both at home and in a public place for the purpose of making money.

On the https://energyup.com.ua/zariadni-stantsii/ there are more than enough charging options, for any budget and from different manufacturers.

Charging sockets and connectors

You can charge an electric car with alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). Therefore, all existing connectors can be divided into 2 types:

1. Type 1, Type 2 and GB/T AC — ports for slow charging with alternating current, which are installed on American, European and Chinese electric cars, respectively. Each port has 1-3 phases through which current of a certain power passes. Can be used at home and commercial stations.
2. CCS 1, CCS 2, CHAdeMO, GB/T DC and Type Tesla — DC fast charging ports installed on American, European, Japanese, Chinese and Tesla electric vehicles, respectively. These connectors are used in commercial stations.

Charging modes

Chargers can also be classified by the charging mode they offer.

1. Mode 1 are charging cables that transmit minimal power. The duration of a full charge of an electric car is from 24 hours. A regular outlet and an AC adapter are required for charging.
2. Mode 2 are mainly portable AC charging stations that charge much faster than in the case of Mode 1. The power of such devices varies in the range of 3,7-22 kW. The charging speed may vary depending on the battery capacity.
3. Mode 3 — these are mainly stationary wall and floor stations, alternating and direct current. Different connectors Type 1, Type 2, GB/T, CCS, CHAdeMO are used for this type.
4. Mode 4 are the fastest chargers that use direct current. They can charge the battery of an electric car quite quickly - in half an hour to an hour. Such stations are found mainly in parking lots or gas stations along the highway with CHAdeMO and CCS Combo connectors.