Electric vehicle Charging Stations

Electric Vehicle Charging Station:

Electric vehicle comes with rechargeable type battery banks which stores electrical energy like any other mobile phone. These batteries need external power to charge themselves. Various types of electric vehicle charging station modes are available for electric vehicles –

• Electric Vehicle Charging Station: Charging at home–

Home charging can be done by two methods –

1. By direct plug-in with single phase AC supply of 230V- a vehicle can be charged with a cable which comes with vehicle by connecting it with 3pin socket at home. No extra charging equipment is required in this case. These chargers are slow charges & takes lot of time to charge the vehicle (time varies depending on the type of vehicle). E-vehicle can be charged overnight when owner goes for a sleep &vehicle will be fully charged when he wakes up in the morning.

1. By charging with Wall Box – A wall box is a 3-phase AC supply system. Owner of the vehicle needs to buy a separate cable for it. This is a fast charger as compared to plug-in type. The power capacity/requirement of this charger is higher than the plug-in type charger.

*Note 1- Each e-vehicle comes with an On-board Charging system through which charging can be done at home. Only we need to connect the charging cable (plug in type or wall box type) with an On-board charging system.

Note 2 – Wall box type charger has some limitations with respect to power requirement at home, therefore these are slow chargers as compared to AC public charging system.

Note 3 – Details of each type of charger including power requirement is given in next topic. *

• Electric Vehicle Charging Station: Public Charging Stations (PCS) –

When you go out on an e-vehicle & suddenly you feel that battery needs charging, then public charging stations will help you. These public charging stations will be available at various locations in the city (like petrol pumps for engine vehicles).

There are two types of chargers available at charging stations -AC & DC chargers. Both AC & DC public chargers are faster as compared to charging at home.

DC Charger –

As we know that DC power/supply is required to charge any battery therefore DC charger is an external devise & is faster than AC charger because it bypasses the On-board charging devise & provide DC power to battery directly through a DC connector fitted in the vehicle.

AC Charger –

An AC charger is also an external devise, but it has to convert AC power into DC to charge batteries through On-board charging system of the vehicle. The charging capacity of AC charger can’t be increased up to DC level because of additional space requirement for On-board charging system. But the public AC charger is faster than Wall box AC charger.