Electric vehicle charging: The types, times and everything else explained!
Currently, there are three different levels of charging through which one can charge an electric car. What are these? What time does each one it these take to juice up the batteries? We answer these and a lot of other questions related to electric vehicle charging.
At the moment, in India, we are not particularly spoilt for choice when it comes to electric vehicles. The only long-range EV that is currently on sale in our country is the Hyundai Kona. In addition to this, we also have the Mahindra e-Verito and the Tata Tigor EV which offer moderate levels of range and are available for private buyers. That said, in the near future, India will see the launch of several all-electric vehicles, from homegrown as well as international manufacturers for private buyers. Though it will take some time for electric vehicles to reach price parity with ICE vehicles in our country, these upcoming EVs will help in kick-starting a trend. But they need to be supported by proper charging infrastructure. Though charging an electric vehicle is quite simple, one must be aware of all the different types of electric vehicle charging that are currently on offer. In this article, we explain the different types of electric vehicle charging, the time they take to charge a vehicle and everything else that you need to know in this regard.
Types of Electric Vehicle charging
Level 1 EV charging: Level 1 electric vehicle charging is rated at 120 volts. The hardware required for this, which is a cord with an attached control-box, is supplied as standard with every electric vehicle. One has to simply plug-in to a three-prin (grounded) wall socket. Using this charging technique usually takes 16 to 20 hours to fully charge the vehicle’s batteries depending upon its capacity. The advantage of using this charging type is that it does not require the installation of additional hardware. One simply needs to the park near a three-pin wall socket and plug-in the charging cable. The drawback of this technique is that it takes a lot of time to juice up the batteries.
Level 2 EV charging: Level 2 charging for electric vehicles is rated at 240 volts. Additional hardware is required for this type of charging. On the purchase of an electric vehicles, some manufacturers will install an AC wall-box charger at the customer’s home and in some cases the place of work as well, either free of cost or otherwise, in order to enable level 2 charging. With the use of this, an electric vehicle can be fully charged in as early as 6 hours or a little over, depending upon the battery capacity. Level 2 charging is considerably faster in comparison to Level 1 charging. Not only this, but it is said to be more energy-efficient as well. However, this charging technique is expensive because of the use of more sophisticated hardware.
Level 3 EV charging: The level 3 charging for electric vehicles is what one will find at public charging stations. Called as DC fast charging, it converts the AC current, into DC current for direct storage in electric vehicle batteries. It is usually rated at 480 volts. With the use of a DC fast charger, an electric vehicle can be charged to 80 per cent in less than an hour. Tesla superchargers are able to reach the same charging capacity within half n hour. The hardware required for the same is quite expensive and is usually found at public charging stations. In order to use them, one needs to pay a certain amount to the service provider.
Source: financialexpress
