An EV charger is used to charge the battery in your EV. If you have had to look at an electricity bill then you will have heard of a kilo-Watt (kW) which is the unit of measure for electricity.
Battery chargers are usually referred to as either AC or DC and by the amount of kW that they can send to your EV. Most household charges will be AC chargers while fast charging stations will be DC. Your EV will control how fast it charges and will also have a maximum rate of charge which for household and portable chargers will be usually less than the maximum charge rate of your EV.
While all of this may seem complicated it all really means that a little research and planning now might save time and money later.
The simplest way to top up the charge of your EV is with a standard plug in AC charger which plugs into a normal power point and charges the car at a very slow rate. This is usually the last resort charging as the standard power point can only supply 2.4kW which is likely to mean that the maximum charge rate is slightly less. a special single phase 15Amp outlet will allow for a faster rate of charge and for those with 3 phases a multiphase outlet will allow a faster charger to be used.
Most people will want a dedicated charger permanently mounted near where they will park their car and chargers can range in functionality from the simple to the more smart versions that allow for integration into other systems for expanded functionality.
The future will allow for 2 way charging which will let you access your car as a battery to power your house when power prices are high using power charged from your solar or at a cheaper rate. These chargers are being tested now and will become an important part of our future energy management.
