Electric Vehicle Chargers, Explained: Types, Speeds, and One Important Notice
What sets electric cars apart from conventional engine cars is the way they are powered. Unlike gasoline and diesel, electricity is a universal fuel, but not all chargers are the same.
Electric cars are often seen as something exotic and entirely different on our roads, something avant-garde. However, the reality is quite different. The fact is that electric cars are cars, just like any other. They drive like any other car, serve the same purposes, and look like any other car on the road. While electric cars from a few years ago stood out with their futuristic appearance, today it's hard to tell whether a newer one is powered by electricity or conventional fuels.
But what differentiates electric cars the most from “traditional” one is the way they are charged. After all, the most common questions when it comes to electric cars are about their range and how long it takes to charge them.
Difference between traditional and EV chargers
There is no single answer to these two questions because not all electric cars are the same. The key to the answer lies in - batteries.
In other words, the larger the battery, the greater the range of the vehicle. The same applies to charging - the larger the battery, the longer it takes to charge. And here we come to the question of chargers for electric cars.
You have probably noticed on various public and private parking lots that there are more and more charging stations for electric cars. If you looked closely, you might have noticed that one charging station has several “guns” or plugs. Perhaps you wondered why this is the case when electricity is the same everywhere. The answer to this question lies in the charging speed. In “traditional” cars with internal combustion engines, the most common types of fuel are gasoline and diesel, and in some cases, gas.
All these fuels have different chargers, or “guns” at gas stations. So, when you arrive at a charging station, it's important to choose the right “gun” because otherwise, there may be problems. Problems like the car not starting so now you have an expensive visit to the mechanic.
The good news is that with electric cars, you don't have to worry about this because, as we said, electricity is the same everywhere. If you accidentally choose the wrong “gun” or plug, the worst thing that can happen is that you will charge the car at a slower speed than planned. Besides, the plugs themselves are different, so you won't be able to connect the car to a plug that could damage your vehicle.
What does charging speed depend on?
Now, let's go back to our two main questions about electric cars - what is the range, and how long does it take to charge?
These two questions are interconnected. For example, with gasoline cars, you will never hear the question about their range, even though car manufacturers are putting smaller fuel tanks in new models, which means shorter ranges. But, the range is not that important because refueling a gasoline car takes about five minutes.
As we know, charging an electric car takes longer, so the question of range arises. We said that both range and charging time depend on the battery, but also on the charger, i.e., on how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) the battery has, how many kWh the charger can deliver, and how much power the battery itself can receive.
Sounds complicated? Let's simplify.
Take, for example, a simple canister that needs to be filled with water. The time it will take depends on the size of the canister, the size of the opening on the canister, and the strength of the water stream from the faucet. Logically, the smaller the canister, the larger the opening, and the stronger the stream, the less time it will take to fill it with water.
The same applies to electric cars. In this case, the canister is the battery, water is electricity (or kilowatt-hours, kWh), the size of the opening is the power of the kWh that the battery can receive, and the strength of the stream is the power of the charger. In other words, the smaller the battery, the greater the charging capability, and the stronger the charger, the faster the charging will be.
How does this look in practice?
As we said, the main unit of measurement for batteries in electric cars is kilowatt-hours (kWh). You have probably heard of it in households because the kilowatt-hour is used as a unit for billing electricity. The cost of operating an electric device is calculated by multiplying the device's energy consumption in kilowatts by the operating time in hours and then by the price per kilowatt-hour. Without delving too much into physics, let's offer another small example. An electric heater that consumes 1000 watts (1 kilowatt) and operates for one hour uses one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy.
Of course, an electric car consumes much more kilowatt-hours of energy.
How long does it take to charge an electric car?
The size of the battery in electric vehicles is also expressed in kilowatt-hours.
Smaller city cars have batteries ranging from 20 to 30 kWh. Larger cars have batteries up to 100 kWh, and some large SUVs or limousines have batteries up to 120 kWh.
But let's say our average electric car has a 60 kWh battery. How long does it take to charge it?
This depends on the charging power, specifically how much charging power the battery can accept and how much power the charger or charging station can deliver. Let's say we have a charger that can deliver 10 kWh. If our car's battery is 60 kWh, simple math tells us that it will take 6 hours to charge it from 0 to 100 percent, which is more than enough for overnight charging. If the charger speed were 60 kWh, our 60 kWh battery would be fully charged in exactly - one hour.
The same goes for consumption because if we know the consumption of an electric car and the size of its battery, we also know its range.
Let's take the example of our vehicle with a 60 kWh battery. If its average consumption is 20 kWh per 100 kilometers (which is an average consumption of a medium-sized electric car), it means that it will consume 20 kWh every 100 kilometers. If our battery is 60 kWh, simple math again tells us that with a fully charged battery, our car can cover 300 kilometers, which is its range.
Types of chargers at electric charging stations
Why did we go through all this?
Because the main difference in plugs at charging stations is their speed, and the speed is marked in - kilowatt-hours (kWh). That's why you'll see signs on many public charging stations, such as 22 kWh, 43 kWh, 50 kWh, and even those with 150 kWh.
Let's go back to the charging process itself. You can charge electric cars anywhere there is electricity. You can even charge them on a regular home outlet, where you might charge your mobile phone. Of course, the household outlet is generally too weak, meaning your charging could take more than 24 hours. The exact power of the home connection depends on the outlet.
Therefore, owners of electric cars install electric vehicle chargers - so-called wall-boxes.
The wall box, as its name suggests, is a box that is installed on the wall and allows for a higher power of electricity so that you can charge your car faster. Let's take our car again with a 60 kWh battery as an example. If you have a home wall box that provides you with 6 kWh of power, it means that you will charge the car in 10 hours, which is quite enough for overnight charging at a lower tariff.
But what if you find yourself farther from the comfort of your home and need to charge your car?
At public charging stations, you will most often see three types of chargers, and the easiest way to know which one is yours is by the shape. If the plug or gun is the same as the socket on your vehicle, then that's the right one. The worst thing that can happen is that you choose the wrong one that you physically can't connect, wasting your time, or choose a slightly slower one.
CHAdeMO, CCS, and CCS 2 electric chargers
When it comes to the three types of chargers, let's mention that they are called - CHAdeMO, CCS, and CCS 2.
1. CHAdeMO electric chargers
CHAdeMO is a fast charging system for electric vehicle batteries developed in Japan in the early 2010s. It's a somewhat outdated system that you'll rarely find in an electric vehicle produced in 2020 or later. CHAdeMO offers a maximum charging speed of 62.5 kWh and has been replaced by a faster system - CCS. Also, you can easily recognize a CHAdeMO charger by its round plug head.
CHAdeMO electric charger / Pexels
2. CCS electric chargers
It is almost certain that you will use the CCS system to charge your electric vehicle. To explain it a bit more, we will have to go back to elementary school, more precisely, to a physics class. CCS is an abbreviation for Combined Charging System and is a standard connector for fast charging with direct current (DC). With direct current, the charge flows in the same direction, unlike alternating current (AC).
We won't go further with physics, and all you need to know about charging an electric car is that AC chargers are smaller and weaker, meaning they charge at a slower speed.
Larger AC chargers charge at a speed of 11 or 22 kWh, which means that our car with a 60 kWh battery would take just under 6 or 3 hours to charge fully. Of course, in some places, such as shopping centers, you will see weaker AC chargers of 3 to 5 kWh, while in real public charging stations like ELEN and HT, you will find mostly those of 22 kWh, and some even of 43 kWh.
AC charger / Pexels
3. CCS 2 electric chargers
The third and best option if you are in a hurry to charge is CCS2, or charging with direct current (DC). You will find such chargers at almost all public charging stations because they allow charging at a power greater than 150 kWh, but most often they are 50 kWh. You will recognize them because they are physically almost the same as AC chargers, but slightly larger with an additional smaller attachment underneath.
CCS 2 electric charger / Pexels
Smaller city electric cars do not have this charging method, only AC, but larger ones do. The good news is that charging power is increasing, and in Croatia, we have technology that can charge at a speed of up to 500 kWh, which means that our electric car with a 60 kWh battery could be charged in less than 2 minutes.
Of course, if the battery could handle such charging power.
Important notice
And here we come to an important thing to keep in mind when charging at a public charging station, and that is that the charging speed depends not only on the charger itself but also on the maximum power your battery can accept.
For example, if your battery cannot be charged at a power greater than 20 kWh, it makes no sense to go to chargers that charge at a speed of 50 kWh because you will pay for the speed of 50 kWh and get 20 kWh, which is the maximum your car battery can handle.
Finally, let's mention one more important detail when charging electric cars.
You will often hear, and we have mentioned it here, about the time it takes for the battery to charge from 0 to 100 percent. However, in the real world, you will almost never find yourself in such a situation. Unlike cars with conventional engines that usually refuel only at gas stations, electric vehicles can be charged anywhere there is electricity.
And electricity is all around us.
So, it is likely that you will constantly top up your electric car because the car spends most of its life in one place.
Therefore, you will rarely find yourself in a situation where you have to wait for the battery to charge from 0 to 100 percent, except in exceptional circumstances. After all, your battery will thank you if you constantly top it up and keep it operating optimally - between 20 and 80 percent.
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