People are well aware of petrol and diesel-driven cars however, electric vehicles are a new thing in the market that people may not be well aware of it. Since these cars are battery-driven instead of petrol and diesel, the battery needs charging after running a certain distance that may vary from one model to the other.

Another thing that is also important to know is whether we should go for AC charging or DC charging. In the standard workplace and residential areas, charging units use AC supply with all the plugs in electric vehicles can charge by using a certain AC charger.

However, AC charging can be quite slow as compared to DC charging of car batteries. You can buy a Type 2 charging cable from Jucer, which deals with various accessories related to electric vehicles.

Direct Current or DC chargers are fast chargers that can charge a vehicle to 80% capacity in less than 30 minutes. These machines are often huge, heavy, and costly, necessitating major power and network improvements.

There are faster and larger chargers that convert AC power into DC internally, allowing you to skip the vehicle’s in-built converter and transmit power directly to your EV’s battery.

Levels of charging

Breaking charging down into three tiers is the easiest way to comprehend the many ways of charging your electric vehicle and also the time it may take.

The first level of charging is called AC trickle charging, which involves plugging the EV into a conventional 240-volt AC socket on the wall available at home (and preferably in your garage; if not, you will need a long extension cord to draw power).

While this will be the most convenient method of charging (these types of plugs can be found almost anywhere), it is also the slowest method. A standard 10-amp outlet provides charging power of around 2.0kW, and the time required to fully charge your EV’s battery from empty will vary depending on its size, however, it will nearly always be slow. Slow as long as a few days.

A reasonable rule of thumb is to divide the capacity of your battery by two to get an estimate of how long this procedure will take (for example, an 80kW battery may take around 36 to 40 hours to fully charge).

Using a slightly stronger 15-amp, 3.6kW plug should cut these timeframes in half again, though remember that almost all charging is for topping up rather than replenishing a fully depleted battery, so the chances of you having to wait 48 hours to fully charge are minimal.

Level 2 is AC fast-charging, which is best demonstrated by a home-installed wall-box charger.

At public charging stations, you can usually expect to find level two AC fast-charging. There are a variety of apps that can help you identify charging stations and provide specific information about them, such as which ones will provide 7.2kW and which will provide 22kW.

Level 3 is DC rapid-charging, which is available through public place 480-volt DC rapid-chargers, which can supply charging power as high as 50kW.