What is Electric Car Charger？

With the rise of environmental awareness and continuous technological advancements, electric cars are gaining popularity as a green and energy-efficient mode of transportation. However, compared to traditional fuel vehicles, pure electric vehicles still face some charging challenges. To address these challenges, the emergence of electric car charger has become a hot topic in today’s society. In this article, we will introduce the role and types of them, hoping to help readers better understand this field.

The meaning and the role of Electric Car Charger:

An electric car charger refers to a charging device designed specifically for pure electric cars, similar to a fuel pump at a gas station. Its purpose is to allow vehicle owners to conveniently and safely charge their vehicles, typically installed in public buildings, parking lots, shopping malls, commercial charging stations, and private locations such as residential communities. The input end of the charger is directly connected to the AC power grid, and the output end is equipped with a charging plug for charging electric cars. Electric car charger generally provides two charging modes: standard charging and fast charging. People can use specific charging cards to swipe and operate at the charger’s human-machine interface, performing corresponding charging operations and printing fee data. The charger display screen can show data such as charging amount, cost, and time.

Here are some classifications of Electric Car Charger:

①　Classified by usage target, can be divided into home charger and commercial charger:

• Home charger, as the name suggests, are charging devices installed in a vehicle owner’s home for personal use. Their main advantage lies in convenience and economy, allowing vehicle owners to charge their vehicles at home according to their needs. Additionally, home chargers can help vehicle owners better utilize off-peak electricity rates, further reducing charging costs.
• Commercial charger is installed in commercial locations and most of them are fast chargers specifically designed to quickly charge electric cars. They are available for use by all electric car owners in society. Compared to regular electric car charger, fast electric car charger has higher charging power, enabling rapid battery charging, significantly reducing charging time. However, it also has higher construction costs and greater demand on the power grid, presenting some challenges for large-scale promotion.

②　Classified by charging mode, can be divided into alternating current (AC) charger and direct current (DC) charger:

• AC charger, commonly known as “slow charger”, cannot directly charge the vehicle’s traction battery. They require connection to the vehicle’s onboard charger to charge the battery, using standard voltage and low charging power, resulting in slower charging. However, they have a simple structure, small size, and low cost, typically installed in urban public parking lots, shopping malls, and residential communities. AC chargers are fixed equipment assembled in public places, providing controllable single-phase or three-phase AC power supply to the vehicle’s onboard charger. It’s important to note that AC chargers themselves do not have charging functions; they simply provide electrical outputs for connection to the vehicle’s onboard charger, enabling battery charging. Due to the generally small output power of onboard chargers for electric vehicles, AC chargers cannot achieve fast charging and are therefore referred to as slow chargers. AC charger usually has relatively low power, such as 3.5 kW, 7 kW, or 11 kW.
• DC charger, commonly known as “fast charger”, can directly charge the vehicle’s traction battery, using high voltage, large charging power, and fast charging. However, it is costly, requires high voltage and current, and may impact battery life. DC chargers are fixed equipment assembled in public places, such as residential communities, underground parking lots, commercial districts, highway service areas, outdoor underground parking lots, and electric vehicle charging stations. They provide a stable DC power supply to non-vehicle-mounted lithium-ion battery charging devices connected to the public power grid. Because DC chargers can directly charge electric vehicle batteries, they use a three-phase four-wire or three-phase three-wire power supply system, with adjustable voltage and current ranges, enabling fast charging for electric vehicles. DC chargers are therefore known as fast chargers due to their high power, typically ranging from 30 kW to 300 kW in size.

③　Classified by installation location, can be divided into public charger and private dedicated charger:

• Public chargers are deployed in public locations such as parking lots and shopping malls, providing charging services to vehicle owners. The advantage of public chargers lies in their wide distribution, allowing electric car owners to find charging points conveniently when traveling. However, the number of public chargers is still relatively small, and waiting may be required during peak usage times, indicating areas for improvement.
• Private dedicated chargers are chargers used by personnel within construction units (businesses) for their own parking lots. These are installed in individual parking spaces (garages) to provide charging for private users. Most electric car chargers are integrated with parking spaces (garages). Outdoor chargers should have a protection rating not lower than IP54, while indoor charging stations should have a protection rating not lower than IP32.

④　Classified by design, can be divided into integrated and split types:

• Integrated chargers are complete charging devices, including the charger main body, charger, and charging cable. The charger main body typically consists of controllers, energy converters, interface boards, displays, and other components. Integrated chargers are larger in size and generally installed in fixed locations such as parking lots, providing high-power DC fast and AC slow charging.
• Split chargers are charging devices composed of independent charger main bodies and charging guns. The main body of the charger is usually installed on a wall or bracket, while the charging gun is connected to the main body via a cable. Split chargers are relatively small and suitable for installation indoors or outdoors.

⑤　Classified by installation method, can be divided into floor-standing charger and wall-mounted chargers:

• Floor-standing chargers are suitable for installation in parking spaces not near walls.
• Wall-mounted chargers are suitable for installation in parking spaces near walls.