Types of Electric Vehicle Charging – One of the most crucial things in owning an EV is charging your EV.

Unlike conventional cars that use internal combustion engines and thus require gasoline for their main power source, EVs use batteries and electric motors to power them and get you to your destination.

While you can charge your EV at home, EV charging is also widely available to the public for your use.

3 Types of Electric Vehicle Charging

1. Level 1

Level 1 EV charging is the slowest charging process, but it’s also the easiest to find.

This is because level 1 charging is the charging that you can find at home, which uses your home’s electrical socket as its main source of electricity.

This charging usually uses a standard 120-volt AC outlet that can provide power between 1kW and 2.4kW.

Depending on the type of car as well as the battery technology that the EV uses, the charging process using level 1 charging will usually take approximately 22-40 hours to fully charge the EV.

For your additional information, level 1 charging also will give you an average of 3-7 miles (4-11 kilometers) for every hour you charge using level 1 charging.

Usually, level 1 charging is used as an emergency backup when you cannot find level 2 and level 3 charging stations, or when you are charging at your home.

2. Level 2

The next one is level 2 charging which is already much faster than level 1 charging that we have explained above.

The reason is, this level 1 charging utilizes 208-volt to 240-volt AC which can provide a maximum power of 19.2 kWh.

This means charging using level 2 charging is approximately 6 – 8 times faster than charging using level 1.

On average, charging using level 2 takes 2-13 hours, and will provide a driving range of 10 – 75 miles (16 – 120 kilometers) per hour.

However, as The Drive stated, the speed of level 2 charging is highly determined by two things, the first being the ability of the charger to supply power and the second being the ability of the vehicle to receive the power.

Level 2 charging is also the most widely used type of charging that is used in public charging stations in the world, but you can also install this at home to ease and speed up the charging process of your EV.

In addition, you will also be able to find level 2 charging in several places, such as hotels, workplaces, malls and many others.

3. Level 3 (DCFC)

The last is level 3 charging, also known as DC Fast Charging (DCFC).

Level 3 charging is the fastest charging which is even significantly faster than level 2 charging. This is because it uses 400 – 480 volts that can provide 360 kW of power.

It is so fast that charging an EV using DCFC takes only 15 minutes – 1.5 hours, and you will get 120 – 1400+ miles (193 – 2250+ kilometers) for every hour you use level 3 charging.

Charging level 3 is usually used for industrial purposes, and you can find charging level 3 in several places, such as car dealerships, highway services, and so on.

Also Read: “A Guide on How to Choose an Electric Car“

AC Vs DC Charging

After we get into the level of EV charging, dimulti will give a brief explanation of the difference between AC and DC charging in EVs.

The electric current coming from the main source of electricity such as a power plant is always AC.

But, most electric car batteries only receive DC current, that’s why the electric vehicle has a converter inside the on-board-charger system, which converts AC current into DC.

When charging with AC current, the electric vehicle battery will take longer to charge. This is because the electric current will be processed first by the on board converter in the electric vehicle.

So, with the DC charging station, this conversion takes place inside the charging station, and the DC currents are directly charged to your EV battery thus making it faster to charge your EV.

So there you have it! The 3 different types of electric vehicle charging!

3 Types of Electric Vehicle Charging