Are all electric car chargers the same?
Go to a gas station and fill your car with gasoline. It’s easy and it’s fast, no matter if you drive a Ford or a Mercedes.
An electric car is different because there are different charging systems available for these cars. And this can complicate the use of an electric car considerably.
Instead of having one type of fuel (gasoline) that is available at any gas station in the world, an electric car driver has to find out where there are suitable charging stations, which connector works with the car, how much power it can deliver and whether or not you can park your car over night.
To ease this process, many companies have developed their own charging systems for electric cars. Everybody wants a piece of the market and it would be a smart move to have standardization in this area, but currently there are at least nine different connectors for electric cars on the market. Consumers have to carry several charging cables around in order to use all these different type of connectors with their car. The question is whether or not we really need so many different charging system?
This blog discusses the different electric car connectors available on the market:
Owning an electric vehicle (EV) is one thing, but there is always a question that most people will find themselves asking, how long will it take me to charge my car? Time is always one crucial component and when you misuse it, then you lose a lot. The answer to this kind of question is always one that always depends on various variables. At the start, you will have to choose an EV, now when it comes to charging, then it means you have to make a choice. So the charging time, as usual, will depend on your vehicle.
Another vital thing is the charging infrastructure. Yes, you have your care charge at home. But do you have enough electricity that will accomplish that? That means that at some point, you are prone to charging for a longer time, like when charging at home. How long can this car take you when it is fully charged? That leaves us with the best possible answers. The kind of infrastructure that you have and then the type of car you have.
The kind of car that you own
Not many countries have managed to migrate from fuel cars to EV cars, however, ever since the 2008 release of the Tesla Roadster — the first mass-produced highway-legal electric vehicle (EV) powered by a lithium-ion battery — automakers, from General Motors to Toyota, have been rushing to launch their own electric cars.
Are all electric car chargers the same?
Let’s look at some of the cars that have taken the industry and what they can offer in terms of charging ability.
- Nissan (Leaf). Now charging this vehicle when it is at zero to its full charge will require 24 hours charging. This will happen when you are using the power that is in your house. But if you can get a special 7kW charger, you will have managed to cut down that charging time to around 7.5hrs. If you get a rapid charger, then you will be able to recharge your battery that is at 20% to 80% in just an hour only.
- Tesla (Model 3). Tesla recommends a wall connector with a NEMA 14-50 plug – as a home charging solution NEMA 14-50 with a 240V outlet on a 50 AMP circuit breaker that can charge a Tesla Model 3 at a rate of 30 miles per hour.
- Jaguar (i-Pace SUV). For this brand, if using a special home charger, you can recharge your battery at the rate around 25 miles of range in an hour.
- Hyundai (Kona electric). This is a brand that has been known to cruise to an 80% charge in just 9 hours and 35 minutes. That will have happened when you are using a home wall unit. when you go to a fast-charging station, you are sure to use at most 75 minutes of charging. When you plug the charger to the mains installation at home, you will need to have it at full charge at around 28 hours.
Electric car chargers and charging systems
Are all electric car chargers the same?
The type of charger that you will use to charge your EV also matters a lot. Most people have a notion that their vehicles can be charged from home, which is quite true, but it is one of the slowest charging systems that you can opt to use. when you want the best, you need to dig into your pocket and invest in a wall box for charging. You can get it from the manufacturer or an aftermarket provider. That way, you will have increased the flow of power to your car to around 7.5kW.
Tesla has been in the industry for along and when you use their products, you feel the difference. They have also come up with a charging station and wall box that has a power output of 19.2kW. that means that it can deliver up to 71km per hour when charging their models.
Power stations of charging are slowly being installed where you can go in, do a fast charging and move on with your journey instead of staying glued for a long time waiting for the vehicle to charge fully. Charging time has always been a discussion and whether it will be fast enough to win these electric vehicles. That should be a topic that we will engage in another time.
A quick summary
As we have seen, the time that it will take to charge an electric car will depend. It can start from just 30 minutes or too many hours that might even exceed 12 hours. This will come down to the size of the battery that your car has been designed with and also the speed of charging that you will get at charging points. I found out the following: –
- That most drivers will have to top up the charge on their vehicles instead of having the vehicle charge to the maximum. This is because of the long waiting hours.
- A typical standard car will just need around 8 hours to charge. But it should have a 7kW charging point.
- If you are traveling, you can add up charge to your car that will push you for at least 100 miles before charging again for 35 minutes.
- If your battery car is bigger, and the charging point is slower, then it will take a bit longer to accomplish your charging.
When you get to look at the batteries, because of their massive work, they will start to degrade right from the first time that you will charge them, slowly. The good news is that manufacturers can give you up to 8 years of warranty in case something wrong happens to the batteries.
Learn more about how going solar can help you reduce charging costs for your electric car.