What is Tethered/Untethered?
- There are several device models for Electrical Vehicle Home Charging Systems. One of the basic differences is about the type of cable connection. Tethered EV Chargers can be connected directly to the car via own cable. Untethered EV Chargers can be connected to the car with a separate cable which is portable. Please remember that EV Charger model should have Type 2 / CCS 2 plug to connect the car regardless of if it is tethered or untethered.
What is Charging Power?
- Home type EV chargers can supply between 7 kW and 22 kW. It is an additional 32 Ampers load for the house, and the main difference is about the phase amount. If you have mono phase connection at your home, you can use standard home type 7 kW or 7.4 kW models. If you have three-phase connection, you can establish a commercial model with 22 kW power. You can check your electrical panel or electric meter to understand this. Public Chargers can offer greater power values for charging with using DC connection instead of AC connection, but please remember that your car has a limit on maximum power regardless of power of EV Charger, and it is not the best thing to use maximum power value for regular charging operations, it can reduce your batteries life.
What is the difference between Commercial Chargers and Home Chargers?
- Usually, Commercial Type EV Charger Models require more power and special requirements for the grid. Home type EV Chargers are smaller, simpler, and chipper. Charging at home is the cheapest way and usually safer than other methods. Also, you can share your EV Charger to gain extra income, this can be another factor for your decision. Please remember that every user has different needs and might need different solutions.
What is Smart Charging?
- EV Chargers are extra electrical loads for the household usage. It can be problem for peak usage, while you are using electrical devices at home and charging the car at the same time. To avoid any unwanted situation, EV Chargers can balance their loads due to house consumption. They can adjust Charging Power with sensing the current on electrical breakers. This can help to protect fuse, main line, and the electrical loads. Safety should be first thing for any electrical installation.
What is the difference between Amper and kW?
- Sometimes 32 Ampers or 16 Ampers values are used to explain charging power. It is the same thing, just another method to explain the instantaneous power. Standard Home Chargers are usually 7 kW or 7.4 kW models, and they require 32 Ampers for a normal charging operation. They can be used at 16 Ampers for several reasons and works at half power (approximately 3.7 kW). Similarly Commercial Models with 22 kW power can use 32 Ampers for three phase connections. They can be used at 16 Ampers and can be operated at 11 kW which means half power for them.
What is the difference between Amper-hour and kWh?
- Old car battery systems used lead-acid type batteries for starting combustion engines. These batteries use standard 12 Volts connection and Amper-hour value to define their size. Modern Electrical Vehicles use greater voltage values than 12 Volts and they use different methods to define their size such as kWh. Please note that all technology is different for new era Electrical Vehicles and might have High Voltage connections inside the car. It can be dangerous to interfere the electrical connection inside the car.
Which one is the cheaper alternative Public Charging or Home Charging?
- Unit Price levels for Public Charging and Home Charing can vary on different electricity suppliers and peak hour of the grid. You can check the unit price of electricity which should be explained as kWh and the total price per kWh. Normally home charging is much cheaper that Public Charging. Please remember that maximum charging power of the device or charging time shouldn’t be a yardstick for measurement. Charging price should be defined with transferred energy, not parking time.
What is the preferable environmentally friendly option?
- Electrical Vehicles are environmentally friendly option compared to combustion engine cars and hybrid cars with less pollution on exhaust gasses such as CO2, NOx, vehicle engine oil, and traffic noise. Also, you can progress these pros one step forward with using renewable energy on grid. Your electricity supplier can help to choose solar and wind options instead of oil and gas. Also, home type renewable solutions can be adapted to EV Chargers to use free and environmentally friendly electricity.