Your electric vehicle charging guide.

Electric vehicle charging explained.

Like your petrol car, your electric vehicle needs to refuel. However an electric car is like a mobile phone, you just need to plug it into an electricity source and leave it to charge.

Continuing with the mobile phone analogy, each model of electric car needs a different kind of cable to make the charging connection. These will normally be provided with the vehicle and you’ll need to know which one you have to ensure that you can charge your EV.

We’ll help you understand which connector matches with which charging station and how the different charging speeds you get affect how long you need to leave your electric car to charge.

AC vs DC electric vehicle charging.

To charge an electric car you need to use direct current (DC), however the grid provides alternating current (AC). Changing the current from AC to DC can either be done by your car or the charger.

A DC charger will charge your car faster as it will perform the conversion for your car. If you use an AC charger it will be the car doing the conversion which means that it won’t be able to charge as fast.

AC chargers cap out at about 22kW, whilst DC chargers can reach 100kW or above, which means that if you want a rapid or ultra-rapid charger you’ll need to get a DC charger.

What speeds of electric vehicle connectors are there?

There are four speeds of electric vehicle connector:

• Slow: 3-7kW.

• Fast: 7-22kW.

• Rapid: 50-100kW.

• Ultra rapid: 100+kW.

These speeds determine how fast your EV can be charged. You’ll tend to find that home EV chargers are slow or fast, whereas public charging points can be rapid or ultra rapid.

Faster charging speeds are great, however they can cost more than a slow or fast charge. It’s best to check the cost per kW before choosing where to charge.

What are the EV charging connector types?

There are a number of different EV charging connectors which will affect how fast your electric car charges. These are:

The standard 3 pin plug.

All you need to do is plug your car into your home socket and away you go. However they are slow, at around 2.3kW and can be unstable so we don’t recommend them for charging your EV.

Type 1 and Type 2 plugs.

These generally charge at slow or fast speeds and you’ll get them with most electric cars that you can buy. Type 2 plugs are more popular than Type 1.

CHAdeMO and CCS.

These EV plugs are designed for electric cars that can do rapid or ultra rapid charging and can charge your car at speeds of over 100kW.

You can get more information around the types of chargers and accessories available.

How do you charge your electric vehicle at home?

We’ve put together a useful guide on how you can charge your EV at home, including how to get a charger installed, what you’ll need to do to charge and what tariffs are available.

Getting an EV home charger.

Not used a public charger before?

Check out our guide to understand how to find your nearest public EV charging point, what you’ll need to do to pay for one.

Using a public EV charger.

More on electric vehicles.