How Do Electric Car Charging Stations Work

The conventional car run by fossil fuel like gas or oil is now a thing of the past. Even a decade ago, back in the early 2000s, an electric car was unheard of. But as time passes by, we are slowly adopting electric models over the ones run by gas. But we are still not quite used to the way of using them.

Now, electric cars charge up at charging stations rather than gas stations. So, being the average curious human, it’s normal for us to wonder- how do electric car charging stations work? Well, the answers not that simple, but we got you covered with this short guide that’ll try to clear your confusion. So, let’s jump in.

How Does an Electric Car Charging Stations Work?

See how we charge our phones with a USB cable that connects with an electric power source? Well, the same goes for electric cars. They are just like phones and laptops but with heavier batteries that need a whole lot more energy to operate.

In fact, all these rechargeable devices use the same structure when it comes to batteries.

These devices either use a lithium-ion battery or a nickel-metal hydride one because they can store a lot of energy enough for the whole device to work properly. Electric cars use the same principle here.

Charging Levels

Now, let’s talk about the different kinds of charging levels that you’ll find around you. There are mostly three levels found right now, starting from ones at home to ones commissioned by manufacturers themselves in stations. So, here goes:

Level 1 Charging: Home Charging Stations

The first level of charging is the slowest but the most accessible. These are the electric car charging stations for homes and are fit for the electrical configuration in domestic households. It’s a regular wall outlet of 110-120 volts. This is the kind of electricity that you’d use to power your household appliances with.

To be honest, this kind of power can take care of charging your electric car but will take quite a time, and we don’t actually recommend this for anyone since it’s not a proper standard for the car.

Level 2 Charging: Public Charging Stations

These are the most common kind of stations found by highways. This kind of charging station is the competitor to gas stations that we usually use. Now, they can be found just by searching “electric car charging stations near me” on the internet.

For long trips, your battery won’t be able to make it through the journey, and to solve exactly that; level 2 chargers come in handy. They are not as fast as DC chargers, but they sure do get the job done in dire times.

Level 3 Charging: DC Fast Charge or Superchargers

The last-level charger is the ridiculously fast one and the most expensive one at the same time. Let us explain this to you.

So, level 3 chargers are special chargers that are made by manufacturers themselves to create value for their customers. This includes DC fast chargers and Tesla’s very own Superchargers. And thanks to their involvement, level 3 charging stations are highly expensive.

These electric car charging stations cost around $0.29 per minute of charge. So, unless you’re in a big hurry, we’d recommend you use the level 2 charging stations.

Now, there are many electric charging station maps online that will point you towards your nearest station. So, try getting access to one so that you are updated on this.

Some Notable Charging Station Projects

Now that we have talked about the levels of this charging, we would like to give you some examples of these stations that are already working throughout America and other parts of the world.

This should give you an instance of how these stations are and who the big names behind them. So, without waiting further, let’s jump in.

Electrify America

The first one we’d like to tell you about is the Electrify America project. This project was a part of Volkswagen’s settlement for Dieselgate, in which they invested 2 Billion USD in electronic vehicle infrastructures. They have over 420 stations that boast both CHAdeMO connectors and CCS ones.

Now, you’ll need to pay $1.00 for every session that you charge, along with a per-minute rate as you charge along. Also, you can opt for a membership that’ll take care of the session fee and give you a discount on the per-minute rate. This membership will cost you $4.00 a month.

FordPass Charging Network

Just like Volkswagen, Ford also jumped into the EV infrastructure bandwagon. They have come together with the aforementioned Electrify America and have started the Fordpass Charging Network, which has around 12000 stations.

Users can pay for this using the Fordpass app, which comes into the car’s screen in the dashboard.

Owners of Ford get a two years complimentary access to Fordpass. But after those two years, they have to opt-in for a membership. Now, the energy doesn’t come free, so you do have to pay for it. But we can tell you this much that this is definitely worthy.

EVgo and Chargepoint

Evgo is another one of the big corporations running the EV scene while making the infrastructure strong.

And thanks to their deal with Chargepoint, all EVgo users can access Chargepoint stations without making an extra account with them. EVgo has also struck other deals with the likes of Nissan and EV Connect to bolster the scene.

Destination Chargers and Tesla’s Very Own Superchargers

Now we come down to Tesla’s fast chargers found at their own charging network. The Superchargers are Level 3 chargers that use DC current to increase the flow of electricity. On the other than, destination chargers are the Level 2 chargers that Tesla installed in hotels and shopping malls.

Final Thoughts

And that was all that we had to answer how do electric car charging stations work. Now, we hope that all the information that we put down here turned out to be helpful to you. We know that it can be hard adjusting to new technology like this, but we believe that electric cars are a more sustainable option for all of us.

Now, we would really appreciate it if you left us some feedback. So, if you feel like we missed something or there’s some other topic that you’d like us to touch, please contact us.

Stay safe and drive carefully.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)