- PUBLIC CHARGING
Where can I charge my EV?
Knowing where to charge is half of the battle, your vehicle and some available APPS will show you where available chargers are, whether they’re available or even if they’re down for maintenance.
It’s great to have a few go to sites, just incase they’re in use or you need a quicker charge. As an EV owner you will find your own pattern of charging that will fit your daily routine, vehicle and available chargers, however this will be specific to you.
There are different speeds of chargers that will also impact where you may choose to charge your vehicle. The RANGE page will help you calculate what speed of charger you would need to use depending on how fast and how much you need to charge.
It is worth checking and remembering how quickly your vehicle can charge as vehicles can charge at different speeds. EV-DATABASE.UK will tell you the specifications of your model, just because the charger is faster it may not be able to charge your vehicle as quickly.
There are four main types of charger.
7 kW
7 kW– these chargers are slower (the same speed as most home chargers) but are great if you park your car in a fixed location for 4-8 hours +.
22 kW
22 kW- these chargers are faster (around 3x faster) than a 7kW and are littered across cities and garages, perfect for a fast top up or full charge if you’re making a bigger journey.
50 kW +
50 kW+ – these rapid chargers are very fast and in some cases (350kW) can give you hundreds of miles of charge in less than 10 minutes.
Tesla Supercharger
72 kW+ – Currently these chargers will only work with Tesla vehicles, they are very fast and the new models are 250kW, charging 75 miles in a model 3 in 5 minutes, Some Tesla owners even get unlimited charging.
Charger connection types
So you’re looking at your planned journey and notice that along the way there are different connector types associated with the charge points that you’re seeing, but what do they all mean? To go alongside the above power ratings there are several different types of connector to link your car to a charge point which will be an important factor when considering which EV may be right for you. Below you’ll see a breakdown of the most common chargers and the associated approximate charge times.