As the title suggests, it should be as simple as taking a power plug and plugging in your vehicle to charge it up right? What the salesperson at the dealership will not tell you is what I will be writing about in this post.
There are many kinds of chargers you will encounter. These include public chargers, personal chargers, and different variations of charging infrastructure. I will explore these charging infrastructures and how they are different.
Home Chargers
Now these are straightforward, a charger that you can control and will depend on the power availability you have at your home or estate you are in charge of. With this charger under your care, it also means that maintenance will be something on your mind. You will need to pay for any damages that may occur and a parking space for your vehicle to charge at. Many also will be greedy and think that a home charger, it will mean that I will be able to purchase many vehicles and use that charger to charge up all the vehicles. I have met an owner with 3 electric vehicles and it was a nightmare to keep track of which vehicle needs a charge and which doesn’t. These are first-world problems but do not over-subscribe too many vehicles to a single charger. 2 vehicles may be reasonable for 1 charger depending on your usage.
Public Chargers with Auto Cut-Off
SP Group, Shell Recharge, Volt, and Charge+ are the few services that operate their chargers with an auto cut-off system. These chargers are chargers that will cut off the power supply when it detects that your vehicle is fully charged. You may think this is a good function as it will not over-charge your vehicle but you will find that you may need a charger that will not auto cut off because depending on your vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations, you may want to do some battery cell balancing. You will not be able to continue to continue charging your vehicle when you charge at these sorts of chargers.
Public Chargers without Auto Cut-Off
These chargers are pretty straightforward. You pay per minute or per kWh and they never turn off even after your vehicle is fully charged. For my Nissan Leaf, it would be good to have an overnight charge every month which helps balance the battery cells in vehicle. Examples of chargers that do not auto cut-off are TotalEnergies chargers. I have yet to test the other service providers yet so do your research and hit me up!
