What to take for home usage: AC or DC?
Just some 5-10 years ago, you could buy only AC charging stations. But nowadays home DC stations are also on sale. So, now, you have a choice and need to decide whether to purchase an AC EV charger or a DC one.
In this post, we are discussing some details so you can make a confident choice.
Basics of AC and DC charging
First, let’s clarify, AC charging is feeding your car with alternating current while DC charging deals with direct current. Note, your home power grids supply only alternating current. However, each electronic device (and electric vehicles are among them) uses direct current. Therefore, when charging with alternating current a special device, the converter, convert it to DC.
Second, all modern battery cars have two ports:
- Charge port, which is for AC charging
- Fastcharge port, which is for DC charging
In other words, the first one accepts alternating current, converts it to direct current, and transmits to the EV battery. On the contrary, the second one accepts only direct current.
Unlike an AC charger, a DC charging station has an in-built converter. This enables the device to receive alternating current from the grids, convert it, and supply your car with direct current.
Things to consider when choosing between AC and DC EV charger for home usage
At Auto E, we offer DC charging stations as well as AC ones. Therefore, we know everything about these two types and want to provide you with a clear picture of their pros and cons.
Pros and cons of DC charging stations
The main advantage of using a DC station to feet your car is the lightning-fast charging speed. To clarify, with this EV charger, you can fill your EV battery in full just within half an hour. Even if you have such a powerful car as the Tesla or the Porsche Taycan, which have impressively long ranges.
The main con of such an EVSE is its price. Indeed, a DC stations cost several times higher than an AC one. This is because this device is a more complicated engineering solution. That is to say, it has more complex filling (an in-built converter is one of the examples here).
Also, there can be a hindrance to DC station installation on your home grid part. To clarify, your power grids can be insufficient to stand an increased load this EV charger creates. In this case, you will have to upgrade your grids, which also doesn’t come free.
Pros and cons of AC charging stations
AC EV charging solutions are very affordable and, thus, highly common. Also, in most cases, you won’t have to upgrade your home grids as they are sufficient enough for the loads these EVSEs create.
However, with this appliance, it may take six hours or even longer to top up your EV battery in full. And this is especially boring if you have the Porsche Taycan or the Audi e-tron. Surprisingly, but such powerful cars have extremely weak AC charging abilities, just 11 kW. Therefore, even the fastest of these chargers couldn’t accelerate their charging session.
Conclusive thoughts
To sum up, we recommend taking AC for your home usage if you:
- own a car of a small or middle size battery or a car that doesn’t have a fastcharge port
- don’t plan to change it for more powerful within the next 5-6 years
However, it would be better to buy a DC station if you:
- own a large-battery vehicle
- often take long rides
- want to take advantage of superfast charging
- are ready to pay extra for this advantage
And, at last, we would like to clarify one more important aspect. It is said, DC charging is not good for frequent use as it reduces the EV battery light. But this is not true, because, as we explained earlier, your EV battery receives direct current even if you charge your car with an alternating one.