Electric cars still do not even represent 5% of sales in Spain, a very low figure but increasing month by month. It is true that in Europe this figure is increasing rapidly in some northern countries, where registrations of this type of vehicle already represent over 50% of the market, although this is always closely linked to the existence of public aid.
Such subsidies often amount to more than 10,000 euros, so that the administration practically cushions the price difference to conventional gasoline cars.
Succulent Plant Remedies
At the same time, many manufacturers, the European Union and charging companies are working to shorten the charging times of electric cars, for which there is only one recipe: producing more powerful chargers.
The problem is that the charging speed in this case depends not only on the charger, but on the power supported by the car, since in the end it is usually the car itself that limits the charging speed for protection.
First of all, it is important to understand how charging an electric car works. The battery is still the same as a fuel tank, although instead of filling it with fuel we add “power”.
Like a deposit
In a traditional tank, there are hoses with different speeds for refueling, similar to chargers that have different electrical hoses.
In this case, there is a fundamental difference: the cars leave the factory with an on-board charger with maximum charging power. This determines the maximum charging speed the battery supports. The fastest chargers enable outputs of 350 or 400 kilowatts.
If we take into account that a large battery is 100 kW and a conventional one is 60 kW, it is not difficult to know how long it takes to charge depending on the speed of the charger. For example, at a 50kW point we charge a 50kW battery in one hour.
Slow chargers
When it comes to home chargers, we always charge with alternating current. The main difference is that the charging processes are slower, although they are better for battery life when used in parallel. Broadly speaking, for domestic installations we have charging powers of 3.7 kW, 7.4 kW, 11 kW and 22 kW, depending on the contractually agreed power and the existing installation.
The so-called fast chargers use direct current, which determines, for example, the type of port we should use. In this case, the power increases to 400 kW and in the future it should be 600.
This service is now offered by Europe’s largest charging station in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. It has 180 charging points, including 16 300 kW fast charging points and 150 7 kW AC charging points, all powered by renewable energy sources.
In this case, the calculation is simple: as long as the car allows it, with a 300 kW charger we can charge a 100 kW battery in about 20 minutes, taking into account that cars tend to complete the charging process so quickly to slow down several times. As you can tell the battery is heating up, which is very common.
Depending on the driving and energy expenditure, this charge is more than enough to cover 700 kilometers.
