Understanding Voltage Compatibility and Power Supply from a DC fast charger.
- As a car owner, when you drive a electric vehicle home and cannot tolerate the slow charging speed of AC electricity, you may want to buy a DC fast charger. Which one to choose?
Firstly, it is crucial to determine whether your car supports DC fast charger and choose the appropriate voltage range.
- For example, for a 60 kW DC Fast Chargers, if the output voltage range is between 200 volts and 500 volts, the maximum output current will be calculated as 60 kW divided by 500 volts, equal to 120 amperes. On the contrary, if the output voltage range is between 200 volts and 750 volts, the maximum output current is only 80 amperes, resulting in a decrease in charging efficiency.
Secondly, check the nameplate of the car to determine the working voltage of the lithium battery.
- Due to the different output voltages of chargers, selecting a suitable DC Fast Chargers is crucial to ensuring charging efficiency.
- For example, if your new energy vehicle operates at around 560 volts, purchasing a charger with an output voltage range of 200 volts to 500 volts is not feasible. Similarly, if your car operates at around 380V, but the output voltage range of the charger you purchase is between 200V and 750V, the charging efficiency will also greatly decrease.
Thirdly, it is necessary to wisely choose the power of the charger, which actually means selecting the appropriate current.
- The actual charging power during the charging period is truly important to your vehicle. Therefore, you must first determine the maximum charging current that your vehicle can accept in order to calculate the maximum acceptable power. If your vehicle has a 100 kWh battery, operates at 400 volts, and can accept a maximum charging current of 150 amperes, you can calculate the maximum acceptable charging power. In other words, if the charger is large enough, it can charge at a speed of 60 kilowatt hours per hour.
- However, if the charger’s maximum output current is 100 amperes, the maximum charging power of your car is limited by the current to 40 kilowatts, or 40 kilowatt hours per hour, which is calculated as 400 volts multiplied by 100 amperes divided by 1000. On the contrary, if your car can only accept a maximum current of 100 amperes, but you purchase a charger with a maximum output current of 150 amperes, it is too wasteful because the price of high current chargers is often much higher.
Do you understand?
