What is AC charging?

AC in AC charging is alternating current. It is used for charging electric vehicles at various speeds, available on the power grid. It can be transmitted economically over long distances and is converted to DC by car.

This is the most common charging method for electric vehicles with a plug. When plugging an electric vehicle into a normal charge point, the power gets converted inside the vehicle, then moves into the car battery. Charging speeds depend on the output power of the charge point as well as the convertor’s capabilities to convert the power to DC.

The required power for AC chargers ranges between 16A (3.7 kWh) and 63A (43 kWh).

This charging method is most suitable for parking spots where the car will stay parked for 20 minutes or longer. Due to their lower costs (production, installation and operation), these are the more commonly found chargers. Also, due to these lower costs, it is usually much cheaper to charge using AC chargers, making them more popular for day-to-day charging.