Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Electric vehicle charging stations: the key to the future of sustainable mobility.

The paradigm shift in mobility—which promotes the use of environmentally friendly electric cars—is driving the growing proliferation of charging stations. As a result, these stations—also known as charging stations for electric vehicles—are becoming a common sight in cities and along highways.

Transportation, which is essential in the fight againstclimate change, must be sustainable, and steps are being taken every day toward that goal.  For this reason,“the mobility of the future” dependson the adoption of electric vehicles that do not emitgreenhousegases, and to achieve this, the availability of charging stations is essential—and even more important than the renewal of the vehicle fleet itself.

Sustainable Urban Mobility and Electric Vehicles

According to a Bloomberg report, the number of electric vehicles is projected to reach 116 million by 2030, accounting for 30% of sales. This means that the infrastructure for charging stations is expected to expand at the same rate over the course of this decade.

In absolute terms, China remains the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, with 2.3 million electric cars in use—nearly half (45%) of the global fleet. Europe and the United States lag far behind these figures.

What is an electric vehicle charging station?


An electric vehicle charging station, also known as an EV charging station, is simply a system that provides electrical power to charge the batteries of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, such as cars, trucks, buses, or motorcycles—whether shared or privately owned. These stations are typically located in public spaces, on any street or in shopping malls, usually in parking areas.

Gradually, these charging stations will gain ground over gas stations, which, in some cases, will eventually be converted. While gas stations require underground tanks holding thousands of liters of fuel that are pumped to each available fuel nozzle, EV charging stations only need an electrical connection with sufficient power and a converter that manages the vehicle’s charging process.

How an electric vehicle charging station works

To chargethe batteries of an electric car, unless you have a charging station at home, you’ll need to go to an electric vehicle charging station. From there, there are a series of steps to complete the charging process:

1. Activate the charging station using a smartphone app or an RFID card.

2. Connect the appropriate charging cable based on the charging type.

3. Wait for the charging process to finish.

 

Charging time for an electric car 

Depending on the conversion method and the available power, there will be different types of loads, which will affect the time required:

The vehicle is connected to a household power source without using any communication protocol or intermediary device. This method is not very safe and is typically used to charge two-wheeled vehicles, since cars cannot be charged this way.
Electric cars usually have a built-in converter that allows them to be plugged into a standard household AC outlet and charged using an intermediary device that ensures the charging process is effective. Although it is possible to use it occasionally to recharge vehicles, manufacturers do not recommend this practice. In addition, standard household outlets are limited to 16 amps, and charging time should be six to eight hours.

Fast charging is the most expensive option and is available at service stations, gas stations, shopping malls, and other public access points. These stations have an external power converter that allows for direct current (DC) charging and use a connection different from Mode 3, enabling faster charging. They typically have a power output of 50 kW or more, allowing a car to be charged in less than 30 minutes.

In addition, within Mode 4, there are some ultra-fast charging stations that can deliver up to 700 kW of power and charge 80% of the battery’s capacity in just six minutes. In some countries, such as Israel, the Netherlands, and China, charging stations have also been tested where a depleted battery is replaced with a fully charged one in just a few minutes; however, these efforts were unsuccessful due to high costs and the lack of a standardized battery format for electric vehicles.