One charger, fully understood
The inspection is done. Six chargers checked, one module replaced, a third DC charger waiting for commissioning.
Cars come and go at the hub, and none of the drivers noticed anything.
The questionCan you explain everything the technician saw this morning?
The morning in eight moments
Slim AC charge points at the hotel, large DC chargers by the road: the conversion happens in the car or in the charger.
Stop 01Behind the door of charger 1: , , . Power is voltage times current.
Stop 02sockets at AC, fixed cables at DC, as requires.
Stop 03One down, the charger still charging at lower power. Modules, meter, controller, cooling.
Stop 04Two cars on one 300 kW charger. The controller moves power to where it is needed.
Stop 05A light AC cable, a heavy cooled DC cable: current sizes the cable, heat grows with its square.
Stop 06A new charger arrives: conformity, metering, grid connection, commissioning, data.
Stop 07Full power again after twelve hours at reduced power. What counts, and what it allows.
Stop 08
Eight moments, one hub. Every part of a charger answers to physics, to the car and to the law.
Where to go from here
The charger is one part of a site. Charging infrastructure follows a hub from planning to opening, load management the sharing of one grid connection, and OCPP in depth the messages between charger and backend. See all learning paths.
Check your understanding
4 questions. Answer all of them to complete this stop. Each answer explains itself.
Why is the AC charge point at the hotel so much smaller than the DC charger?
With AC, the onboard charger in the car does the conversion, so the charge point mainly switches and protects.
Charger 2 lost one power module. What did drivers notice?
The other modules kept working. That is the point of a modular design.
What decides the size of a charging cable?
Heat grows with the square of current. Voltage lets more power through the same current.
From when do EU-wide metering rules for chargers apply?
Directive (EU) 2026/706 applies from 10 October 2028, without retrofitting existing chargers.
- Uptime The share of time a charger was technically able to charge. EV charging fundamentals, stop 06 Glossary
- AFIR Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (EU) 2023/1804: EU rules for public charging, from payment to coverage. EV charging fundamentals, stop 08 Glossary
- Type 2 The seven-pin AC connector that EU law requires at public AC charge points. Stop 03 Glossary
- Combo 2 The DC connector of the combined charging system: the Type 2 shape with two DC pins below, required at public DC points in the EU. Stop 03 Glossary
- Rectifier The first stage of a DC charger, which turns the grid's alternating current into an intermediate direct voltage. Stop 02 Glossary
- Power module One of several identical conversion units in a DC charger; together they set its power, and each can be exchanged as a unit. Stop 04 Glossary
- Contactor An electrically operated switch for high currents; in a DC charger it connects the output to the car only after both have checked the connection and matched the voltage. EV charging fundamentals, stop 04 Glossary
- DC/DC converter The stage of a DC charger that turns its internal DC voltage into the voltage and current the car asks for, moment by moment. Stop 02 Glossary