While you can charge your EV using a conventional 110-volt outlet
, charging technology is improving rapidly giving you more control over your EV’s charging. This is where smart charging comes in, and whether you know it or not, you might require one.
You don’t need a smart charger to own an EV, but it is useful if you want to charge your electric vehicle in off-peak hours (at night) when electricity rates are the lowest. Smart chargers are equipped with Wi-Fi technology that lets you initiate or schedule a charge when you are unable to do it manually.
Several intelligent chargers are available for electric vehicles, each with its own capabilities and functions. In this guide, we’ll look at some of the benefits of intelligent charging and why you might require it for your EV.
3 Reasons Why You Should Get A Smart Charger
With the help of an intelligent charger, EV owners can make their lives even more convenient and save a lot of money. Let’s look at some of the benefits of using smart charging:
1. Smart Charger Saves Money
Smart chargers are a convenient way of charging your EV at certain off-peak hours, especially at night, to save you money. This is because electricity rates tend to be lower at night due to lower demand. As a result, you can instruct your smart charger to charge your vehicle during these times with the help of an app to lower your electricity bill.
Some smart chargers can even check the internet for the hours during which your electricity provider offers lower electricity rates for you to charge your car in, further saving you money.
2. Provides Faster Charging
Another useful advantage of a smart charger is that it can charge your EV ten times faster than a level 2 charger. Most public charging stations provide up to 22 kW, whereas your personal charger can only provide a charging rate of around 4 kW, with 2.3 kW being the suggested maximum output for a level 1 charger.
However, the maximum speed you can charge your EV ultimately relies on your EV’s battery pack capacity and available charging power.
3. Smart Charger Offer More Convenience
With the help of a smart charger, you initiate the charge of your vehicle using an app from the comfort of your bed or couch. You can also check its progress and monitor how much energy your vehicle is consuming to charge the battery. The smart charging apps even remind you to charge your car in case you accidentally forget and send a notification when the battery is fully charged.
Things To Consider Before Getting A Smart EV Charger
If you’re considering getting a smart charger for your EV, you must ensure a few things. First, ensure your home’s Wi-Fi connection is powerful enough to reach the garage or wherever your EV is stored. If the signal is too weak, you can purchase a Wi-Fi range extender to boost the Wi-Fi signal and relay it.
You could plug the range extender device into any available outlet between your router and where your EV is stored. However, you might have to experiment with the positioning of the extender to ensure your Wi-Fi signal is able to reach the smart charger.
You should note that certain electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, have their own applications that make it incredibly convenient for smart charging to carry out their duties. With these applications, you can remotely increase or decrease the temperature of the car’s interior while it is still connected to the grid.
This feature helps conserve an EV’s effective range by reducing the heating or cooling system usage as you drive out of the garage.
2 Major Drawbacks Of Smart EV Charging
Although smart charging may sound like a fascinating prospect to investigate, it does have certain drawbacks that EV manufacturers need to consider.
1. Inefficient Power Transmission
First, there are way too many inefficiencies regarding wireless charging, which is why it hasn’t caught up among EV owners. Charging cords transmit almost 100% of the power from the charging outlet to the EV’s battery. On the other hand, wireless or smart chargers have an efficiency as low as 60%.
The inefficiency of intelligent chargers increases when the distance between the car and the charging point increases. Smart chargers work best when the distance between the transmitter and receiver is minimum.
2. Expensive To Install
To make public smart charging available for all EV owners everywhere, a system of inductive charging stations with charging plates implanted in the roadways needs to be established, which could significantly raise the price of public smart charging stations.
Plus, given that a significant part of power is still produced from fossil fuels, this low efficiency results in increased CO2 emissions.
| Smart Charging | Conventional EV Charging |
| Allows scheduled charging | Doesn’t allow scheduled charging |
| More convenient | Less convenient |
| Inefficient power transmission | Efficient power transmission |
FAQS
Q) Can I Charge My EV For Free?
Yes. There are numerous hotels and plazas that provide free charging stations, along with multiple car dealerships. Brands such as Volkswagen and Tesla also offer free charging stations nationwide. You can also get free charging stations at parks such as The Oasis at Death Valley. However, free public charging stations are often difficult to find.
Q) How Does Smart Charging Work?
An intelligent ChargePoint will transmit your charging preferences to a central cloud-based management system through Wi-Fi or an ethernet cable. It will monitor and regulate charging using network signals to maximize energy consumption and guarantee that your charging preferences are satisfied.
Q) How Many Amps Should An EV Charger Produce?
Most EV experts recommend using an EV charger to generate a minimum of 30 amps of power. This amount will provide around 30 miles of operational range to a particular battery pack each hour. You should also connect the charger to a circuit breaker that can accommodate at least 40 amps.
Conclusion
While smart chargers have several advantages, such as reducing your electricity bill, charging your vehicle faster, and being more convenient, they also have certain disadvantages. If you’re looking to buy a smart charger for your EV, you must find a way to balance these benefits and drawbacks.
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