What is DC charging pile? Difference from AC charging pile

Vehicle charging piles are generally divided into AC charging piles and DC charging piles. The difference between the two piles is that one belongs to slow filling and the other belongs to fast filling. It takes 7-10 hours for the AC charging pile to fully charge, and only 1-2 hours for the DC charging pile to fully charge.

In terms of charging time, DC charging piles have great advantages, and the attraction of fast charging time is particularly great.

However, considering various factors, the two types of charging piles have their own application scenarios, and the market for AC charging piles looks larger.

For the AC charging pile, first of all, the cost of AC charging pile is low, the construction is relatively simple, and the load on the transformer is not very large. The distribution cabinet in the community can be installed directly.

The charging power of the AC charging pile can be as high as 7KW. As long as it is an electric vehicle, it generally supports AC charging. The electric vehicle has two charging ports, one is a fast charging interface and the other is a slow charging interface. The charging interface of some non-national standard electric vehicles may only use AC instead of DC charging piles.

For the DC charging pile, the DC charging pile is to convert the 380V power supply into a large-current DC charging voltage through a transformer. The charging current can reach 32A, and the charging power can reach 45kW. Generally, the electric vehicle can be fully charged in one to two hours, and it will not take too long.

Although DC charging pile is good, it has a big disadvantage, that is, it is difficult to install and construct. Because the charging power of the DC charging pile is relatively large, the requirements for power supply are relatively high, and the transformer is required to have sufficient load capacity to support such a large power. Many old residential areas do not have the installation conditions because they have not laid out the lines and transformers in advance.

However, it should be noted that DC charging piles will be the trend of the development of charging pile market. Now coastal cities have begun to layout and contract the parking lot to put charging piles into operation. The investment cost of a car charging pile needs tens of thousands of yuan, and that of a parking lot needs hundreds of thousands of yuan. At present, the supply of DC charging piles is in short supply, and the utilization rate of parking lot is high. Generally, the equipment can be recovered in one year.

In general, DC charging pile and AC charging pile have their own advantages. If it is a newly built community, it is sufficient to directly plan DC charging pile. If there is an old community, the charging method of AC charging pile will be adopted. This will not only meet the charging needs of users, but also will not cause great load on the transformer of the community.