Two decisions settle most of the specification: how far the vehicles drive, and how long they stand still. Everything else follows.
| Decision | AC charging | DC fast charging |
|---|---|---|
| Daily distance | Under 50 km | Over 150 km, or high daily utilisation |
| Vehicle dwell time | Hours — parked overnight | 20–40 minutes — en-route |
| Typical power | 7 kW single-phase; 11–22 kW three-phase | 60 kW and up |
| Supply needed | Single-phase or three-phase domestic supply | Three-phase with capacity for 100 A+ |
| Connector | Type 2 (EU) / J1772 (US) | CCS2 (EU) / CCS1 or NACS (US) |
| Install cost | Low — wall mounted, short cable runs | High — foundations, supply upgrade |
| Best first step | Wallbox plus load balancing if the supply is tight | A site survey before committing |
A 22 kW wallbox on a supply that cannot carry it will nuisance-trip. Check the main fuse and the spare capacity first — if it is tight, plan for load balancing rather than a service upgrade.
A car parked for ten hours needs very little power. A 7 kW single-phase wallbox adds roughly 30–40 km of range per hour, which covers most overnight use.
11 kW and 22 kW need a three-phase supply. If the building has one, it gives a useful margin; if not, the cost of bringing it in usually outweighs the benefit for a single vehicle.
Cable routing, mounting position and load balancing are far cheaper to plan at the first installation than to retrofit. Wireless load balancing lets you add chargers later without touching the supply.
Measure from the mounted position to the charge port with the car parked as it actually parks. A cable that is 1 m short makes the installation useless.
If the site needs to bill drivers, you need metering and a backend — that means a connected model with OCPP from the start, not a basic unit retrofitted later.
| One car, driveway, no fixed installation | Portable Mode 2 — plug into an existing socket, take it with you. |
|---|---|
| Fixed home charging, future second car | Wallbox plus load balancing. |
| Apartment block or shared parking | Wireless Load Balancing across several wallboxes on one supply. |
| Fleet depot or workshop | DC 20–40 kW for scheduled top-ups, wallboxes for overnight dwell. |
| Public, retail or highway site | DC 60–240 kW, power-pooling stacks, liquid-cooled above 400 kW. |
| Building your own charger | 20 / 30 kW modules, plus connectors and cables. |
Describe the site — number of vehicles, hours parked, supply capacity and country — and we will recommend the smallest configuration that does the job.
