Knowing Singapore's EV Charging Standards
If you have been an EV car owner for awhile you might already know a lot about EVs. It seems to be second nature to you but maybe you might find out something you didn’t know previously. Or if you are a first time owner or considering to get an EV this might help you understand more about them. In this article we will be taking a look at EV charging which talks more about AC/DC (not the band for the hundredth time) charging, Singapore’s EV charging standards and good charging habits.
So...Alternating Current or Direct Current?
We previously talked briefly about what AC and DC is in one of our beginners guide here.
But lets talk more in-depth about it. So you know that charging using AC takes more time than DC but have you wondered why don’t charging stations just use DC instead since it is so much faster than AC?
Well for starters, most power supplied to your homes, shopping malls and etc, all come in the form of AC. And this includes your charging stations. The reason for this is because you need a convertor to change AC to DC. Since your EV already has an onboard convertor it makes more sense (for the charging station provider) for your vehicle to convert the energy instead of installing a convertor at the charging stations to let you charge with DC. Never realize why the DC chargers look so huge?
In some cases, there are charging stations that allow you to charge with DC but that is currently in the minority for now. Which then begs the questions that many people have been asking, does charging with DC harm your car battery?
In short, yes it does. But not in the way you might think. There are some factors to consider with the most important one being the type of battery your car uses. Now, I cannot comment on every type of EV car but in general, based on various studies carried out, the trend found is that fast charging does have an impact on your EV’s battery life. You can read more about it in this article where we dive deeper into the subject.
TLDR, its fine to use either AC or DC because you would have changed your car by the time your EV’s battery is severely degraded.
Types of EV Charging connectors
There is a wide range of EV charging connectors in the globe but thankfully in Singapore you only really have to know two of them. Maybe three if you include the CHAdeMO which is mostly used by Japanese EV models.
Mennekes or Type 2 which is for AC charging and CCS2 which is for DC charging. And not forgetting Tesla’s unique charging connector.
As you can see in the diagram below, the basis of the CCS2 is a Type 2 and an additional component below it.
For most Japanese EV models, sadly they are limited to only AC charging as CHAdeMO is not commonly found at charging stations in Singapore except for the car brand’s own showrooms.
Where as for Tesla owners, sadly they are also limited to the Tesla charging stations.
Good Charging Habits
So we have already gave you the short answer that charging using AC or DC will not really impact your battery life but there are many factors which can impact your battery life but the most important one especially here in bright, sunny and hot Singapore is, the temperature.
But why so?
Well most EV batteries operate at an optimal (best) temperature of between 25 and 45°C. This does not mean that you can’t charge outside of this range but it would be slower than normal.
But charging out in the sun in sunny Singapore with little to no shade might just overheat your battery. So we strongly, strongly recommend to charge in a well shaded or cool area.
Another good habit especially with Li-ion batteries is to keep it between 20 and 80% charged. This is because extremely high or low states can actually damage the battery over time.
Ever wondered why the brochures of EV cars give you the charging speed between the 20 to 80% range?
Its also good to note that the charging speed beyond 80% would be much slower than average.
I hope this articles helps you understand more about EV charging in Singapore and if you have any other tips, please leave a comment down below!