When using electrical vehicles, you need to consider the availability of public charging infrastructure. You have to understand the levels of charging that are available for electrical vehicles. This will give you an idea of the duration of time required and its convenience.

Level 1 EV chargers are the slowest option that is available. This is provided by a 110V or 120V wall outlet. This is similar to the voltage of wall chargers that are in your house. So it will take a very long time to fully charge the vehicle. On average, it will take about 40 hours for a full charge.              If this is the type of charger you have, then it is best not to let your battery run close to being empty as this will leave you without a mode of transportation for the next day. It will work okay if you are topping up. A step up from this is the level 2 charger. These are 220V to 240V. There are public level 2 chargers as well. It will take close to nine hours to fully charge the battery from empty. This is generally the preferred option for charging an electrical vehicle. You can use level 2 charging to charge the vehicle overnight when you are travelling. This is referred to as destination charging. Most of the time, you will be able to charge the car for free.

Then there are fast chargers that are the level 3 chargers. These are also called DC fast chargers and they have a minimum of 400V. You will be able to charge the electrical vehicle from empty within 2 hours or less. But this is quite an expensive option when compared to level 1 and level 2. The type of battery that your vehicle has will determine the type of charging it can handle. If the battery is small, then it will not be able to safely receive the voltage of a fast charger. Vehicles with small batteries are intended to travel short distances. When it comes to public level 3 charging stations, you may not get the voltage that you expect and this can lengthen the charging time.

You also need to consider the charging port that your vehicle has. There are three types of plugs that are used. There are CCS, Tesla and CHAdeMO. Depending on the make of the car, the shape of the plug will vary for level 3 charging. You will see more pins in a level 3 plug when compared to a level 2 plug. If you are planning to for long distance trips on an electric vehicle, you need to check the route to find out public charging stations and whether the destinations that you are visiting have charging provisions. You can find the public charging stations depending on the plug type. There are different charging companies as well when it comes to public charging stations. Some are owned privately or by the government while others will have a partnership between the two. For certain charging stations, you may require a membership card.