There are 3 charging levels. 1 is basically just "plug your car into a wall outlet". 2 is more powerful, and usually involves installing a little charging box with a cable, but it's still AC and fairly slow. 3 is the DC fast charging that operates at crazy high voltages and currents.

[–] lengau@midwest.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In much of the world the wall plug is the bottom end of level 2.

[–] wander1236@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is level 2 solely defined by "240V AC"? I wasn't sure, although the portable chargers some brands have in the US with 240V attachments are still level 1 I think.

[–] lengau@midwest.social 4 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I believe the two requirements for level 2 are 200 VAC and 2 kW. A 208V 30A oven outlet in a typical American apartment is level 2, but so is a 240V, 15 A plug in a typical European, well, any room.

The 240V, 30A+ portable EVSEs many cars come with are level 2, though they are often also able to do level 1 charging if they work on 120V outlets.

[–] TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 22 hours ago

yo I have no idea what this conversation is even saying anymore, I don't speak electron 🔥🔥💯

[–] lime@feddit.nu 27 points 1 day ago

that's a first-gen chevy volt from 2012-2013. it can't fast-charge at all, it's limited to line voltage only. a full charge takes five hours, give or take. thankfully it's a hybrid.

[–] filcuk@lemmy.zip 40 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Most EVs can charge off kf a regular socket using a dedicated cable.
It can take days to charge.

[–] thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 day ago

Can confirm. Mine will take about 3 days to charge from very low to full on a regular wall outlet. Still worth it sometimes though, like when I'm visiting family or camping or something. If I'm gonna spend the day somewhere (like 6+ hours, let's say) it might be worth it.

[–] xlash123@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

The car can take 120/240 V AC input. Internally, there's a AC to DC rectifier that brings the voltage up to the internal battery's voltage. For 120V 15A charging, this is pretty slow in general since EV batteries have a large capacity.

[–] femtech@midwest.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I changed off a 12v 20amp outlet for over a year at my house till the charger was installed. It would take 12 hours to charge from empty to full but never had that happen except going on trips, then I would use the DC charging stations.

[–] trolololol@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

You have a 12V outlet? Why not use 120V or 220V that everyone has?

[–] femtech@midwest.social 1 points 1 hour ago

Lol I was not thinking straight, it is a 120v, I'm not sure what I was thinking of.