CHARGE&GO: FIND THE NEAREST ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGER QUICKLY AND EASILY

Photo: chargego.rs

Charge&GO  has developed the first regional digital platform and mobile application which shows the network of electric car chargers. It enables drivers to approach the charging point and provides the opportunity to pay for charging services through the application. The companies can use the application to remotely control their network of charging points. This implies a range of services, such as charging control, charger performance monitoring, price range, limitation of use and reviewing of charging sessions.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AC AND DC CHARGERS 

Users of the Charge&GO have at the disposal AC and DC chargers. “Some of them have already been put in place and are available to the drivers of electric cars throughout Serbia, some are still in planning and installation phase, and for some chargers we are still looking for adequate locations, says Nemanja Grubješić, Commissioning and Sales Department Manager in the Charge&GO company.

Grubješić explained the difference between charging cars with the AC and DC chargers, mostly reflected in charging time duration. E-vehicles have lithium-ion batteries, which operate with direct current (DC), so their charging time is considerably shorter.

“AC chargers on the other hand operate with alternating current, which is, thanks to its elements, converted into DC in the vehicle, and charges the battery. This is a longer process, so AC chargers are slower and for this reason are usually used at home or in commercial facilities, where people can take time to do it. In average, it takes four to eight hours to charge an electric vehicle with an AC charger”, explained Nemanja Grubješić.

When it comes to DC chargers, the system is somewhat different. These models have an inverter which converts alternating current into direct current which automatically charges the battery, significantly increasing the charging speed. The vehicle charging speed depends on the charger’s power. Fast chargers take one to three hours for charging the car’s battery, while ultra-fast chargers can do it in less than one hour.

“For the electric vehicle’s life, actually it’s battery’s longer life, it is recommended to use the AC charger, which is also the cheapest option. Owners of electric cars usually charge their batteries during the night because of the lower electricity price, and then they are ready to drive in the morning. The battery can be fully charged in four to eight hours. Charging an electric car’s battery to its full capacity costs much less money than filling a classic car’s reservoir with fuel.”, explains Grubješić.

CHARGE&GO INFOPEDIA: WHAT AFFECTS THE CHARGING SPEED?

The speed of charging an e-vehicle with a fast and ultrafast charger mostly depends on the capacity and characteristics of the vehicle’s battery, and these factors may considerably vary between different models of cars. In other words, a car with a smaller battery capacity takes less time to charge, while the larger capacity requires longer charging time. I will illustrate this by giving you an analogy. A bottle of lower volume will take less time to fill under the same waterjet than a larger bottle.

Recently we carried out a small experiment. We charged two e-vehicles on the OMV Lapovo north gas station, using the Unity 120 produced by Siemens Kostad whose outgoing power is 120 KW. The table shows the charging time for these two models. The charging was carried out under equal conditions: batteries in both vehicles were at 15% capacity before charging, and we filled them at 85% of their capacity.

The OMV Lapovo gas station charger belongs to the Charge&GO network, and there are several ways to access this, as well as all other chargers in the same network, (with the QR code or by the charger number), but downloading the application automatically gives you a lower price, provides you with direction by GPS navigation and an access to an incredible European network of 170,000 chargers in 30 countries.

By: Milica Radičević

Photo: Bojan Džodan

Contact:

www.chargego.rs

podrska@chargego.rs

+381 11 715 85 99     

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