An electric vehicle charging station, also called EV charging station, electric recharging point, charging point, is an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicles, such as plug-in electric vehicles, including electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
As plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicle ownership are expanding, there is a growing need for widely distributed publicly accessible charging stations.
EV charge points are primarily defined by the power (in kW) they can produce and therefore at what speed they are capable of charging an EV.
There are three main EV charging speeds.
Rapid charging units (43, 50, or 120kW) can provide an 80% charge in around 30 minutes; Fast charging points (7-22kW) can fully recharge some models in 3-4 hours; Slow charging points (up to 3kW) are used for longer charging times, around 6-8 hours.