Before you set off with an electric car, maybe even before you buy it, it's good to know what charging alternatives are.
The nightmare of any electric car driver is to stay in an isolated place, without electricity, without a battery.
That's why you can never be too cautious about your plans.
The ideal plan is to charge at a public charger and have them at every step. Especially when you travel, the usual charging at home or work no longer exists, and you have to find other alternatives.
Careful route planning
When you want to drive 24,000 miles with an electric car, as Restart Energy and Christian Gernermann want on the Electric Tour, you need to pay close attention to the route you take, where you stop the charge, and how much time you spend. In every place.
To break the world record of kilometers made by an electric car, they planned to cover the whole country, going to the most isolated villages in Romania.
Although a difficult task at first, planning stops has become commonplace - something that can be confirmed by any driver who has made several long journeys with the electric car.
But sometimes, it's not just up to you whether your charging station is free or functional. Maintenance and repair of charging stations can take several days, during which time it is not always marked on the plug share map that the station is not working.
Right now, you're thinking about Plan B.
Each electric car has a native charger for situations where the driver has no choice but to charge at 230V on a single-phase socket.
Any solution, in this case, is welcome, but there are also disadvantages.
The car is charging at a single-phase socket, which means it will set much slower, and these portable chargers manage to capture about 2kWh. But if you have a night to spend there, you may have charged enough to get to a faster charging station by morning.
Can't find charging stations? Take one with you.
While single-phase charging can take 8-9 hours, three-phase charging with a portable charger saves you from long breaks and the desperate search for other stations.
There are portable charging stations that charge up to 22kW, at 32 amps, like a type 2 charging station.
Time saved
While the BMW i3 charges in 8-9 hours with the native charger, it sets in three hours with the portable type 2. Renault ZOE charges in two hours.
Various loading destinations
Various locations have three-phase outlets because they operate with more complex kitchens or power systems that require a lot of power.
Three-phase sockets are usually found at:
Most are locations where you stop anyway for 1-2 hours minimum.
Your autonomy and that of the car
With a quality portable charger, you can rely on its operation in various conditions:
