Reduce charging losses and save money with smart charging. Learn why three-phase charging is more efficient than single-phase and how ChargeNode optimizes charging.
When you charge the car, a lot of energy is lost in the meantime. Not everything gets into the battery, and there is no getting out of it. But how can I reduce these losses?
Different chargers either supply electricity through one or three phases. As you hear from the name, three-phase charging provides three times more power than single-phase charging. Today, most cars are charged using single-phase, but more and more can be charged with three-phase which means you can charge your car faster.
Regardless of whether you charge single-phase or three-phase, so-called charge losses occur. When the car's on-board charger is to convert AC power in the grid into direct current that the battery uses, there is always a loss of heat. It consumes more energy than the battery receives. You are paying for energy that does not end up in the battery. Especially if you charge with little power, not least if you charge the car with single phase with fewer amps to charge. Above all, losses occur for cars that ideally receive higher power than they are allocated.
As much as a quarter of all the effect could disappear along the way. It's kind of like you'd refuel 10 gallons of gasoline and only get a little more than 7.5 gallons. But it is possible to reduce losses. With ChargeNode's 32A three-phase departure based charging, one car is charged at a time from the outside when each car is going to leave. This means fast charging with higher power which in turn means less charge losses. The total power output will be about the same regardless of which charging system you use, but it can be used in different smart ways.
So by using the departure time as a parameter, it just dissipates energy at the actual transmission. The opposite is arrival-based charging where all cars are charged at the same time. When all cars are allowed to share the electricity that is available, it can take time before you get a full charge. Then there is more power lost in the transfer.
Learn more about how ChargeNodes Departure based charging works.
There are several criteria that have an effect on the charge. Of course, what capacity the car battery has for storage and whether the on-board charger can receive single-phase or three-phase charging current. It also depends on whether the charging box provides AC or DC power and how strong charging current it can feed into the car. Finally, it concerns how much total load there is on the entire electrical system in a property, for example, and what temperature it is. Charge losses are inevitable, but not by a long way if you compare with the losses that occur when gasoline is burned in an internal combustion engine.
On a very cold winter day, efficiency of charging sink further. Especially if you are charging single-phase, then most of the energy is spent on heating the cold battery cells to a temperature where they are able to charge. If the temperature drops below zero degrees, the battery does not feel good at all. Some cars don't charge at all, others charge a little when it's really cold. The trick is to charge quickly to warm up the battery and then charge slowly. Or to charge the car directly after you have been driving for a while and the battery is heated. Unfortunately, it may be when you get home in the afternoon when it's most expensive to recharge.
Charging at higher power reduces charge losses compared to charging at low power. This means that a larger percentage of the electricity you pay for actually ends up in the car's battery.
Assume an average mileage of 125 miles per month (equivalent to 1500 miles per year).
If the electricity price is 3,50 kr per kWh will be the cost difference:
Choosing three-phase charging can thus save both energy and money.
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