Your EV Charger may look like a single unit, but it is made up of many hardware and software elements that all have to work together in order for it to function.

Here we take a quick look at some of the main components in any home EV charger.

This is simply the source of the electricity that your EV charger is routing into the vehicle’s battery. With a home charger, this will be your home’s electricity supply. That in turn may come from the grid, directly from solar PV panels, or from a battery storage system.

With public chargers, the power supply is drawn either from the building the chargers are connected to or the underground electricity lines carrying power to buildings.

The housing is the frame enclosing all of the internal components of the EV charger. Usually made of plastic, the housing plays an essential role in protecting the charger from dust and water that could damage it.

One thing you should always check when buying an EV Charger is its Ingress Protection (IP) rating. This will tell you how sealed it is against things that could cause a short circuit, or even a fire.

The housing also plays the biggest role in the aesthetics of an EV charger. This is the difference between having an ugly box or a sleek, modern appliance.

The charging cable carries the electric current from the charger to the vehicle. A home EV charger will typically have a cable that is between 14mm and 20mm in diameter, and 5m to 10m in length.

The charging cable may be built into the charger, called a tethered charger, or it may be detachable, an untethered charger.

The connector for an EV charger consists of two elements: the plug at the end of the charging cable, and the socket that it goes into. There are different types of connectors for whether you are using AC or DC charging, and for various national standards.

Read more about EV Charger Connectors.

This is the interface that allows the user to control the charger and see its current status. There are two types of interface for an EV charger, one or both of which will always be present.

Screen & Buttons – A built-in display screen and buttons to allow you to manually control the unit.

Control App – A software platform that interfaces with the charger and allows you to control and monitor it remotely.

The control board acts as the brain of the EV charger, directing its operations and providing the computer power for communications with the electric vehicle and the power supply that it draws from. It governs the internal smart functions, cooling, and safety features of the EV charger.

This is the basic software that governs how the EV charger communicates with the power supply in your home, and with your car. Communications Protocols for EV charging have changed over time with different connectors, and can also differ between public and private chargers.

Charger to EV: Communications between an electric vehicle and the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment govern a range of functions such as cable detection, approval to charge, and power level regulation.

Having good communication protocols is essential for allowing interoperability of electric vehicle charging. Without them, EVs could be locked into a single proprietary network.

These protocols also monitor the health of the EV charger and enable a range of smart functions at higher levels.