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I've been looking into EV AC chargers for businesses (basically, any and all AC chargers up to 2 x 22kW). One thing I've noticed is that quite a few chargers look alike, sometimes to the point of just having different stickers.

This raised two questions:

Which companies actually design and manufacture EV AC chargers?

Do other companies add something to existing designs? Or do they put the chargers in a different jacket and then resell them?

Sorry if this is not the right place to ask this question. I wasn't quite sure where else to go to.

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  • $\begingroup$ Sounds like the "all soap powders are the same" just different boxes... $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Nov 6, 2019 at 15:46
  • $\begingroup$ I was starting to think the same thing. Now I'm trying to figure out how many soap powders there actually are, but it's difficult because of all the boxes. $\endgroup$
    – user23417
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 7:39

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They are not the same, even while they meet the exact same standards minimum. Basically level 1/2 chargers are actually not charging, they just deliver AC power safely to the onboard charger of the car. That's why some call them smart cable.

Level 3 chargers deliver very high amp DC directly to the battery and talk with the EV to control and modulate power delivery. They can charge much faster and are well suited for commercial fleets.

Here is a ranking of level 2 chargers by The Car-Bible magazine. Car-bible charger ranking

And this is a good, detailed, Quora article about the in and outs of EV charging. quora EV

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