Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

An electric vehicle charging infrastructure, also called EV charging station, electric recharging point, charging point, charge point, ECS (Electronic Charging Station) and EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment), 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, neighborhood electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. At home or work, some electric vehicles have onboard converters that can plug into a standard electrical outlet or a high-capacity appliance outlet. Others either require or can use a charging station that provides electrical conversion, monitoring, or safety functionality. These stations are also needed when traveling, and many support faster charging at higher voltages and currents than are available from residential EVSEs. Public charging stations are typically on-street facilities provided by electric utility companies or located at retail shopping centers and operated by many private companies.