“DC” and “AC” Charging, What’s This about?

By Paul Gipe

Batteries store DC. Household electricity is AC.

All EVs come with an “onboard” charger that takes AC and converts it to DC that then charges the battery. (The onboard converter is not the thing in the trunk. That is a “mobile” charge cable.) At DCFC stations, the plug feeds DC directly to the battery. It does not go through the converter.