AC Chargers provide AC Power to the car and the car then uses its OBC (On-Board Charger) which is pre-installed in all cars to convert this AC Power to DC Power since the battery packs of all cars store DC Power in them. They are available in 3.3kW, 7.4kW, 11kW, 22kW and 43kW variants for Electric Cars.

DC Chargers provide DC Power directly to the battery pack of the car while by-passing the OBC. They are available in 15kW, 30kW, 60kW, 120kW, 150kW and higher.

OBC (On-Board Charger) as the names suggests is the charger (or AC Power to DC Power converter) pre-installed in all Electric Cars by their respective manufacturers. Different cars contain OBC’s of different capacities viz. 3.3kW, 7.2 kW,  43kW etc.

You can use any; AC or DC charger to charge your Electric Car depending upon your Budget and Power availability i.e. electric load available at your premises; which is easily upgradable.

AC Charger’s cost ranges from Rs.30,000 to Rs.1 Lakh depending upon the power (kW) capacity while DC chargers are costlier with their cost ranging from Rs.5 Lakh to 25 Lakh depending upon the power (kW) capacity.   

Usually DC Chargers are considered as fast chargers and you can buy them if budget is not a constraint. But since their price starts from Rs.5 lakh; they are mainly installed at public charging stations and not preferred as home chargers.

Further, 22kW and 43 kW AC Chargers also come in fast chargers category and you can buy them at a price ranging from Rs.50,000 – Rs.1 lakh; provided your electric car OBC supports charging at 22kW and 43 kW

The choice of kW capacity of your AC Charger depends  upon

1. The power capacity of your Electric Car’s OBC 
2. Battery capacity of your car
3. Charging frequency/ daily run
4. Power Availability i.e. maximum electric load available at the premises where the charger needs to be installed; which is easily upgradable.

For example, If your car’s OBC power capacity is 3kW and you have installed a 7.4kW or higher AC Charger, your Electric Car will still charge at 3.3kW only because of the car’s OBC capacity limitation. Also check electric load at your premises before making the decision.

7.4kW AC charger requires single phase while higher kW chargers require three phase connection.

Not every Electric Car supports 60kW DC Fast Charging facility. Every Electric Car has different AC Charging and DC Charging arrangements. Therefore, please seek details from car seller to confirm the DC Fast Charging facility (in terms of Power and Speed).

Not every Electric Car supports 7.2kW or 22kW AC Fast Charging facility because of different OBCs in different cars. Therefore, please seek the OBC details from the car seller to choose kW capacity of the AC Charger.

Yes, you can. Usually at our home or at our premises (except some industrial area), we have single phase supply only, but you can increase your electric load and get the Three Phase line installed by approaching your Electricity Provider. Once you get the three Phase line and appropriate load at your premises, you can then install the Three Phase Charger.

If you have Tata Nexon Prime, you can charge with 3kW or 3.5kW AC Charger. If you have Tata Nexon Max, you can charge with 7.4kW AC Charger.    

Type-2 is a standard in India which is being used to standardize the Charging System of the Electric Cars with AC Power.

CCS-2 is a standard in India which is being used to standardize the Charging System of the Electric Cars with DC Power.