“AC or DC?” is one of the first questions people ask when comparing chargers, and the honest answer for most people is: you need AC, and DC is for a specific set of situations. Here’s why.
How each one works
Every EV battery stores DC power. An AC charger sends alternating current to the car, where the vehicle’s own onboard charger converts it to DC before it reaches the battery — this onboard charger is what limits how fast an AC charger can actually charge your car, regardless of the charger’s own rating. A DC fast charger does the AC-to-DC conversion inside the charging unit itself and feeds DC directly to the battery, bypassing the vehicle’s onboard charger and its power limit entirely.
Why DC is faster, and why that matters less at home
Because DC chargers skip the onboard charger bottleneck, they can deliver far more power — tens to hundreds of kW versus a typical 7.4–22 kW AC charger. That speed matters when a vehicle is only parked for a short window, like a highway stop. It matters far less overnight at home, where an AC charger has 8+ hours to work with regardless.
Why AC is usually the right home and workplace choice
DC hardware is significantly more expensive to buy and install than AC hardware, and most home electrical connections aren’t sized to support it anyway. For overnight or full-workday charging, AC comfortably does the job at a fraction of the cost.
When DC makes sense
DC fast charging earns its cost at commercial and highway sites where vehicles need a quick top-up and move on — fleet depots with tight turnaround windows, or highway plazas serving long-distance travel.
See our Technology pages for more on how our AC and DC hardware ranges are built.
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