About Charging an EV
Charging an electric vehicle is possible in a variety of locations and at a variety of speeds. The cost for charging is set by the charging service provider and can even be free. Charging types can be divided into three broad categories:
Private charging
Private charging points are not available to everyone. Home chargers and reserved spaces are examples of private charging.
Semi-private charging
Office charging or guest parking are examples of semi-private charging stations.
Public charging
Public chargers are charging stations which are available to all drivers, e.g. at destinations (restaurants, shopping centers, etc) or roadside (highways, city parking, etc.).
Home Charging
For private individuals living in detached or semi-detached housing, home chargers can be installed. Charging an EV from a professionally installed home charger is a safer alternative than plugging the car into a standard home electric socket. Fortum offers a broad range of home charging alternatives, varying somewhat based on country. Fortum only uses smart chargers for home charging, which means that you can control the charging remotely (e.g. start, stop, set timers, see your charging history, kWh consumption, etc.).
Housing Associations
For charging at homes that are part of housing associations, such as terraced housing and apartments, EVs can be charged in the parking spaces controlled by the housing association. Fortum uses smart chargers with dynamic load balancing for housing associations. EV drivers have the benefits of the smart charger (start, stop, set timers, see history, allow visitors to charge, etc.), and the housing association can allocate and settle costs based on the precise use of an individual.
Workplace Charging
Workplace parking spaces may also be equipped with EV chargers for employees, suppliers, and visitors. Workplace charging may offer a variety of speeds, from semi-fast to fast, with dynamic load balancing, as well as user-based pricing.
Retail, Shopping Centers, Hotels, Car Parks
Many businesses offer EV charging to their clients, and you can find a variety of speeds depending on the location. Stops along highways will often have fast chargers so you can charge your car in less than 30 minutes. Parking lots such as park-and-ride may offer slower or semi-fast charging. The business owner decides whether or not they want to request payment for customers with EVs to charge at their stations.