Charging station terms

RFID

Radio wave identification is a technology to remotely store and read information from so-called RFID tags that are on or in objects or living beings. An RFID charging station has an RFID reader and you hold a charging card up to it. As soon as your charging card is recognized, you can plug it into the car and start charging.

MID Certified

The MID quality mark is a quality mark that indicates whether the registered number of kWh may be used for registrations and settlements. MID is an abbreviation for Measuring Instrument Directe and is for the official direction measuring instruments.

4G

4th generation, the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications standards.

 

Type 2

Type 2 connectors are the official standard for connectors within the European Union. These three-phase connectors have a higher charging power than Type 1 connectors and deliver up to 22 kW for home charging and up to 43 kW for public charging.

Mode 3

With Mode 3 charging we can charge 'controlled', there is communication between the car and the charger and only when a suitable charging current has been determined by the car and the charging station, voltage is applied to the socket. Also called AC charging.

Mode 4

Mode 4 supplies direct current DC or DCFC, which is why Mode 4 is also called DC charging.

CCS2

The CCS2 connector is an improved version of the Type 2 AC connector with two additional power contacts for DC fast charging. CCS connectors can deliver between 50kW and 350kW of direct current. Additionally, AC charging is also possible by inserting an AC Type 1 connector (for CCS1) or AC Type 2 connector (for CCS2) into the top half of the connector, leaving the DC contacts at the bottom unused.

CHAdeMO

Most CHAdeMO connectors enable fast charging up to 200 kW and bidirectional charging.

Dynamic Load Balancing

This function measures the load on the power grid every second and adjusts the charging speed of the charging station accordingly. This prevents overloading of the grid and is also recommended if there are multiple charging systems present (Power sharing).

Plug and charge

The simplest charging stations, plug in and charge. Also the cheapest. Also called dumb or offline charging station.

Online or smart charging station

Connect to a network (UTP, 4G with SIM) to monitor consumption and costs. Most models work with a charging card. Often used with lease cars to manage costs. These poles are of course more expensive than the offline models and there may be additional (monthly) costs.