How fast will a 3 phase EV charger charge a 1 phase EV?

8744 Views 24 Replies 12 Participants Last post by b789pilot, Jul 28, 2021

meetyg

Discussion Starter · Dec 25, 2020

As I have 3 phase AC (400v, 3x25 amps total) at home, I was wondering how fast a 3 phase charger will charge an EV that has 1 phase on-board charger ?

For example, I was told that a 3 phase charger connected to my home AC would be set at 16 amps per phase, and total output would be around 11kw.
But, I'm awaiting delivery of a Corsa-e which has a 7kw OBC (1 phase).
Will it be able to charge at 7kw? How does this work, when input of charger is 3 phase, and OBC is just one phase?
Will it take just one of three phase lines, giving a maximum of 3.6kw (220v x 16 amps)?

I'd appreciate you inputs on this as it worries me that although I have 3 phase AC, it will actually be a disadvantage with a 1 phase OBC on the EV.

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Jeremy Harris

· #21 · Jul 27, 2021

mrblonde said:
Isn't it possible to buy a charger that combines 3 phases into 1 and achieve the 7,4kW speed?

To replace the one in the car, you mean?

There are cars that do this, the Tesla Model 3 for example has three 16 A chargers, and can use two of them in parallel on a single phase supply, or all three separately on a three phase supply. Other cars have chargers that do something similar, varies from model to model.

Bear in mind that the box you have in your home for connecting to the car is not a charger, it's just a power outlet that can either supply single phase or three phase mains power to the charger(s) that are in the car.

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meetyg

Discussion Starter · #22 · Jul 27, 2021

mrblonde said:
Isn't it possible to buy a charger that combines 3 phases into 1 and achieve the 7,4kW speed?

Not that easy to implement. Combining 3 AC phases into one isn't feasible, unlike DC where you can just connect in parallel.
I looked into this issue, as I have 3 phase AC at home, but my Corsa-e accepts only one phase (so charges at a maximum of one phase, meaning 16 Amps, 3.6 kw in my case).

I have come around to a charger which takes two phases and treats them as one higher voltage phase. They use a custom built toroidal transformer to do this.
You can get more info at:

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But since I already had an EVSE installed, replacing it with this 2 phase charger seemed costly to mee, so I gave up on the idea. But it seems like a nice solution.

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Orrery

· #23 · Jul 27, 2021

I have a single phase 16 amp charger and it is fine. I have no need of anything bigger. The only time I notice the limitation is then I arrive home with less than 20% battery and wake up to find it has only charged to 90 odd %, and that is with the charge time limited to 7 hours 'economy 7'.

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meetyg

Discussion Starter · #24 · Jul 28, 2021

In the end my "solution" for a bit faster charging was to upgrade my RCBO from 16 amps to 20 amps.
I can control the output of my EVSE from an app, so now I can charge up to 20 amps, giving around 4.2kwh. Still not that fast, but if I keep the battery above 10%, the charge time is more acceptable.

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b789pilot

· #25 · Jul 28, 2021

meetyg said:
In the end my "solution" for a bit faster charging was to upgrade my RCBO from 16 amps to 20 amps.
I can control the output of my EVSE from an app, so now I can charge up to 20 amps, giving around 4.2kwh. Still not that fast, but if I keep the battery above 10%, the charge time is more acceptable.

Did you get your car with the 7kW or 11kW charger?

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