Glossary

What is DC fast charging?

DC fast charging delivers direct current straight to the battery at high power, charging most EVs far faster than AC charging.

Also known as: rapid charging, DC charging, fast charging

DC fast charging bypasses the vehicle’s onboard AC-to-DC converter and feeds direct current straight into the battery, enabling much higher power — commonly 50 kW to 350 kW — than AC charging. It is what makes long-distance EV travel practical, taking a typical car from low to high state of charge in tens of minutes rather than hours.

DC charging uses connectors such as CCS2 and CHAdeMO, and its real-world speed depends on the connector, the station’s power rating, and the vehicle’s own charging curve. A "240 kW" station only delivers that to a car and connector able to accept it.

For data, the distinction between AC and DC (and the actual power per connector) is fundamental: it determines trip feasibility, dwell time and cost, so conflating the two, or trusting a single station-level power figure, produces misleading results.

In the Data for EV model

Data for EV records current_type and power_kw per connector, so you can distinguish genuine DC fast-charging capability from AC — and find the real maximum power available at each station across every network.

See DC fast charging in real data

Data for EV normalizes this across 65 networks into one canonical, OCPI 2.3.0-compatible model.