What is an EVSE ?

EVSE is a known industry term that stands for electric vehicle supply equipment. Most people commonly refer to EVSE as “EV charging station” or “charging point.”

In everyday EV business use, EVSE can refer to two different meanings.

Let’s clarify them.

 

First, EVSE is the technical term for an EV charger, whose function is to supply electric energy to recharge electric vehicles. This EV charger consists of one or more electrical circuits and at least a single socket (or port/connector) per electrical circuit. When there is more than a single socket connected to the same electrical circuit, only one socket can charge a vehicle at any given time.

Second, the term EVSE can also refer to the equipment necessary to charge an EV in the charger, which typically includes the electrical circuit mentioned above. In essence, it is the unit controlling the power supply to a vehicle during a charging session.

Therefore, sometimes, the term EVSE refers to an individual charging circuit on an EV charger that may have more than a single charging socket (or port/connector) available to EV drivers.

Let’s demonstrate the role of the EVSE in the charging process, assuming we have two different chargers in a parking lot, as illustrated below.

The first charger (Charger A) has two sockets and one EVSE, allowing only one EV to charge. When charging, the second socket status turns to “unavailable” by the charger. In case of malfunction in status updates, the Driivz EV Charging Management Solution knows to update the status to “unavailable” and prevents the inconvenience of drivers arriving at this socket.

The second charger (Charger B) also has two sockets and two EVSEs, allowing 2 EVs to charge simultaneously. While simultaneously charging the 2 EVs, the available energy is split and conducted between the two sockets as defined by the operator according to the site’s energy limitation.

Regardless of which charger type is used, AC or DC, the number of EVSEs determines the charger’s ability to charge multiple vehicles at the same time and to balance the energy between those vehicles.