Charging is the one part of EV ownership with no petrol-car equivalent, and the terminology (AC/DC, connector types, charging speeds) trips up a lot of first-time buyers. Here's the short version.
AC vs DC charging
AC (alternating current) charging is slower and is what most home and workplace charging uses — your car's onboard charger converts AC from the wall into DC to store in the battery. DC (direct current) fast charging skips that onboard conversion, feeding DC straight into the battery at much higher power, which is why public "fast chargers" are DC and can add meaningful range in 20-40 minutes rather than hours.
Connector types you'll actually see in India
- CCS2 (Combined Charging System 2): The dominant standard for modern EVs in India — used by the large majority of cars launched in the last few years, supporting DC fast charging typically at 30-60 kW for mass-market cars (higher-end vehicles can accept more).
- Type 2: The standard AC connector for home/workplace charging and slower public AC charging, typically up to around 22 kW (actual home charging is usually much slower, limited by your electrical connection).
- GB/T: China's charging standard, still found on some electric buses and older public chargers in India, but not used by new mass-market passenger EVs.
- Bharat AC-001: An early Indian standard aimed at two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws (3.3 kW via a standard 3-pin industrial socket), largely superseded by CCS2/Type 2 for newer vehicles but still relevant for some two- and three-wheelers.
Check your specific vehicle's spec sheet on its model page to confirm which connector and charging speeds it actually supports — these vary by model and even by variant.
Why public charging costs more than home charging
Home charging uses your domestic electricity tariff, typically ₹6-8 per kWh in most of Punjab, giving a running cost around ₹0.80-1.15 per km for a typical efficient EV. Public DC fast charging networks (Tata Power, Statiq, ChargeZone and others) commonly charge ₹18-25 per kWh, pushing the effective cost to ₹3-4 per km — still cheaper than petrol, but a meaningfully worse deal than charging at home. This is the main reason home or workplace charging access matters so much for EV running costs — see our EV vs petrol cost comparison for the full picture.
Finding a charger
Our charging station directory lists stations by state and city with connector type, network operator, and when the listing was last verified — charging infrastructure changes fast, so always check the "last verified" date before relying on a specific station being operational.
Connector standards and typical charging costs as of this writing — always confirm your specific vehicle's supported connector and charging speed with its official specification.