AC phases
AC phases tells you whether the onboard charger can use one or three electrical phases. It matters because charging decides how the car fits your week and how tiring long trips become. Home AC charging, public DC charging and the charge curve answer different questions.
How to compare it
Three-phase support is valuable in countries where homes and public AC posts commonly provide it.
- Separate AC home charging from DC fast charging.
- Use 10-80% time and average power for road trips.
- Remember that battery temperature can change the result.
What changes it
Charging results move with charger capability, battery temperature, starting state of charge, pack voltage and how aggressively the car protects the cells.
- A warm battery usually charges better than a cold one.
- The useful window is normally 10-80%, not 0-100%.
- The lowest limit wins: car, charger, cable, grid or temperature.
Common trap
A three-phase post will not give full power to a car with only a single-phase onboard charger.
- Peak kW is not the whole session.
- The charger rating does not guarantee the car will accept that power.
AC phases: what happens during a charge stop
Charging is a curve, not a single peak. The average over the useful window is what shortens a trip.
AC phases across EVRadar
Based on 1000 published cars
Lowest
1
Typical
2.4
Highest
3