Definition
AC Slow Charging (AC Slow Charging) charges the power battery by outputting single-phase or three-phase AC through an AC EV charging station. The onboard charger (OBC) then rectifies, filters, and performs DC-DC conversion. The charging power is typically 3.5kW–7kW (single-phase) or 11kW–22kW (three-phase). It takes about 8–20 hours to fully charge a vehicle with a 60kWh battery. This method is suitable for long-term parking scenarios such as homes, offices, and hotels, with low grid impact and low equipment cost.
AC Slow Charging complies with standards such as GB/T 18487.1 and IEC 61851, using Type 2 (European standard) or national standard AC interfaces. The EV charging station itself does not perform AC-DC conversion; power conversion is handled by the onboard OBC. Therefore, the pile structure is simple, maintenance costs are low, and it is the mainstream solution for private and destination charging.
Technical Features
AC slow EV charging stations are equipped with card scanning/QR code authentication, billing, status monitoring, and fault alarm functions. Through 4G IoT SIM cards, they communicate with the operation platform and grid dispatch system to report charging orders, start/stop remotely, perform OTA upgrades, and manage orderly charging scheduling. In scenarios with peak-valley electricity prices or demand response, the platform can issue scheduling instructions to shift the charging load to valley periods, reducing user electricity costs and easing peak grid pressure.
Use Cases
AC slow charging is widely used in residential community private chargers, office building underground garages, shopping mall parking lots, hotels, scenic spots, and other destination charging scenarios. Combined with time-of-use electricity pricing, orderly charging, V2G (vehicle-to-grid interaction), and other technologies, it can effectively smooth out the charging load curve and support peak shaving and valley filling for the power grid. EV charging stations report real-time power, SOC, fault codes, etc., via IoT SIM cards and receive dispatch commands from the platform. SimtoLink provides stable networking services, dedicated APNs, data plans, and charging operation solutions for AC slow EV charging stations.
Deployment and Operation Recommendations
During the project implementation phase, enterprises should bind the IoT SIM card numbers to device serial numbers, installation locations, power supply methods, and maintenance responsible persons one-to-one, and sync this information into the asset and operation system to form a traceable link from card issuance, modification, activation, suspension to eventual cancellation. For equipment involving cross-province allocation or cross-border delivery, roaming charges, real-name registration policies, and local data compliance requirements should be evaluated in advance. It is recommended to choose solutions with predictable costs that support remote network switching or eUICC, reducing the frequency of on-site disassembly, and reserving spare cards and emergency replacement processes to shorten fault recovery time. For terminals received in bulk, it is recommended to perform sampling network verification covering connectivity and charges before activating the entire batch, to reduce rework costs.
In terms of cybersecurity, it is recommended to configure dedicated APN or VPDN tunnels for production or critical infrastructure terminals, converge north-south traffic to enterprise-controllable boundaries, and link with identity authentication, bastion host remote maintenance, and operation auditing; for remote control and parameter writing capabilities, hierarchical authorization, time windows, and dual-person review should be set. Regular drills for weak network and primary/backup link switching should be organized, recording latency, packet loss, and recovery time as technical references for MLPS (Multi-Level Protection Scheme) assessment, industry regulatory inspections, or internal risk control reviews. For third-party outsourced operations, minimum permissions, session recording, and key custody responsibilities should be clarified to avoid account sharing.
In daily operations, card management platforms should be used to continuously track online rates, abnormal traffic, dormant terminals, and data plan utilization, integrating alarms with the ITSM work order system to achieve automatic ticket assignment and closure. SimtoLink can split data pools for enterprises by factory, line, or business domain, providing bulk device suspension/resumption, API integration, and billing allocation capabilities, supporting visibility, control, and sustainable cost reduction at large-scale points, while aligning card management insights with project budgets and cost centers to improve transparency.