Public DC fast charging hogs the EV spotlight. Automakers and charging providers vie for bragging rights and ever-shorter recharging stops, with the latest models topping out at 1 megawatt.
But for a vast majority of EV owners, home is where the charging happens, often at a thumb-twiddling pace. And ChargePoint has unveiled a lineup of Level 2 AC chargers that can roughly double the speed of those sessions—and potentially reshape the charging landscape, home or away.
“ChargePoint’s next generation of EV chargers will be revolutionary, not evolutionary,” said Hossein Kazemi, ChargePoint’s chief technical officer for hardware.
The California-based company says its new Level 2 architecture can deliver up to 19.2 kilowatts in North America, and up to 22 kW on a three-phase European connection. Say goodnight to overnight charges: An EV with an 80-kW battery will refill from 10 to 80 percent in about three hours on a standard 240-volt home plug, or four hours from dead empty to full. Most plug-in hybrid EVs, like the Toyota RAV4 Prime and its 18.1-kilowatt-hour pack, would be able to charge their small batteries in an hour or less.
It wasn’t long ago that I was charging in public at 3 or 4 kW, including at my Whole Foods in Brooklyn, where I would hope to add a piddling 8 or 10 miles of range while overpaying for prosciutto di parma. But charging at these speeds would turn so-called opportunity charging into a genuine opportunity. Call it roughly a mile for every minute on the plug: 60 miles while you stuff a shopping cart; 120 or more miles while you watch a movie or hang out in a park. Or, a still-useful 30 miles in the time it takes to scarf a burger and fries, but at a fraction of the price of today’s whiz-bang DC stations.
DC charging is decisively faster, with models from Hyundai, Lucid, and others peaking above 250 kW or more on mighty 350 kW chargers. But as Kazemi and other experts are arguing, the gas-station model of charging is looking less and less like the actual future. For one, Tesla and other fast chargers are already seeing long, frustrating lines in some cities, even as EVs make up a tiny fraction of cars on the road. A single DC station with four stalls can cost between $470,000 and $725,000 to site, permit, and install—often including transformer upgrades—and can take up to two years from start to finish. Even for larger apartment complexes or residential developments, those costs and time frames tend to be deal killers. And those DC plugs could only serve a handful of residents at any one time.
DC chargers also appear to be a non-starter for many potential station operators, including fleet managers who need the ability to affordably charge dozens or hundreds of cars, vans, or trucks. Beyond onerous installation costs, the “convenient” electricity at public DC chargers can cost as much as or more than gasoline, blunting energy savings, which are a big reason to choose an EV in the first place.
“Unfortunately, people can’t move away from the gas-station mentality,” Kazemi says. “Whenever you have more than a few hours of dwell time, you need AC chargers, not DC chargers. You charge where the vehicle stays.”
ChargePoint’s Advanced EV Charging Features
The new architecture is packed with the latest features. ChargePoint’s flexible “ Omni Port” links to a NACS plug or a JC 1772 connector with no adapter required. Bidirectional charging and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connections can let compatible EVs—including some Ford, Hyundai, and Kia models—act as mobile generators during power outages or return power to the grid, though that still requires a home energy system and buy-in from participating utilities. Smart-home features make for smoother connections with solar arrays, home batteries, or energy management systems. And for a future in which multi-EV households will be commonplace, the units bring another bonus: Split-wiring capability allows multiple chargers to daisy chain off a single 240-volt connection.
At 19.2 kW, the Omni Port can charge two cars simultaneously at 9.6 kW, or three cars at a still-healthy 6.4 kW. (Homes require a 100-amp dedicated circuit to handle these 80-amp connections, but that’s well within reach of most modern residences.) The units’ dynamic load balancing can prioritize vehicle charging or automatically boost charging speeds when there’s a reduced load. Operators can offer multiple chargers on a single line for fleet operators, apartment owners, or businesses. While users on a single line would share the available kilowatts, Kazemi notes that not every stall tends to be in use simultaneously.
“This is a low-barrier entry, an opportunity to provide charging with good speed, and not too much infrastructure cost,” Kazemi says.
ChargePoint is already rolling out its chargers for residential, public, or fleet chargers in Europe and plans to offer them in the U.S. by the end of the year, starting below $1,000 for a residential unit.
For now, EVs themselves can be a weak link in the chain. Many EVs max out at 7.7 kW through their onboard chargers, though speeds are rapidly increasing. New BMW, BYD, Hyundai, Kia, and Tesla models max out around 11 kW on Level 2 units. General Motors’ GMC Hummers, the Chevy Silverado EV pickup, and the forthcoming Cadillac Escalade iQ can reach 19.2 kW, the better to fill enormous battery packs of up to 205 kWh. The new Lucid Gravity SUV brings the same 19.2-kW rate, combined with its inherent efficiency, enough to add an eye-popping 80 miles of range per hour on AC power. The 2026 Toyota bZ4x has doubled its capability to 22 kW. Electric fleet and delivery trucks, including popular “last mile” models, are getting up to speed as well, though Amazon’s electric vans, built by Rivian, are currently limited to 11 kW. But Peterbilt’s electric box trucks offer 80-amp, 19.2 kW capability, as do Isuzu’s NRR EV box trucks.
There’s one more clever feature included with the Omni Port, with a backplate cover that can hide the unsightly wiring connection behind the head units and their interfaces.
“If someone is building 50 houses, they can wire them up, the cover goes over, and a buyer or renter can decide if they want a charger,” Kazemi says. “When people move, they can take their chargers and leave the wiring behind,” or leave it—a fine selling point for the prospective buyer who already drives an EV, or who wants to make the switch.
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