The majority of electric cars and plug-in hybrids are charged at home, in your own garage or carport. No wonder, because the vehicle is safely parked here and can be left overnight to charge. The usable charging capacity depends not only on the vehicle and the charging equipment used, but also on the individual house infrastructure or house connection. Depending on the requirements, Audi offers powerful and compact charging systems for such cases.

... I still want to recharge my car as quickly as possible? Audi sells the charging system connect¹ for this purpose. Using an integrated interface for the compatible Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS), the system adjusts charging power when other consumers in the home are switched on or off. This avoids an overload which can lead to a blackout. This increases the average charging capacity and reduces the charging time depending on local conditions, such as available grid connection capacity and domestic auxiliary consumers.

In principle, all Audi charging equipment only uses the charging power that can be provided by the socket. Overloading the socket is thus avoided. The additional overload protection available with the connect¹ charging system in conjunction with a compatible Home Energy Management System (HEMS) provides targeted control for current loads, including for low house connection lines.

If you cannot charge your electric car or plug-in hybrid at home or want to charge your battery on the road, you can conveniently use one of the public charging stations, for example while you are out doing errands. The e-tron Charging Service² provides uniform access to one of the largest public charging networks in Europe. By the beginning of 2019, you will be able to charge at well over 70,000 public charging points in 16 European countries. On longer journeys, Audi customers throughout Europe can also charge up to 150 kW at the high-power charging stations in the Ionity network with e-tron Charging Service² under special conditions.

The abbreviations "AC" and "DC" are often used when talking about electric car or plug-in hybrid charging. "AC" stands for alternating current and "DC" for direct current. Household sockets, industrial sockets, and wall boxes typically supply alternating current. However, batteries like those found in electric cars and plug-in hybrids can only store direct current. Thus, the charger must convert the alternating current into direct current for the battery cells. This converter is installed in all electric Audi vehicles. During daily use, you will not even notice the difference between alternating current and direct current - converting the current happens automatically in your car. In order to achieve particularly high charging performances, some charging stations have already integrated a very high-capacity AC/DC converter. They are called DC charging stations and can usually be found in public areas. These higher charging capacities make it possible to charge electric cars even faster.