A public EV charger connects to the local electricity network through a dedicated commercial service built for that site. Power arrives from the utility’s feeder, passes through a meter and switchgear on the site, and only then reaches the chargers. A DC fast charging site needs a far larger connection than a row of AC posts, and often its own transformer.
Key Takeaways
- A public charger connects through a dedicated commercial service: feeder, service connection, meter, switchgear, then the chargers.
- DC fast charging at 50–350 kW often needs its own transformer; public Level 2 at 7–19 kW per port can share a smaller service.
- The utility owns the supply side and its timetable; the site owner builds everything from the meter to the parking space.
- The station is metered and billed as its own commercial customer.
The Chain From the Street to the Charger
A public station is not plugged into the building next door like an appliance. Between the grid and the car there is a chain of equipment, and each link is sized for the load:
- The utility feeder. The local network’s supply reaches the edge of the site, the way it reaches any commercial customer.
- The service connection. A dedicated feed runs from that network into the site, separate from any neighbouring tenant’s circuits.
- The transformer. If the incoming supply does not match what the equipment uses, or the load is large, a transformer adjusts it. Large DC sites commonly need one.
- The site meter. The station is metered as its own commercial customer, so its electricity is measured and billed separately from any building beside it.
- Switchgear and distribution. From the meter, switchgear splits the supply between the chargers, each on its own protected circuit.
- The chargers. AC posts draw from that distribution directly. At a DC site, power cabinets do the heavy conversion and feed the dispensers drivers actually touch.
Our walkthrough of how EV charging stations work follows the session from the driver’s side; this article is about the supply behind it.
Why Fast Chargers Need a Bigger Connection
The U.S. Department of Transportation puts Level 2 charging at 7–19 kW and DC fast charging at 50–350 kW. That gap is why the connection, not the charger, is often the long part of a project:
| Connection | Typical power | What the site connection looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Public Level 2 | 7–19 kW per port | A commercial service shared across several posts; U.S. DOE figures put equipment at about $3,500 and installation at about $2,500 per connector |
| DC fast charging | 50–350 kW | A larger service, frequently with a dedicated transformer; DOE figures put equipment at $38,000–$90,000 and installation at $20,000–$60,000 |
| Federal corridor DC | At least 150 kW per port | The NEVI rules in 23 CFR Part 680 also require stations open 24/7 with average annual uptime above 97% |
A home charger is the same idea at household scale: one dedicated circuit from the main panel.
Who Owns Which Part of the Connection
The chain splits at the meter. On the utility side sits the feeder and any upgrade it needs; that work runs on the utility’s schedule, not the site owner’s. On the site side sit the meter position, switchgear and cabling to each parking space — the build an installer quotes and delivers. The station is billed as a commercial user, and U.S. commercial electricity averages 14.53 cents per kWh (EIA), a different rate from the residential average. The operating side is covered in our guide to how commercial charging stations work.
Chargers Built for a Site Connection
EVDANCE supplies both ends of the public range. The EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station runs two Type 2 connectors at up to 43 kW shared (22 kW per connector), with OCPP 1.6J and RFID, in an IP54 enclosure. The EV-RHDC30K-L compact DC fast charger delivers 22 kW DC with OCPP 1.6J — a fraction of a corridor unit’s draw, for sites whose connection cannot grow to 150 kW. See the commercial charging solutions page for the full site range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a public charger plug into the building next to it?
Not like an appliance does. Their load runs through a metered commercial service and switchgear built for charging, not through ordinary socket circuits inside the building.
Why do some finished stations sit switched off for a while?
The chargers can be installed before the utility-side connection or upgrade is complete. Until that link is live, there is nothing for the finished hardware to draw from.
Can a site add more chargers on the same connection later?
Only up to the capacity the service was built for. Beyond that, the connection itself has to grow — which is why sites often size the first build with later expansion in mind.
Related Reading
- How Do EV Charging Stations Work?
- How Do Commercial EV Charging Stations Work?
- How Much Does It Cost to Install a Commercial EV Charging Station?
- What Affects EV Charger Installation Cost? 8 Factors to Check
