All about EV charging.
Connectors, AC vs DC, and what charging voltage, current and power actually mean — so you can read any spec sheet and know exactly how fast that car will charge, here.
The three questions that decide everything
1 · Which port does it have?
CCS2 and Type 2, or you will not be able to use the network.
2 · How much power can it take?
An AC number and a DC number — both matter, for different reasons.
3 · Where will you charge it?
Your house supply sets your real charging speed, every night.
Charging ports: stick to CCS2 and Type 2
| Connector | Type | Where you meet it | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type 2 (IEC 62196-2) The AC standard in Sri Lanka. Seven-pin round socket. Every wall box and public AC point uses it, and it is the socket your overnight charging happens through. | AC | Home wall boxes, offices, hotels, malls | Buy this |
| CCS2 (Combined Charging System 2) A Type 2 socket with two extra DC pins below it — one port on the car does both AC and DC. The DC standard for every new EV sold here. | DC (+ AC) | Public DC fast chargers | Buy this |
| CHAdeMO Legacy. Still on much of Sri Lanka's installed DC base because the market was Leaf-heavy, but no new model sold here offers it and it is being retired worldwide. Fine on a used Leaf; not something to buy into. | DC | Older Japanese imports (Nissan Leaf) | Legacy |
| Type 1 (SAE J1772) Single-phase only, and the public AC network here is Type 2 — Type 1 points aren't available at most locations, so you need an adapter cable for almost everything. | AC | Older Japanese/US-spec imports | Avoid |
| GB/T The Chinese domestic standard. Very hard to live with here — GB/T connectors aren't available at most public charging locations, so you'd be relying on charging at home. | AC + DC | China domestic-market imports | Avoid |
What the local network actually looks like
Across the ~95 public stations on the Volt Charge map, DC bays are overwhelmingly CCS2, with CHAdeMO still present on a large share of units — most DC chargers here carry both heads, a legacy of how many Nissan Leafs the market absorbed. Public Type 2 AC points are a smaller but growing group at hotels, malls and offices. A CCS2 + Type 2 car can use all of it.
The practical risk is the grey import. A used car bought on the Chinese domestic market may carry GB/T, and an older Japanese or American car may carry Type 1 — either one makes public charging very hard here, because those connectors aren’t available at most locations. You can still charge at home, and an adapter may cover some cases, but planning a long trip around the few compatible points is a real constraint. Check the actual socket on the actual vehicle, not the model name: the same model is sold with different ports in different markets.
Voltage, current and power — in plain language
Electrical pressure — how hard the electricity is being pushed. Sri Lankan homes are supplied at 230 V single-phase; a three-phase supply is 400 V between phases. Public DC chargers push much higher voltages (typically 400–500 V, up to 800–1000 V on the newest units) straight into the battery pack.
The rate of flow — how much electricity is moving. This is what your wiring and your breaker limit. A normal wall socket is 13 A; a home wall box is typically 16 A or 32 A. Current is why a charger install needs an electrician: the cable and breaker must be rated for the amps you draw, continuously, for hours.
Pressure multiplied by flow — how fast energy actually moves into the car. This is the “charging speed” number on every spec sheet. Double the power, roughly halve the charging time.
Power multiplied by time — the actual amount of energy delivered. Your battery is measured in kWh, your electricity bill is charged in kWh, and a 50 kWh battery charging at 10 kW takes about five hours to fill. kW is the speed; kWh is the distance.
And the one that catches everyone: charging time
Hours ≈ battery kWh ÷ charging kW, plus roughly 10% for losses and heat. A 50 kWh pack on a 7.4 kW home box is about seven hours — an overnight charge. The same pack on a 2.3 kW household socket is over twenty hours, which is why a plug-in-the-wall “granny cable” is an emergency tool, not a charging plan.
Work out your own numbers with the charging-time calculator →
Maximum charging power: check both numbers
On AC the electricity is converted from AC to DC inside the car, by a component called the onboard charger. Whatever that onboard charger is rated for — commonly 3.3, 6.6, 7 or 11 kW on cars sold here — is your hard ceiling for home and destination charging.
This is the number that decides what your nights look like, and it is the one buyers most often miss. A 22 kW wall box on a car with a 7 kW onboard charger charges at 7 kW. You paid for the wall box and got nothing.
On DC the conversion happens in the charger, which then feeds the battery directly — so the onboard charger is bypassed entirely and much higher powers are possible. The car quotes a maximum DC power (often 60–150 kW on cars sold here).
But you only get the lower of the car’s limit and the charger’s limit — and most public DC units in Sri Lanka are 30–60 kW. A car rated at 150 kW DC will charge at 40 kW on a 40 kW charger. Paying a premium for DC peak power buys you speed the local network cannot yet deliver.
Battery voltage: 400 V vs 800 V
Most EVs sold in Sri Lanka run a roughly 400 V battery architecture. A few newer models (such as the Hyundai IONIQ 5/6 and Kia EV6) use 800 V, which lets them accept very high DC power without excessive current and heat. It is genuinely better engineering — but it only shows up on very high-power DC chargers. On a 40 kW local unit, an 800 V car and a 400 V car charge at the same speed. Treat it as future-proofing, not as a here-and-now advantage.
How long does it actually take?
| Charging from | Supply | Power | 50 kWh battery | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household 13 A socket | 230 V single-phase | ~2.0–2.3 kW | 20+ hours | Emergency only — not a charging plan |
| 16 A wall box | 230 V single-phase | 3.7 kW | ~13 hours | Light daily use, small batteries |
| 32 A wall box | 230 V single-phase | 7.4 kW | ~7 hours | The normal Sri Lankan home setup |
| 16 A wall box | 400 V three-phase | 11 kW | ~4.5 hours | Only if the car's onboard charger accepts 11 kW |
| 32 A wall box | 400 V three-phase | 22 kW | ~2.5 hours | Rare at home; a few public AC points |
| Public DC (typical SL) | DC direct to battery | 30–60 kW | ~45–60 min (20→80%) | What most of the local network delivers today |
| Public DC (high power) | DC direct to battery | 120–350 kW | ~20–30 min (20→80%) | Rare here — and only if the car accepts it |
Charging at home — where 80% of it happens
- Find out whether you have single-phase or three-phase. Look at your meter and main breaker, or ask CEB/LECO. Single-phase 230 V is normal for a house and supports up to about 7.4 kW — enough for almost anyone charging overnight. Three-phase 400 V unlocks 11 or 22 kW, but only if the car’s onboard charger can use it.
- Check your main breaker rating and existing load. A 32 A wall box drawing continuously for hours sits alongside your air conditioning, water pump and everything else. An electrician should confirm the incoming supply and consumer unit can carry it, and fit a dedicated circuit with the correct RCD/RCBO protection.
- Install a proper Type 2 wall box, not a socket habit. A wall box gives you the right earthing and residual-current protection for hours of continuous high current, plus scheduling so the car charges in the off-peak window.
- Charge on the off-peak tariff. CEB’s time-of-use off-peak rate overnight is what makes an EV dramatically cheaper to run than petrol. Set the car or the wall box to start inside that window and never think about it again.
- In an apartment, settle permission and metering before you buy the car. Get written consent from the management company and agree how the electricity is sub-metered and billed.
Apartment charging guide → Home-charging & running-cost calculators →
Charging habits that keep the battery healthy
- Live between roughly 20% and 80% day to day, and charge to 100% only before a long trip. This applies most to NMC chemistry; LFP packs (BYD’s Blade, and many Chinese models sold here) actually prefer a periodic full charge to keep the state-of-charge reading accurate.
- Use AC at home as your default and DC as a travel tool. Frequent DC fast charging ages a pack faster, and it costs several times more per kWh than off-peak home electricity.
- Avoid leaving the car sitting at very high or very low charge in the heat. Parked at 100% in direct sun for days is the worst case; around 50–60% is the kindest state for long storage.
- Don’t rush to DC immediately after a hard run. A hot pack will throttle charging power to protect itself — you may see far less than the advertised kW.
Frequently asked
Which charging port should I look for when buying an EV in Sri Lanka?
CCS2 for DC fast charging and Type 2 for AC — they are the same physical port on the car. This is what Sri Lanka's public network and every home wall box are built around, so a CCS2/Type 2 car can use everything. Avoid GB/T and Type 1 cars: public charging is very hard with them because those connectors aren't available at most locations.
What is the difference between charging voltage, current and power?
Voltage (volts, V) is the electrical pressure, current (amps, A) is how much electricity flows, and power (kilowatts, kW) is how fast energy actually moves — power = volts x amps ÷ 1000. A 230 V supply at 32 A gives 7.4 kW. Energy delivered (kilowatt-hours, kWh) is power multiplied by time, and kWh is what fills your battery and what you pay for.
Will a 22 kW wall box charge my car faster?
Only if the car's onboard charger is rated for 22 kW. AC charging speed is capped by the car, not the wall box — many EVs sold here are limited to 6.6, 7 or 11 kW, so a bigger AC box adds cost and no speed.
Does an 800 V car charge faster in Sri Lanka?
Not by as much as the brochure suggests. An 800 V architecture only pays off on very high-power DC chargers, and most public DC units in Sri Lanka are 30–60 kW — the charger, not the car, is the limit.
Is CHAdeMO a problem?
Not today — much of Sri Lanka's installed DC base still has a CHAdeMO head because the market was Nissan Leaf-heavy. But it is a legacy standard, no new car sold here uses it, and new installations are CCS2. Buy CCS2 if you have the choice.
How much does it cost to charge at home?
Home overnight charging on the CEB time-of-use off-peak rate is by far the cheapest electricity you can put in a car — several times cheaper per km than petrol and cheaper than public DC. Use our running-cost calculator with the current tariff to see your own numbers.