Whether it’s a wallbox charger installed in your home or a public charger at a supermarket or fuel station, the amount of power the charger supplies will determine how quickly it will recharge your van’s battery.

 

Slow charger

Most slow charging points are domestic plug points rated at up to 3.6 kW and generally takes over a day to fully charge an electric van. It is highly recommend that those who need to charge regularly, get a dedicated EV charging unit installed.

Fast charger

Fast chargers are rated at 7 - 22 kW. Most home chargers are rated at 7 kW. Some depots and public charging have three-phase electricity, which means vans can be charged at up to 22 kW - halving the charge time of an 11 kW unit, for example
 

Rapid charger

These are ideal if you need a quick top-up during your working day and are often found at motorway services, on main roads or in many other locations such as coffee shops or dedicated charging hubs. The most common type of rapid chargers provide DC power at 50-100 kW which means they’re capable of charging our latest electric vans up to 80% in as little as 30 minutes. All rapid chargers will have the right cable for your Mercedes-Benz.

As electric vehicle technology has evolved, so have the number of charging connector types. Electric vehicles in the UK either have a Type 1 or Type 2 socket for slow/fast charging and CHAdeMO or CCS for DC rapid charging.
 

Fortunately, in the UK you should only ever have to use two connector types. If you buy a Mercedes-Benz van, you’ll currently use the Type 2 connector for AC slow/fast charging and the CCS for DC Rapid charging – the charging socket in your vehicle will connect to both. Let us explain more:
 

Type 1 connectors
While these are still popular in America, you’ll only find these 5 pin Type 1 connectors in older electric vehicles in the UK.

Type 2 connectors
These are the most common connector types in the UK, 7 pin Type 2 connectors. This is the type you’ll currently use when connecting a Mercedes-Benz eSprinter or eVito to a slow/fast charging point.

CCS
CCS (‘Combined Charging System’) is the most common connector type in the UK for connecting to rapid DC charging points. You will use a CCS connector with all our latest electric vans. It’s being phased in as the standard for all car brands in UK and EU.
 

CHAdeMO
This was the rival DC rapid charging connector type, and was common for Japanese brands. You’ll see CHAdeMO connectors at rapid charge points, but all new cars and vans are build with CCS.

To keep your business moving you need to keep your electric vans charged and ready to go. The Mercedes-Benz app has many intelligent features including remote charging which enables you to monitor the charging levels using your smartphone and navigation features showing the location of public chargers on your route.

There are now over 64,000 public charging points and the number is growing by the day – in fact, there are now more electric vehicle charging points than petrol stations, debunking the myth that there aren’t enough public chargers. You’ll find these at supermarkets, drive-thru restaurants, hotels, motorway service stations and many other locations. They’re easy to find online and as well as using Mercedes-Benz App (see above), you can also use websites such as Zap Map and Plugshare to see the nearest ones to you.
 

If you’re planning to top-up your van during your working day, you’ll probably want to find a rapid charger that’s on your route or near your site.