The Adventures of Lorie and Brian Groth

This is an image of our dashboard as the car is charging. Here’s what the charging details mean, courtesy of ChatGPT:

🔌 Charging Info (12/32 A)

12 A → This is the current amperage actually being drawn from the charging station to charge your car’s battery. 32 A → This is the maximum available amperage that the charging station (or your car’s onboard charger) can deliver.

⚡ Why It Is Not Using the Full 32A

Charger limitation → Some charging stations automatically regulate current depending on grid load.

🔄 How It Relates to Charging Speed

Your display shows 32 km/h charging speed → This is how much driving range you gain per hour of charging at the current draw (12A). If you allowed it to pull the full 32A, the charging speed would be much higher (closer to 80–90 km/h, depending on conditions).

✅ In short:

Your Volvo C40 is capable of charging at up to 32 amps, but right now it’s only drawing 12 amps, which limits the charging speed.

⚡ What “3~” Means

The tilde symbol ~ stands for AC (alternating current). The number 3 before it means your Volvo is using three-phase AC electricity.

So “3~” = three-phase alternating current.

🔄 Why This Matters

Single-phase vs. three-phase: In many homes, single-phase (1~) is common. Three-phase (3~) provides higher power capacity and faster charging, especially in Europe. Charging speed: With 3-phase, the car can pull more power evenly across the phases, which increases efficiency and allows higher amperage without overloading one line. That’s why your C40 can accept up to 32A on 3-phase AC, giving much faster charging than single-phase.

✅ In short:

The 3~ tells you your Volvo is connected to a three-phase AC supply, which is ideal for getting the maximum possible charging speed at home or at public AC chargers.

12/32 A → Currently pulling 12 amps, with a max capacity of 32A. 3~ → Charging on 3-phase AC. Voltage (assumption) → In the Netherlands and most of Europe, each phase is 230 V (line-to-neutral). For 3-phase EV charging, the effective voltage used in the formula is √3 × 230 V ≈ 400 V.

⚡ Formula for AC Charging Power

For three-phase AC charging:

P \, (kW) = \sqrt{3} \times V \times I / 1000

Where:

√3 ≈ 1.732 V = 230 V (per phase, line-to-neutral) I = Current in amps (here, 12 A)

🔢 Calculation

P = 1.732 \times 230 \times 12 / 1000

P \approx 4.8 \, kW

🚗 What This Means

At 12 A, 3-phase, your Volvo is charging at ≈ 4.8 kW. If it pulled the full 32 A, the calculation would be:

P = 1.732 \times 230 \times 32 / 1000 \approx 12.7 \, kW

So your car could be charging at up to ~12.7 kW on that charger, but it’s currently limited to ~4.8 kW.

✅ Summary:

The number 3~ means you’re on 3-phase AC. At 12A, that equals ~4.8 kW charging power. If the car allowed the full 32A, it could reach ~12.7 kW.