EV chargers are the hardware that gives electric vehicles power: slow AC chargers for a home or office car park, and fast DC chargers for highways. A charging network runs on top of this hardware. The chargers themselves are only half of the system, because the network software decides who may charge and at what price.
The two kinds differ in what they supply. An AC charger passes the mains alternating current to the vehicle, and the vehicle's own onboard charger converts it. It is slow and cheap. A DC charger converts the power inside the charger and supplies direct current straight to the battery. It is fast and costs much more. The difference is explained in AC and DC.
For instance, a 7 kilowatt AC charger adds about 7 kilowatt-hours of energy in an hour, which suits a car parked overnight in a housing society in Kochi. A 60 kilowatt DC charger on a highway adds up to about 60 kilowatt-hours in an hour. It suits a driver who stops for 30 minutes. A scooter at home may use a small charger of under 1 kilowatt.
A charger also has to fit the vehicle's plug. India has more than one connector type in use, so a public charging point often carries two or three different plugs. Safety parts inside the charger cut the supply if the cable is damaged or if current leaks to the ground. Who pays for the charger depends on the place. A housing society or an office buys AC chargers for its residents or staff. A charging company buys DC chargers and recovers the cost from the price of each unit of power.
The charger is in a weatherproof case, an electrical enclosure. It takes power from the building through a smart electrical panel. It reports its status, and receives commands, from EV charging management software in a standard called OCPP. It charges the battery pack of an electric two-wheeler or a car, and it can be built to match a fast-charging battery.