Updated on 1 November 2026.
A DC fast charger is the big cabinet with a heavy cable you see at highway stops and charging hubs. It can add hundreds of kilometres of range in the time it takes to have lunch. If you're thinking of buying one for a business, a fleet or a station, there's a lot of jargon to get through: kW, guns, CCS2, OCPP, LT and HT. This guide explains it all in plain words and helps you work out which charger actually fits your site.
Quick summary
- A DC charger converts AC from the grid into DC inside its own cabinet and feeds it straight to the car's battery. That's why it's so much faster than an AC charger.
- Cars in India charge on DC through a CCS2 connector.
- A car never charges faster than its own DC limit, and it slows down as the battery fills. A bigger charger only helps if your visitors' cars can use the power.
- For most sites the choice comes down to power (30 to 240 kW), one gun or two, the power supply you can get, and good software and service.
How a DC charger works
Your car's battery stores DC power, but the grid supplies AC. Something has to convert one to the other.
With an AC charger, that conversion happens inside the car, in a part called the onboard charger. It's small, so AC charging is limited to a few kW up to about 22 kW, depending on the car.
With a DC charger, the conversion happens inside the charger cabinet, using power modules that are much bigger than anything a car could carry. The charger then sends DC straight to the battery, skipping the car's onboard charger. That's how it reaches 30, 60, 120 kW or more. If you want the full comparison, read AC or DC: which suits your location.
What the kW rating really means
The kW rating is the most power the charger can deliver. It's not the speed every car will get. Three things decide what a car actually receives:
- The car's own limit. Every car has a maximum DC charging power, set by its battery and electronics. Plug a car that takes 50 kW into a 240 kW charger and it still gets 50 kW.
- How full the battery is. Charging is fastest when the battery is low and slows down as it fills, especially past about 80%. That's why makers quote "10 to 80%" times.
- Battery temperature. A very cold or very hot battery charges more slowly, because the car protects it.
And on a dual-gun charger, two cars charging together share the charger's power. Our guide on why a car charges slower than the charger's rating goes deeper into this.
So the useful question isn't "how big a charger can I buy?" It's "what can the cars that stop here take?" Here's a live table of every car in our catalogue with a published DC figure:
Connectors: CCS2 and the rest
Electric cars in India use the CCS2 connector for DC fast charging. It's the same socket the car uses for AC charging, with two large extra pins below for DC. So one port on the car handles both. Electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers use smaller light-EV connectors of their own, and you'll still come across a few older connector types on early public chargers. We explain all of them in our EV charging connector guide.
One gun or two?
A single-gun charger charges one car at a time. A dual-gun charger has two cables and can charge two cars at once, splitting its power between them. Dual-gun units make sense where cars arrive close together, like a busy highway stop or a fleet depot at the end of a shift. We compare the options in one dual-gun charger or two single ones.
Certification and safety
In India, DC chargers have to meet the Indian standard for EV charging equipment, IS 17017. The Ministry of Power's 2024 guidelines also ask for every charger model to be type-tested to those standards in a NABL-accredited lab, with a valid certificate. Stations funded under PM E-DRIVE have extra testing and local-manufacturing rules on top.
The installation has its own rules. The Central Electricity Authority's 2023 safety regulations ask for a dedicated, protected circuit for each charge point, residual current protection, monitoring of the earth connection, a fire-retardant enclosure and lightning protection. The car has to be within 5 metres of the charger, and extension leads and adaptors aren't allowed.
When you compare chargers, ask for the test certificate and check which lab issued it. A charger that's been properly tested is also easier to get financed and, if it ever comes to that, insured.
Software, payments and OCPP
A public DC charger is really a small business, so the software matters as much as the hardware. Look for:
- OCPP support. OCPP is the open standard chargers use to talk to software. If a charger speaks OCPP, you can change software later without changing the charger. Read what OCPP is and why it matters.
- Easy payments. Drivers should be able to start and pay by UPI without downloading an app, plus RFID cards for regular users. See how UPI charging works.
- A clear dashboard. Every session, every rupee, and an alert when a charger goes down. More on this in what charging station software should do.
The power supply you'll need
A DC charger needs a three-phase supply, and the bigger the charger, the more load you need sanctioned. As a rule of thumb, the supply in kVA is a little more than the charger's kW. Our DC charger price page lists the supply each of our chargers needs.
Under the Ministry of Power's 2024 guidelines, if you apply for a separate LT connection for a charging station, the DISCOM has to provide LT supply up to 150 kW. Above that you're looking at HT supply with your own transformer, which takes longer and costs more. Our guide on LT or HT explains the rules state by state, and DC charger installation walks through the work on site.
Which DC charger fits which site?
| Site | Who charges there | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| Office, factory or car dealership | Your own fleet, staff or customers, a few cars a day | A compact 30 kW, single gun |
| City public station, mall, hotel | Mostly everyday cars, stays of 30 to 60 minutes | 60 kW, dual gun |
| Highway stop | A mix of cars, often arriving together, some premium SUVs | 60 to 180 kW, dual gun |
| Taxi or delivery fleet depot | Many vehicles charging between shifts | 120 to 180 kW, dual gun |
| Bus or truck depot, large hub | Heavy vehicles with big batteries | 240 kW with load sharing |
Treat this as a starting point, not a rule. The right answer depends on how many vehicles you expect, which ones, how long they stay, and how much power you can get. Our guides on highway stations, dealerships and bus and truck depots go into each one.
What does a DC charger cost?
Price mostly follows power. Our DC charger price page shows the live price of every charger we sell, plus what else a full station costs. If you're wondering whether it can pay for itself, read how much a charging station earns per month.
What we'd do
Work backwards from the site. Count the vehicles, check which cars they are, see how long they stay, and find out how much power you can get. Then pick the charger. For a quick idea of cost and earnings, try our calculator. For firm figures and drawings, book a site survey. You can also browse our DC charger range.
Frequently asked questions
What is a DC fast charger?
A charger that converts AC from the grid into DC inside its own cabinet and feeds it straight to the car's battery. Because the conversion happens in the charger, not the car, it can deliver far more power than an AC charger.
How fast does a DC charger charge a car?
No faster than the car's own DC limit. Charging is fastest when the battery is low, slows down sharply past about 80%, and is slower when the battery is very cold or hot. On a dual-gun charger, two cars share the power.
Which connector do DC fast chargers use in India?
Electric cars in India use CCS2 for DC fast charging, as set out in the Indian standard IS 17017-2-3. Electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers use smaller light-EV connectors.
What power supply does a DC fast charger need?
A three-phase supply, roughly a little more in kVA than the charger's kW. A charging station that applies for its own LT connection can get up to 150 kW under the Ministry of Power's 2024 guidelines; above that it needs HT supply and a transformer.
Should I buy a single-gun or dual-gun DC charger?
A single gun suits sites where a few cars arrive spread out, like offices and dealerships. A dual gun suits busy sites where cars arrive together, like highways and fleet depots, because it charges two at once.
Which DC charger should I buy for my site?
Start from the site: a compact 30 kW for offices and dealerships, 60 kW for city stations, 60 to 180 kW for highways, 120 to 180 kW for fleet depots, and 240 kW with load sharing for bus and truck depots.
How much does a DC fast charger cost in India?
Price mostly follows power. Our DC charger price page shows the live price of every charger we sell, from 30 kW to 240 kW, plus what else a full station costs.
