By Andrea Hargraves 
The German company LIDL has put up a charging box and portable charger for electric vehicles for sale in its supermarkets.
Lidl is betting on selling electric car chargers
With a large presence in Portugal, Lidl has started to sell accessories for electric vehicles, namely the charging box and portable charger.
It must be remembered that in Portugal Lidl has more than 130 stores that provide charging stations for electric vehicles.
In a supermarket, we do not expect to go in and buy a charger for electric cars, but this is what the German did, as of Thursday, March 30, 2023. From north to south of the country, it is possible to find these accessories for electric cars.
electric car accessories
Those who go to LIDL stores can find various items related to electric mobility, a portable charger, a wall box and a charging cable.
The electric mobility items sold by LIDL are:
- Ultimate Speed 32 A Type 2 Charging Station (Wallbox) – 499 euros
- Ultra Fast Charging Cable 32A Type 2 – 169€
- Ultimate Speed 16 A Type 2 portable charging cable – 199 euros
a portable charger, (cost €199), allowing you to charge your tram anywhere. It is also known by tram users as EVSE (Electric vehicle supply equipment).
It can be plugged into a regular household socket, capable of charging at 16 amps. That translates to a maximum power of about 3.7 kW. Be aware, electric car chargers only have 10 amps (2.3 kW), which can mean about 60% faster charging with a Lidl charger!
To be able to use this portable charger, the socket to which you are going to connect it must be of good quality, in order to use 16 Amps. However, this AVSE has a differential and thermal protection system already built in, which is neglected on many low-cost EV chargers.
What does this differential and thermal protection mean? This means that if it overheats, the charger automatically stops supplying power to the batteries.
Another aspect advertised is the fact that a self-test is carried out before starting to charge the batteries, in order to choose the right power for charging (choice between 1.38 and 3.7 kW).
a wallbox (32 A charging station type 2)(at a cost of 499 euros), is a stationary charging station that is installed at home or at work, on the wall.
The main advantages of buying an electric car charger
When in use, charging reaches a maximum of 32 amps, and can be connected to a three-phase system, allowing for 22kW of charging power! But if it’s a single-phase system, that charging power drops to 7.2 kW!
Depending on the electrical network, the user can then choose between powers from 2.3 to 22kW.
It also provides a file Type 2 cable (32A Max Speed Charging Cable Type 2)(costs 169 euros), those used in normal (not fast) charging stations, which allow charging up to 22 kW.