I just came across some of the pictures from last year of different iterations as I was developing my solar powered car charger.

The left picture shows my first attempt using a Mode 2 charger (i.e. one that plugs into a standard socket outlet). The design attempted to turn the car on and off by the equivalent of pushing the latch button on the vehicle connector. That approach stopped charging effectively, but starting charging was subject to long delays so that wasn’t a practical solution.

The middle picture show the second attempt using a commercial Mode 3 charger (i.e. one that’s hardwired into the fixed wiring). In this iteration the commercial charger was gutted so that, although it retained the original external appearance, inside was all different content including a protocol controller and a radio receiver. This was an effective on/off solution.

The right picture shows the third iteration which addd a programmable logic controller to generate a variable charge rate for the electric car i.e. more than just simple on/off. The hardware to achieve this is too bulky for the case of the commercial charger, and so it was repackaged in consumer unit case. A consumer unit case is cost-effective solution for a bigger box to house the DIN rail mounting components, but is of course only suitable for indoor use as it’s not waterproof to the required standard for outdoor use.

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