Seems like it should be as simple as converting AC to DC., passing on all available voltage (up to a safe limit) to the car, and stopping it when the batteries are full.
Similar to what a wall brick does for your devices on a smaller scale, though the brains are in the device not the wall brick. Why isn’t that done with cars?
I see mention of ‘different technologies’, and ‘better chargers vs lesser chargers’, etc. and I feel like there must be more to it.
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Since every car is a bit different, the AC->DC power conversion happens inside the car itself so that it’s up to the car’s needs, and the plug’s job is mainly to tell the car what it’s allowed to take. Level 1 chargers will give it low limits, level 2 chargers will give it much higher limits (and typically higher voltages). In your home, the “charger” is usually little more than a direct AC power connection to the plug, and some basic intelligence to do this communication with the car. It keeps the external equipment simple, and the car can carry as big a converter as it wants and take advantage of whatever the car has, like cooling.
Level 3 chargers usually do get direct battery access, but in order to do this the car must tell the charger what its voltage is and the charger must be capable of providing that voltage. If all is well, some crazy amounts of power can be delivered by a big external AC->DC converter. Also the car must have the extra connectors that give direct battery access for this to even be possible, so these fast chargers are only compatible with cars that have the plug on their side.
Most tech, even with plug shape variances, meet these general criteria, and simple plug adaptors do exist which require no power to function.
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