Charging infrastructure varies around the world, so depending on where you live, your EV charging unit and how fast you want to charge your electric car, you’ll encounter different EV charging connector types. It’s important you understand what types are used in your country, so you can Contact online >>
Charging infrastructure varies around the world, so depending on where you live, your EV charging unit and how fast you want to charge your electric car, you’ll encounter different EV charging connector types. It’s important you understand what types are used in your country, so you can keep the right charging cable or adapter in your car at all times.
In this guide we’ll give you detailed explanation of the different types of connectors available around the world and where you might find them:
Don’t worry if this looks overwhelming, if you live and only drive your electric car in the UK, you’ll mostly come across Type 2, CCS2 and CHAdeMO connectors.
EV chargers can be broadly categorised as AC (alternating current) chargers or DC (direct current) chargers and within those categories, you’ll find different types of chargers capable of charging your car at different speeds.
Now the difference between AC chargers and DC chargers is simply where the conversion from AC to DC happens. All home EV chargers and most public charge points use an AC power supply and convert the AC supply to DC within the vehicle itself to charge your car. While all rapid and ultra-rapid chargers use DC to charge your car’s battery directly.
The exception to this is Tesla, in North America and Japan you’ll find a proprietary charging connector for both AC and DC charging.
Each category and type of charger has it’s own connector as shown in the illustration below.
Type 1 connectors (also known as J1772 connectors) are the primary charging standard for electric vehicles in the USA, Canada and Japan.
They’re five-pin connectors that support single-phase charging and offer a maximum power output of 19.2 kW.
They’re slowly becoming the preferred choice for EV manufacturers in North America because they allows manufacturers to have a single charging port to support both AC and DC charging. Older EV’s typically have different ports for different charging speeds.
Type 2 connectors (also known as Mennekes connectors after the company that made them) are the primary charging socket for electric vehicles in the UK and Europe.
They’re a seven-pin connector and support both single-phase and three-phase AC charging. They have a maximum power output of 22 kW and you’ll typically find them on home chargers and fast charging stations in public.
A key feature of this connector is its automatic locking mechanism that engages during charging, ensuring a secure connection andprevents the charging cable from being removed during charging.
They typically deliver 50kW of power, but can deliver a maximum power output of 360 kW. You’ll find this connector at rapid DC charging stations.
CHAdeMO connectors are the original standard for DC fast charging in electric vehicles. They were established by Japanese car manufacturers and can deliver power up to 400 kW.
You’ll typically find this connector at rapid DC charging stations in Japan, UK and Europe.
Tesla NACS connectors are a proprietary charging connector for both AC and DC charging, and they’re only compatible with Tesla vehicles in the USA, Canada and Japan.
In Europe and the rest of the world, owners of Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles use a CCS Type 2 connector. For older Tesla models like the Model S and Model X, a modified Type 2 plug is used for charging.
GB/T AC connectors provide a power output of 7.4 kW using single-phase input and while they look similar to the Type 2 (Mennekes) connector, the internal cable structure is different and they’re not interchangeable.
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Although electric car chargers have almost become standardised, there remain some differences between EV plugs; we explain all
When electric cars first stared to appear on the motoring landscape, there was a fair amount of uncertainty about what sorts of plug connectors different cars would accept, and which they wouldn''t.
But as time has passed and electric cars become more and more mainstream, a fair degree of uniformity has emerged, with almost all new electric cars accepting Type 2 plugs for slower chargepoints, and CCS connectors for faster ones.
That''s not to say there aren''t things worth knowing, though, with some legacy charging sockets like CHAdeMO still worth knowing about, particularly if you''re considering a second-hand electric car. Our guide explains all.
Before we begin to look at different EV charger plugs it''s worth a quick detour via EV charging speeds.
Electric cars can charge at different speeds. A ''slow'' charge is would be delivered from a standard three-pin plug, but this is really slow – 2.3 kiloWatts (kW) or so – at that speed it would take almost two days to charge an EV with a big 100kWh battery (100 divided by 2.3 = 43.48 hours). And you don''t want to be doing this from a safety perspective, as EV charging places big demands on standard plug sockets.
Some rapid chargers can charge at 100, 150kW or even 350kW, though not all EVs can accept such fast charging. Chargers that can deliver more than 100kW are sometimes known as ultra-rapid.
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