If you’re planning to buy an electric car, you’ll need to know how it charges. There are a variety of different charging connectors, or plugs, that are used to connect your vehicle to the charging point. The plugs all have one thing in common – they use the same communication protocol between your EV and charging station. However, each plug is designed to handle different levels of power and charging speeds.
The most common EV charger connector is the CCS Type 1 (sometimes called a Combo 1, SAE J1772 Combo or a Europlug). This combines the standard SAE J1722 Type 2 plug with two high-speed DC fast charging pins. It can provide up to 43 kW of power, which is the maximum level for public charging.
CHAdeMO is another popular plug used for fast charging. It was developed by Japanese carmakers and released before CCS, and is typically found on EVs in Japan.
Tesla uses its own proprietary plug, which is only compatible with the company’s own EVs. It has notches that prevent the plug from being plugged into non-Tesla sockets.
The GB/T plug is used in China, where it’s the most popular option for EV charging stations. It’s compactly designed for power delivery up to 200 kW and can be used in thousands of charging points across the country. It’s also becoming a more popular choice for European charging points, as it’s compatible with a wide range of EV models. EV Charger Connectors