Electric car connector types

Although there are some things to think about when it comes to electric car connector types, it’s not really all that different – and by the end of this article you’ll be an expert.

After all, you’re able to choose between at least four different types of fuel when you arrive at a petrol station, so why shouldn’t you be able to know all about charging connectors?

Here we will explain all the most important aspects of getting power into your electric car, so even if you don’t currently know your CHAdeMO from your Chargemaster, you’ll soon be charging your car without a second thought in no time.

Rapid charger connector types

Rapid charging is the kind of charging you do at service stations to get a quick top-up before carrying on with your trip. There are several types of charger, though your choice is limited to one – different cars use different connectors, but you don’t really need to know any more than which one fits your own car.

The quickest charging type is the Ultra-Rapid DC (Direct Current) Charger. These operate at speeds of 100kW or more, though over 150kW chargers are getting more common and it won’t be long before chargers capable of up to 350kW are commonplace.

It all depends on what your car is capable of charging at, though – some cars can’t charge faster than 50kW even at a 100kW charger, so check this in your manual or by searching online. Typically, a 100kW charger will charge your car up to 80% in around half an hour, while a 350kW can do it in less than ten minutes.

Moving down the scale you’ve then got Rapid DC chargers, which operate at 50kW, and will recharge your battery in under an hour. Both these types of charger are tethered – which means that a charging cable is attached to the charger so you don’t have to use your own – and the connector on the end of that cable will always be either a CCS (Combined Charging System) or a CHAdeMO (an abbreviation of ‘Charge de Move’ – don’t ask!).

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Cars that use the CHAdeMO standard include the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, while the CCS type is used by cars such as the BMW i3, Jaguar I-Pace, Audi E-Tron and Volkswagen ID.3

Teslas have their own rapid charger type, though they’re easy to spot because their chargers have prominent Tesla branding. The company has its own network of DC superchargers that operate at up to 150kW that only Tesla drivers can use, but these use either a Tesla Type 2 or a CCS connector.

The Tesla Type 2 connector is present on all Tesla superchargers and can be used with the Model S and Model X, although some drivers use adapters that allow them to use other kinds of public rapid charger. The Model 3, meanwhile, has switched over to using the CCS standard.

However, there’s also another type of rapid charger, the AC (Alternating Current) variety, which operates at 43kW. This takes a wee bit longer to charge your car than a 50KW DC charger, but the difference is minimal. The big difference with these, though, is they use a different connector known as a Type 2. We’ll come back to this one in a little while.

Fast charger connector types

Most fast chargers operate at either 7kW or 22kw, and work with AC rather than DC. Depending on the capacity of your vehicle’s battery, a 7kW connection will charge your car in six to eight hours, while a 22kW connection will do it in two or three. Some of these chargers are tethered, but most are untethered, which means you’ll need to use your own charging cable.

The thing to remember here is that AC chargers use different connectors to DC chargers. If your car’s DC charging port is of the CHAdeMO variety, you’ll have a second port that allows you to take on AC charge.

In this case, there are two types of connectors, Type 1 and Type 2. You’ll find Type 1 ports on older electric cars, while Type 2 ports are more commonly found on newer EVs. For instance, the Mk1 Nissan Leaf uses a Type 1 while the lastest Leaf has a Type 2.

If your car’s DC port is a CCS, though, your AC charging port will be a Type 2 that’s actually built into the same port design as the DC connector: notice the corresponding shape and pin arrangement between CCS and Type 2. That accounts for the ‘Combined’ bit of the ‘Combined Charging System’ moniker.

Hopefully, you shouldn’t have to worry about all this too much because it’s likely that your car will come with a cable with the right sort of connector on it (although some don’t, so if you need to buy one, you’ll need to figure out which type you need).

It’ll only be in the unlikely event that the AC charge point you come across is tethered rather than untethered that you might get caught out. And happily, you never have to worry about what sort of connector needs to be at the charger-end of your charge cable, as all untethered AC charge points use the Type 2 connector (so in essence, your charge cable will always be Type 2 at one end, and either Type 1 or Type 2 at the other, depending on your car).

Slow charger connector types

Slow chargers only operate at up to 3kW, so are the slowest means of charging up your electric vehicle. This means your car will need to be plugged in for several hours to get any meaningful amount of charge into it, and that’s why slow chargers are most likely to be found at homes or workplaces (although home chargers can operate up to 22kW, and some public chargers do operate at 3kW).

Such connections will usually take the form of either a low-capacity wallbox charger, or a good old-fashioned three-pin domestic plug in a household socket (although it’s strongly recommended that you don’t use a domestic socket on a regular basis).

What happens when you drive an electric car until it runs out of charge? Watch our video below.

Slow chargers are AC connections, so aside from the domestic three-pin plug, the other connectors involved are usually either Type 1s or Type 2s.

We say ‘usually’ because there is one more possibility. You can also buy an adapter that will allow your AC charging cable to be connected to a Commando socket. You’ll probably recognise one of these if you’re into your camping, because these are the types of connectors used to hook up a caravan to mains electricity, and they’re also found in various other industrial and commercial sites. This gives you a means of connecting to a power supply in areas like these.

Find out more:

Electric car charging guide
How much does it cost to charge an electric car
Find your nearest electric car charging point in the UK