EV Charging Connectors & Their Compatibility With Electric Vehicles

EV Charging Connectors are the end-point/terminal connectors that are fixed at one end of the charging cable, get attached to the EV and facilitate charging. It enables physical contact between the electric vehicle and the power source and allows transmission of electric power into the vehicle’s battery.

EV charging connector/plug type/standard differs across geographies and models. Just like mobile phones have different charging connectors (Type C charger, Micro USB charger, USB Type A charger, etc), EV chargers also have different connectors.

Whenever a new technology is born, multiple countries and companies compete for standards to gain competitive advantage. Each manufacturer attempts to develop a unique standard. Only time determines which standard dominates the industry. At present, the same is happening with EV connectors on charging cables. Global automakers support different connectors/standards.

AC Charging Standard:

The industry standard for slow charging in North America is SAE J1772. In Europe, a plug named ‘Mennekes’ is prevalent. In China, the GB/T standard is used for both AC & DC charging.

DC Charging Standard:

In North America, Combined Charging System (CCS1 & CCS2) & Tesla Supercharger (now known as NACS) is prevalent while in Japan, automakers use CHAdeMO. China, the world’s largest EV market, uses GB/T. These DC charging standards are discussed below:

CCS (Combined Charging System): The CCS connector uses the J1772 charging inlet with two additional pins. It ‘combines’ the J1772 connector with the high-speed charging pins, which is how it gets its name.

CHAdeMO: It is the official standard in Japan and all DC fast-chargers in Japan use a CHAdeMO connector. In North America, only Nissan & Mitsubishi use this type. Kia Motors has recently dropped this and now offers CCS.

Tesla (now called NACS): Tesla uses one universal connector for Level 1, 2 & DC fast-charging. When Tesla started making electric cars, there was no dominant charging standard. So, Tesla developed its own. Recently, the company announced that it is opening its connector to the auto industry and renaming it the North American Charging Standard (NACS).

GB/T: The GB/T charging standard was developed in China and is widely prevalent in China for AC charging & DC fast-charging. The Indian government too, has recommended the GB/T type charger for DC charging under its Bharat DC-001 standard.

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There are regional (continent & country-specific) and model-specific variations in EV charging connectors. There is an ongoing debate about a ‘universal plug technology’. The Combined Charging System (CCS) is supported by a large number of international manufacturers. But China, which is the largest market for electric vehicles, exclusively employs GB/T. And now, Tesla has also made its charging standard open for all.

India & EV Charging Connectors:

In India, a committee on standardisation of protocol for EV charging infrastructure announced specifications for AC & DC charging. These standards are called ‘Bharat AC-001’ & ‘Bharat DC-001’.

For home charging, Bharat EV specs recommend using the IEC 60309 connector.

Now let’s have a look at the public charging standards:

EV charging technologies around the world are categorised on the basis of speed of charging: slow, fast & rapid. However in India, this classification is between low-voltage & high-voltage electric vehicles. The same has been explained in the following:

Conclusion:

Having multiple charging protocols is a minus point in the electric vehicle industry. Auto component and EVSE manufacturers are spending more money than they should be on supporting multiple charging protocols. For example, Tesla spent a ton of money to build a proprietary charging network that can only be used by Tesla vehicle owners. Experts in India say that it is essential that such a situation doesn’t develop in India. If Tata Motors or Maruti develop its own standard, that will put unnecessary financial burden on many stakeholders in the Indian EV ecosystem. Thus it was vital for the government to introduce the Bharat EV specifications for AC & DC charging to avoid such a situation.