E-car plugs: what should I know, what is important for charging?

An electric car needs the right plug to the store, otherwise nothing works. The Type 2 and the CCS variant enforced. A common household plug like a mobile phone charger is (unfortunately) not enough, as the battery of the e-car requires completely different amounts of electricity. Four different connector types play a role in Germany: Type 1, Type 2, CCS and CHAdeMO. There is also the Supercharger from Tesla. The Type 2 connector (Mennekes) enforced. But also that CCS plug (combo) is becoming more and more important.

CEE and Schuko plug

CEE and Schuko plugs hardly play a role in the power supply of e-cars. In theory, the normal household socket also transmits 230V voltage and alternating current with up to 3,7 kW power, with a protection of 16 A. Often it is only 2,3 kW with a 10 A fuse. The same goes for the blue ones CEE plugfamiliar from mobile homes. With a mobile charging station (Mode 2), the electric car can be charged via the five-pin, red CEE plug Charge significantly faster. There are two variants: CEE16 and CEE32. The industrial plug, fused with 16 A, allows a charging power of up to 11 kW at 400V to and the plug with 32 A fuse even up to 22 kW at 400V.

Type 1 plugs mainly for electric cars from Asia

For charging with alternating current (AC) there is two suitable connector types. Type 1, a single-phase plug, is common in (older) e-cars from Asia and North America. A typical example here is the Nissan Leaf (1st generation) or the Nissan e-NV200. Since there are hardly any public charging stations with a type 1 connection, there are adapter cablewith which type 2 charging stations can also be used. Depending on the network capacity and charging power of the e-car, the Type 1, 230 volts and 32 amps with a charging capacity of up to 7,4 kilowatts (kW) be expected.

Type 2 plug as standard in Europe

An Type 2 plug is a three-phase plugthrough which the current can flow much faster. In private use, on one Wallbox for example, is a charging power of up to 22 kW at 400 volts and 32 amps not uncommon. At public charging stations with a quick charge function, up to 43 kW at 40V and 63A be expected. The type 2 connector, too Mennekes plug is now standard in Europe, almost all large and well-known manufacturers have one Type 2 connection installed. Electric cars are charged with alternating current, but they go with me direct current, which is why an internal Rectifier must take care of the conversion. The US company Tesla also uses one slightly modified type 2 connector with the superchargers, which so far have only been available for their own e-cars.

Charging cable: Mode 2 and Mode 3

There are three types of cables involved in charging electric cars. Permanently mounted Cable on a charging station, cable to carry with you and cables permanently connected to the vehicle, which are rarely found. Are common with electric vehicles Mode-2 and Mode-3 cables. Are usually supplied from the factory Mode-2 cable, they are available in various designs so that they can be charged at a household socket in an emergency. So that the charging port and vehicle can communicate with each other, there is usually one ICCB, an in-cable control box integrated. There is a connection to public charging stations or private wall boxes Mode 3 cable. Most AC charging stations have one Type 2 box, to the owner of the electric car Mode 3 cable type 2 to type 2 is plugged in for charging with 22 kW. From 43 kW charging power are the charging cables fixed installed at the charging stations, the same applies to the fast chargers that charge using direct current.

CCS plug (combo) for alternating current and direct current

CCS stands for Combined charging system. This CCS connector is a Extension of the type 2 connector and has two additional contacts for fast charging. That's why it's called Combo 2 connector. With this type of connector both, AC and DC charging possible. Usually up to up to 170 kW power, on modern fast chargers but also with up to 350 kW, yes even with up to 450 kW on ultra-fast chargers are possible. In practice, however, it usually is 50 kW at 500V and 100A.

CHAdeMO connector from Japan

The CHADeMo is a standard plug from Japan for quick charging with direct current of an electric car. CHAdeMO stands for "Charge de move“And usually works with us 50 kW, but are also dependent on the charging station up to 100 kW possible. The system was made by the energy company Tepco, based in Japan, along with Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyota CHAdeMO connector are not only compatible with these brands, but also with some vehicles from Honda, Kia, Peugeot and Citroën. With a special adapter, models from Tesla getting charged. About CHAdeMO connector is also bidirectional charging possible, which means that excess electricity is temporarily stored in the car and then flows back into the grid.

Of course that had not happened yet!

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