Which Electric Vehicle Connector do I use?
The Most Used Electric Vehicle Connectors
About Electric Vehicle Connectors
When connecting your electric car to a charger, you need to know what will work.
The AC chargers used at home have different power outputs than public DC fast chargers, which have two connector variations used in North America.
Whether you call them pistols, connectors or plug-ins, we have you covered!
Alternating Current (AC) Connectors
SAE J1772
Direct Current (DC) Connectors
CCS – Combined Charging System
Combined Charging System is a connector with the J1772 combined with two larger pins for Level 3 DC charging. This is not an international standard, but is widely adopted in Europe and increasing in North America. Supported by manufacturers such as Ford, GM, Kia, Hyundai and Volkswagen.
This connector allows for both DC and AC charging in one package (but not at the same time).
Europe has another variation of this, called CCS Combo 2.
ChaDeMo
Another DC rapid or fast electric vehicle charger connector, developed in Japan.
ChaDeMo, short for “Charge de Move,” is a competing design to the CCS above and is used in Japanese vehicles such as Mitsubishi, Nissan and Lexus. There is continuous work on ChaDeMo as a standard, with new innovations in Japan and China.
Tesla Connector
It’s its own thing…
With its own proprietary connector, Tesla combines AC and DC charging into one package. This connector has since been standardized industry-wide as NACS (North American Charging Standard), also known as SAE J3400, and is now being adopted by most major automakers.
Although this connector is different, you can buy adaptors. The use of the Tesla network for charging is slowly being opened up to other auto manufacturers. Despite a different connector, you can use many types of charging units with Tesla vehicles.
