Help - Charger Plugs

Welcome to our brief "what you need to know" about charging plugs and sockets

At A Glance

• Electric vehicles have either a Type 1 or Type 2 socket for slow and fast charging.
• Electric vehicles have either a CHAdeMO or CCS socket for DC rapid charging (except certain Tesla models).   
• Most slow and most fast charge points have a Type 2 socket. Sometimes they will have a cable attached instead of (or as well as) a socket.
• All DC rapid charging stations have a cable attached, usually with a CHAdeMO and a CCS connector.

All of our chargers come fitted with Type 2 sockets. This is by far the most common connector on new cars and also the most common connector on private and public charging points in Europe. This is considered a universal connection as it can charge all vehicles. It has 7 pins and looks like this...

Electric Vehicle Charging Plugs

Type 1

The Type 1 Plug is rarely found in Europe but is quite common in Asian countries and is the standard in the US.

Some older electric vehicles in the UK will have this socket, cables exist to connect Type 2 chargers to Type 1 sockets.

Type 2

The Type 2 Plug is by far the most common plug on modern electric and hybrid vehicles in Europe.

This is the 'standard' plug for European vehicles and Asian vehicles from 2018.

This plug is found on both private and public charging stations.

All mode 3 charging cables can be used with this plug and with the correct cable, both Type 1 and Type 2 cars can be charged from chargers with this connection.

Charging stations with tethered cables will almost universally have this plug, sometimes known as a Mennekes plug.

Combined Charging System (CCS)

The CCS plug is an enhanced version of the Type 2 plug, with two additional power contacts to facilitate quick charging.

CHAdeMO

Found in Asian cars, this quick charging system was developed in Japan.

CHAdeMO is normally only found at public charging stations.

Tesla Supercharger

Tesla uses a modified version of the Type 2 plug that allows for faster charging. Currently, no other makes of car can be charged with Tesla superchargers.