Similar to fuel-powered vehicles which have different nozzle sizes for Petrol and Diesel engines, electric cars also have different types of connectors used for charging. The electric vehicle charging connectors mainly differ depending on the region, whereby America and Japan both use the Type 1 J1772, while Europe uses a type 2 and China a GB/T connector.
America adopted the J1772 type 1(also known as a J plug) connector in 2001, however, it was only able to carry 6.6KW, until 2008 when Yazaki Corporation, a global automotive parts supplier created a new connector for all American Evs which was now able to carry the power of 19.2KW. Electric Vehicles are built with an onboard charger inside them to work as a converter, to convert power from Alternating Current(AC) to Direct Current(DC) before the power enters the vehicle’s batteries.
Electric vehicles’ DC charger, allows a vehicle to be charged faster because they already have an inbuilt converter, unlike AC chargers which rely on the vehicle’s onboard converter. These connectors can withstand a power of up to 350 kW. The J plug, supports a single phase alternating current (AC) on two conductors, singling two other conductors with the fifth being a protective earth wire.
As for the Combined Charging System (CCS) Type 1 for DC connectors, also used by American EVs, have two extra pins in the bottom of the plug. These extra pins work by charging themselves from the upper part of the charger; only the communication pin and the earth conductor provide the reference point for the protection. This type of connector is compatible with EVs such as the BMW i3, Chevy Volt, Nissan LEAF, or the Tesla Model S.