What are the Different Types of EV Charging Connectors used in India

Electricity has become part and parcel of our daily lives. So much so, that now even our vehicles require electricity to recharge their batteries to run. EV Chargers or EV Charging Connectors are the end-point connectors that are fixed on the charging cable and get attached to the electric vehicle and facilitate charging. In this blog, we’ll discuss the types of EV chargers in India in depth.

Indian Electric Cars & the Type of Connectors in India:

Electric car	AC Connector (Slow Charging)	DC Connector (Fast Charging)
Audi e-tron SUV and Sportback	Type 2	CCS
BMW iX	Type 2	CCS
BYD E6	Type 2	CCS
Hyundai Kona Electric	Type 2	CCS
Jaguar I-Pace	Type 2	CCS
Lexus NZ	Type 2	CHAdeMO
Mahindra e2o	IEC60309	GB/T
Mahindra eVerito	Type 2	GB/T
Mercedes-Benz EQC	Type 2	CCS
MG ZS EV	Type 2	CCS
MINI Cooper SE	Type 2	CCS
Nissan LEAF	Type 2	CHAdeMO
Porsche Taycan	Type 2	CCS
Tata Nexon EV	Type 2	CCS
Tata Tigor EV (Old)	IEC60309	GB/T
Tata Tigor EV (New)	Type 2	GB/T
Tata Tigor EV Ziptron	Type 2	CCS

Different Types of EV Charging Connectors

Reports published by Spherical Insights on globewswire.com state that the Global EV Charging Infrastructure Market Size was valued at USD 23.74 billion in 2022 and the market is expected to reach USD 286.91 billion by 2032. Another report by Market Research Future published in May 2023, predicts that the Electric Vehicle Charger Market Size would grow at a CAGR of 18.70% by 2030. Furthermore, both the reports asserted that Level 3 or DC Fast chargers market will grow at a higher CAGR of around 31.2% over the forecast period.

AC Charging connectors

They are usually slow charging. A regular three-pin outlet with an EVSE cable or a wall-mounted home charging point can be used to charge an electric automobile at home. Drivers of electric cars pick a home charging station to take advantage of faster charging and built-in safety features.

There are mainly two types of AC connectors. They are :

1. IEC60309
2. Type 2 Connectors:

1. IEC60309

Charging with 1 Phase, 15 A Outlet with connector IEC 60309 and related safety interlocks. Depending on the current supplied and the number of phases allowed, a variety of plugs and sockets of various sizes and pin counts are available. The fittings are popular in open-air settings since they are weatherproof to IP44. They’re also often utilised in situations when a high current rating or three-phase capabilities were not required.

The voltage range and frequency utilised are color-coded on the cable connectors and sockets, for 50–60 Hz AC power, common colours are yellow for 100–130 volts, blue for 200–250 volts, and red for 380–480 volts. The blue fittings are frequently used to provide weather-resistant external sockets for outdoor equipment.

Reasons why EV charger connectors are not designed like normal three-plugs

• Three-pins are unable to withstand power more than 10Wh
• Affected by weather
• Three-pins does not provide two-way communication

2. Type 2 Connectors

The IEC 62196 Type 2 connector (Mennekes) is mostly used in Europe for charging electric vehicles. It is also recommended at countries like New Zealand. The circular connector has a flattened top edge and was designed to charge battery electric vehicles at 3–50 kilowatts. A single-phase or three-phase alternating current (AC) is used to generate electricity (DC).

The Type 2 AC connector consists of seven pins out of which:

• One pin is earth pin,
• One neutral pin,
• three-line phase pin
• Two signalling pins.

However, if the EV Charger is only single phase like 7.4 KW Single Phase EV Charger then, in that case out of the three plugs for phase, only one has conductor, rest are blind. Consequently, Type-2 AC Chargers look exactly similar from 7.4 KW to 22 KW AC, the only difference is in phase conductors. While in 7.4 KW single phase, there is only one-conductor, the three phase (22 KW) has 3 conductors.

DC Charging Connectors

The DC-EV Connectors provide direct DC power to the EV’s battery pack. A Rapid-DC charging system can charge at 50kW, whereas an Ultra-Rapid charging system can charge at 100kW to 150kW. Rapid chargers do not charge at their full power rating all of the time to safeguard the battery. DC chargers perform the conversion from AC power to DC power at the charging station itself. These chargers are in demand for charging EVs within a matter of a few minutes, this will prove beneficial for heavy duty electric vehicles that have to travel long distances. These are suitable to be installed on highways.

There are mainly three types of DC charging connectors:

1. GB/T Connector
2. CHAdeMO connector
3. CCS1 and CCS2 connector

1. GB/T Connector

GB/T connectors are mainly used in China. The GB/T standard allows for charging power of up to 250 kW, allowing electric vehicles to charge even faster. The vehicle connector can also be locked in its bracket to prevent it against robbery. The power source used by GB/T connectors are DC power. CAN BUS signalling is used by the Chinese GBT connection. It does not use control protocols based on PLCs.

2. CHAdeMO connector

In 2010, the Japanese developed the CHAdeMO EV Connector Specification, a DC-based EV Connector Specification. The CHAdeMO EV Connector Specifications are used to create DC-based EV Connectors that offer up to 62.5 kW by 500 V with 125 Amperes, direct current for fast charging of battery electric vehicles.

For the Control Pin(CP), the CAN Protocol is utilised to make communication between the electric car and the charging system easier. The new CHAdeMO EV Connector Specification 2.0 provides for up to 400kW of charging power. Most electric vehicles are compatible with the CHAdeMO connector.

3. CCS1 and CCS2 connector

Combined Charging System (CCS) charging sockets use shared communications pins to combine AC and DC inlets. As a result, the CCS charging socket occupies less space than CHAdeMO and other AC plugs. Because CCS1 and CCS2 share the same DC pin architecture and communications protocols, manufacturers can easily switch the AC plug portion for Type 1 in the US and Japan for Type 2 in other markets.

It communicates between an electric car and the charging system via a PLC (Power Line Communication). North America, South Korea, and a few other countries primarily use CCS 1. European countries are the primary users of CCS 2.

Summary:

The type of connector used is mainly dependent on the battery bank voltage (High Voltage battery) used in the electric vehicle. Also the type of connectors are defined by geography, where the same connector is called by one name in one geography & by different name in other. Apart from these regular connectors, the industry is constantly in phase of research & new connectors like megawatt connectors may soon be part of common vehicle system.