The

IEC 62196 IEC 62196 ''Plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and vehicle inlets – Conductive charging of electric vehicles'' is a series of international standards that define requirements and tests for plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and veh ...

-2 Type 2 connector (often referred to as

Mennekes Mennekes Elektrotechnik GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of industrial plugs and connectors with headquarters in Kirchhundem in the Sauerland region, Germany. Foundation and entry into connector production Mennekes Elektrotechnik GmbH ...

for the company that designed it) is used for charging electric vehicles, mainly within Europe, as it was declared standard by the EU. Based on widespread red

IEC 60309 IEC 60309 (formerly IEC 309 and CEE 17, also published by CENELEC as EN 60309) is a series of international standards from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for "plugs, socket-outlets and couplers for industrial purpo ...

three phase plugs with five pins, which come in different diameters according to maximum current (most common are 16 A and 32 A), a single size was selected, as maximum possible power will be communicated to the car via two additional communication pins and by a simple resistor coding within the cable. The onboard charger inside the car has to limit the current accordingly. The connector is circular in shape, with a flattened top edge; the original design specification carried an output

electric power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...

of 3–50 kW for charging

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, wi ...

s using single-phase (230V) or three-phase (400V)

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

(AC), with a typical maximum of 32 A 7.2 kW using single-phase AC and 22 kW with three-phase AC in common practice. The plugs have openings on the sides that allow both the car and the charger to lock the plug automatically to prevent unwanted interruption of charging, or theft of the cable. As modified by Tesla for its European Supercharger network (up to Version 2), it is capable of outputting 150 kW using

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

(DC) via two pins each, with a switch inside the Tesla Model S or X car selecting the required mode. Since 2019 and the V3 Superchargers, Tesla has adopted the standard CCS2 connector in Europe and the European Model 3 and Y.

History, overview, and peer connectors

In January 2013, the IEC 62196-2 Type 2 connector was selected by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

as official AC charging plug within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. It has since been adopted as the recommended connector in most countries worldwide, including New Zealand. When passing AC, the maximum power of the Mennekes connector is 43 kW. The IEC 62196-2 Type 1 connector (codified under

SAE J1772 SAE J1772, also known as a J plug or Type 1 connector after its international standard, IEC 62196 Type 1, is a North American standard for electrical connectors for electric vehicles maintained by SAE International under the formal title "SAE Sur ...

) is the corresponding standard for single-phase AC charging in the United States, Canada, and South Korea. J1772 has a maximum output of 19.2 kW. In North America, the same Type 2 physical connector is used for three-phase AC charging under the

SAE J3068 SAE J3068 "Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System Using a Three-Phase Capable Coupler" is a North American recommended practice published and maintained by SAE International. J3068 defines electrical connectors and a control protocol for electr ...

standard, which uses

Local Interconnect Network LIN (Local Interconnect Network) is a serial network protocol used for communication between components in vehicles. It is a single wire, serial network protocol that supports communications up to 19.2 Kbit/s at a bus length of 40 meters. The need ...

(LIN) for control signaling based on IEC 61851-1 Edition 3 Annex D. J3068 increases the maximum output to 166 kW using three-phase AC. The same physical connector is also used in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

under the

Guobiao standard The National Standards of the People's Republic of China (), coded as , are the standards issued by the Standardization Administration of China under the authorization of Article 10 of the Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China. A ...

GB/T 20234.2-2015 for AC-charging, with gender differences for the vehicle and electric vehicle supply equipment. GB/T 20234-2 specifies cables with Type 2-style male connectors on both ends, and a female inlet on vehicles—the opposite gender to the rest of the world, and with different control signalling. The

Combined Charging System The Combined Charging System (CCS) is a standard for charging electric vehicles. It can use or connectors to provide power at up to . These two connectors are extensions of the IEC 62196 Type 1 and Type 2 connectors, with two additional di ...

Combo 2 "fast charging" connector uses the signaling and protective earth pins of the Type 2 connector and adds two pins for rapid charging, with direct current power supplied at rates up to approximately 350 kW.

Description

As specified by

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s are fitted with a standardised male ''vehicle inlet'', whilst

charging station A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric ...

s are fitted with a female ''socket outlet'', either directly on the outside of the charging station, or via a

flexible cable Flexible cables, or 'continuous-flex' cables, are electrical cables specially designed to cope with the tight bending radii and physical stress In continuum mechanics, stress is a physical quantity. It is a quantity that describes the magn ...

with permanently attached ''connector'' on the end. When the charging station is equipped with a permanently fixed cable, the ''connector'' end of the cable can be attached directly into the ''vehicle inlet'', similar to using a petrol pump and when no fixed cable is available, a separate male-to-female cable is used to connect the vehicle, either using the charging station, or from a traditional

-2 industrial connector. The Type 2 connector system was originally proposed by

in 2009 leading to the colloquial name of ''Mennekes''. The system was later tested and standardised by the

German Association of the Automotive Industry The German Association of the Automotive Industry or VDA (german: Verband der Automobilindustrie e. V.) is a German interest group of the German automobile industry, both automobile manufactures and automobile component suppliers. It is member of ...

(VDA) as ''VDE-AR-E 2623-2-2'', and subsequently recommended by the

European Automobile Manufacturers Association The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (french: Association des Constructeurs Européens d'Automobiles; abbreviated ACEA) is the main lobbying and standards group of the automobile industry in the European Union. In February 1991 it b ...

(ACEA) in 2011. , Type 2 is intended to replace the previous vehicle connectors used for AC charging within the European

electric vehicle network An electric vehicle charging network is an infrastructure system of charging stations to recharge electric vehicles. Many government, car manufacturers, and charging infrastructure providers sought to create networks. the largest fast-chargin ...

, displacing both Type 1 (

) and Type 3 (EV Plug Alliance Types 3A and 3C; colloquially, ''Scame'') connectors. For DC charging, the Combo 2 socket (Type 2 supplemented with 2 DC pins) shall become standard in cars, replacing Type 4

CHAdeMO CHAdeMO is a fast-charging system for battery electric vehicles, developed starting in 2010 by the CHAdeMO Association, formed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company and five major Japanese automakers. The name is an abbreviation of "CHArge de MOve ...

. The transition period is scheduled to last until 2020. The IEC 62196-2 Type 2 connector is used in a slightly modified form for all European Tesla

Model S The Tesla Model S is a battery-powered liftback car serving as the flagship model of Tesla, Inc. The Model S features a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout, although earlier versions of the Model S featured a rear-motor and rear-wheel drive lay ...

and Model X vehicles, and the European Tesla Supercharger network. As of 2017 Tesla is the only automaker which offers charging with

and

based on the IEC 62196-2 specification. For charging with direct current the specification IEC 62196-3

(CCS) is favored in Europe.

Pins

The connectors contain seven contact places: two small and five larger. The top row consists of two small contacts for signalling, the middle row contains three pins, the centre pin is used for Earthing, while the outer two pins used for the power supply, optionally in conjunction with the two pins on the bottom row which are also for power supply. Three pins are always used for the same purposes: * Proximity pilot (PP): pre-insertion signalling * Control pilot (CP): post-insertion signalling * Protective earth (PE): full-current protective

earthing system An earthing system (UK and IEC) or grounding system (US) connects specific parts of an electric power system with the ground, typically the Earth's conductive surface, for safety and functional purposes. The choice of earthing system can affec ...

— diameter The allocation of the four normal power supply pins vary depending on the mode of operation. They are allocated as: Some vehicle inlets may contain the extra connections to allow the CCS DC-only charger (high-current DC) to be inserted. Communication takes place over the CP/PP signalling pins between the charger, cable, and vehicle to ensure that the highest common denominator of voltage and current is selected. The signalling protocol is identical to that of Type 1 connectors as described in the SAE J1772 standard.

Gallery

File:Tesla-type-2-supercharger-outlet-1004.jpg, Type 2-compatible female ''connector'' found on the end of the permanently-attached connector cable of

Tesla Supercharger A Tesla Supercharger is a 480-volt direct current fast-charging technology built by American vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Inc. for electric cars. The Supercharger network was introduced on September 24, 2012, with six Supercharger stations. ...

s in Europe File:Prise type 2 Mennekes BMW i3.jpg, Type 2 male ''vehicle inlet'' for electric charging; the closed bottom portion of the inlet covers the two DC pins used for CCS Combo 2 File:VDE-AR-E 2623-2-2-plug.jpg, Charging station female ''socket outlet'' and matching male ''plug'' (blue color). In China only, a male connector is used for both ends of the connecting cable. File:2015-12-23 Typ-2-Ladestecker.jpg, Type 2 female ''connector'' (

) File:Tesla-type-2-model-s-charge-port-inlet-0996.jpg, Type 2-compatible 120 kW male ''vehicle

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

'' on European

Tesla Model S The Tesla Model S is a Battery electric vehicle, battery-powered liftback car serving as the flagship model of Tesla, Inc. The Model S features a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout, although earlier versions of the Model S featured a rear-moto ...

File:Tesla Model 3 - European socket.jpg, Type 2 (CCS Combo 2) European

Tesla Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a compact executive sedan that is battery powered and produced by Tesla. Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017. The officia ...

male ''vehicle inlet''

References

{{Electric vehicles International Electrotechnical Commission Electrical power connectors DC power connectors Plug-in hybrid vehicle industry Charging stations Automotive standards

History, overview, and peer connectors

Description

Pins

Gallery

See also

References