EV Connector Types Explained: CCS, CHAdeMO, Type 2 and NACS

There are five EV connectors you are likely to meet. Type 2 is the AC standard in Europe; Type 1 (J1772) is its older North American equivalent. CCS adds two DC pins below a Type 1 or Type 2 head and is the dominant DC fast-charging standard in Europe and North America. CHAdeMO is the older Japanese DC standard, still used by the Nissan Leaf. NACS (SAE J3400) is the Tesla connector, now being adopted across North America.

Last updated: 2026-08-26 · By the Voltika team

The five connectors at a glance

Connector	Current	Typical max power	Where	Used by
Type 2 (Mennekes, IEC 62196-2)	AC	22 kW (up to 43 kW, rare)	Europe, and AC worldwide	Every EV sold in Europe
Type 1 (J1772)	AC	7.4 kW	North America, Japan	Older North American and Japanese EVs
CCS Combo 2	DC	350 kW	Europe	Almost all modern European EVs
CCS Combo 1	DC	350 kW	North America	Most non-Tesla North American EVs
CHAdeMO	DC	50 kW typical (100 kW capable)	Japan, legacy sites elsewhere	Nissan Leaf, older Mitsubishi and Kia models
NACS (SAE J3400)	AC and DC on the same pins	250 kW+	North America	Tesla, plus most brands transitioning from 2025 onward

Type 2: the everyday AC connector

Type 2 is the seven-pin round connector used for AC charging across Europe, and it is what you will use for the overwhelming majority of your charging sessions. It supports single-phase and three-phase supply, which is why the same plug can deliver anything from 3.7 kW at home to 22 kW on a three-phase post.

Your actual AC speed is limited by whichever is smaller: the station's output or your car's onboard charger. A car with a 7.4 kW onboard charger will draw 7.4 kW from a 22 kW post — the post is not the bottleneck, the car is. This is the single most common reason drivers think a charger is "broken" when it is behaving normally.

CCS: Type 2 with two extra pins

CCS stands for Combined Charging System, and the name is literal: it takes the AC connector and adds two large DC pins underneath. That means one socket on the car handles both AC and DC. In Europe the AC half is Type 2, giving CCS Combo 2; in North America the AC half is Type 1, giving CCS Combo 1.

CCS is what almost every modern DC rapid charger in Europe uses, at powers from 50 kW up to 350 kW. If your car has a CCS socket, a CCS cable will fit — the station and car negotiate the actual power between themselves, so a 350 kW cable in a 100 kW car simply charges at 100 kW, safely.

CHAdeMO: still around, slowly fading

CHAdeMO was the first widely deployed DC fast-charging standard, developed in Japan. It uses a separate, larger round connector, which is why CHAdeMO cars have two sockets rather than one combined one. Most public rapid chargers in Europe still carry a CHAdeMO cable alongside CCS, but new car models have largely moved to CCS, and new-build sites increasingly install CCS only.

If you drive a Nissan Leaf or a similar CHAdeMO car, it is worth filtering for CHAdeMO specifically when planning a journey rather than assuming a "rapid charger" will fit.

NACS: the Tesla connector, opening up

NACS — standardised as SAE J3400 — is the compact connector Tesla developed, which carries both AC and DC on the same two pins. Since 2023 most major manufacturers have announced adoption of NACS for their North American vehicles, and Tesla has opened parts of its Supercharger network to other brands. In Europe, Tesla uses CCS Combo 2 rather than NACS, so European drivers are largely unaffected.

See can non-Tesla EVs use Superchargers? for where this actually works today.

How to tell which one you have

Open your charging flap. If the socket is a single round seven-pin head, that is Type 2 (AC only).
If there are two extra round pins in a bulge below it, that is CCS.
If there is a second, separate large round socket beside the first, that is CHAdeMO.
In North America, a small two-pin-plus-communication oval socket is NACS.

Once you know, filter for it. In Voltika you can set your connector type once and every map view will show only chargers you can actually use — across 368 cities.

Adapters

Adapters exist but are not universal. AC adapters (Type 1 to Type 2, for example) are common and generally safe when properly rated. DC adapters are far more constrained because of the power and communication involved; use only adapters approved by your vehicle manufacturer, and never an unbranded high-power DC adapter.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between CCS and CHAdeMO?

Both are DC fast-charging standards, but they use physically different connectors and are not interchangeable without a manufacturer-approved adapter. CCS is built on the Type 2 (Europe) or Type 1 (North America) AC connector with two DC pins added below, so a CCS car needs only one socket for both AC and DC. CHAdeMO uses a separate, larger round connector, so CHAdeMO cars have two sockets. CCS supports higher power in practice — up to 350 kW versus around 50 to 100 kW for most CHAdeMO installations — and it has become the dominant standard in Europe and North America, while CHAdeMO remains common in Japan and on older sites.

Can I use a Type 2 cable on a CCS charger?

Yes, if the charger offers an AC Type 2 outlet — but you will be charging on AC, not DC, so at a much lower speed. A CCS cable and a Type 2 cable are different things: the CCS cable is tethered to the DC charger and includes the two DC pins, while a Type 2 cable is the one you carry in the boot for AC posts. A car with a CCS socket can accept both, because the top half of a CCS socket is a Type 2 socket.

Which connector will new EVs use in the future?

In Europe, CCS Combo 2 for DC and Type 2 for AC are mandated by regulation and are not going anywhere. In North America, the industry is converging on NACS (SAE J3400) for both AC and DC, with most manufacturers shipping NACS ports or supplying adapters from 2025 onward. CHAdeMO is being phased out on new models outside Japan. For a car bought today the practical answer is CCS in Europe and NACS or CCS1 in North America.