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Charging your electric car is easy. A power socket in the vicinity of a parking space or in the garage is all that is required. For faster charging, you must use a wallbox. On public roads, you will find charging points complete with cable that are faster or slower. But pay attention to the connection plug.
All electric cars are equipped with a Type 2 “Mennekes” connection, which is the European standard. With this connection, the charging power will depend on the AC charger included in your car, often 11kW. The charging speed will also depend on the power of the wall charging point or the power outlet. To connect your car to a simple wall socket, you need to use a cable with an external charger. On the other hand, you can simply plug in your electric or plug-in hybrid car with a Type 2 cable from the appropriate charging point, even on public roads.
Fast charging points by the road have a cable directly attached to the equipment. The fitting for the car is either Type 2, ChaDeMo or Combo CCS. Combo CCS is gaining ground in Europe. It enables load capacities of more than 100kW, sometimes up to 300kW. This obviously depends on both the charging point, the DC charger in your car and the availability of such power when connecting. ChaDeMo is a less powerful Japanese standard, still provided by some Japanese brands such as Nissan or Lexus. Payment at these charging points requires either a badge or a multi-network payment card with monthly billing or a dedicated app (payment by credit card or online account).
In any case, when connecting the car’s socket to a charging point or wall socket, you must check that charging has actually started. When you lock your car, the cable is locked by an anti-theft device to prevent disconnection. Before recovering your car, make sure you stop the charging at the charging point. After this, you can remove the cable. For a system with a Type 2 cable not attached to the charging point, you will need to disconnect the charging point first, and then the car. Sometimes it is necessary to press a button or press the car’s hand control to release the cable.
