The plug that fits your EV’s inlet determines what charging stations you can use. Get the wrong connector and the cable physically doesn’t fit. The good news: there are only six connectors you need to know. The bad news: the landscape is mid-transition in North America, and adapters are sometimes-but-not-always the bridge.
This article is the reference. Six connectors, what each is for, where each is used.
The six connectors
J1772 (Type 1)
- Region: North America
- Power: AC only — Level 1 (1.4 kW) and Level 2 (up to 19.2 kW)
- Pins: Five (L1, L2, neutral, pilot, proximity)
- History: SAE-standardized in 2001. The default AC connector on every non-Tesla EV sold in North America from 2010 through 2024.
- Status: Standard at most public Level 2 chargers in North America. Being supplemented (not replaced) by NACS on new vehicles.
If you have a non-Tesla EV from before 2024, your AC inlet is almost certainly J1772.
Type 2 (Mennekes)
- Region: Europe (also some of Asia-Pacific)
- Power: AC only — supports single-phase (up to 7.4 kW) and three-phase (up to 22 kW or 43 kW)
- Pins: Seven
- History: Named after German company Mennekes, standardized as IEC 62196-2.
- Status: Universal AC standard in Europe. Tesla cars sold in Europe also use Type 2 (yes, Tesla in Europe uses CCS Type 2; only North America gets NACS).
If you’re in Europe and looking at an EV, expect Type 2 for AC.
CCS Type 1 (Combined Charging System, Combo 1)
- Region: North America
- Power: AC + DC fast — up to 350+ kW DC
- Design: A J1772 connector on top with two extra DC pins below. The car has a single inlet that accepts either a J1772 plug (for AC) or a CCS Type 1 plug (for DC fast). If the AC-versus-DC split (coming soon) is new to you, that difference is why the connector carries both.
- History: Standardized around 2014. Backed by major North American and European automakers as the open alternative to Tesla’s proprietary connector.
- Status: The dominant DC fast charging connector for non-Tesla EVs in North America from ~2018 to ~2024. Being supplemented by NACS on new vehicles.
If your EV has a CCS Type 1 inlet, you can plug either a J1772 (AC) or a CCS Type 1 (AC+DC) cable into it.
CCS Type 2 (Combined Charging System, Combo 2)
- Region: Europe
- Power: AC + DC fast — up to 350+ kW DC
- Design: A Type 2 (Mennekes) connector on top with two DC pins below.
- History: European cousin of CCS Type 1. Mandated for new public DC fast chargers under AFIR (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation).
- Status: Universal DC fast connector in Europe. Used by every European EV including Teslas sold in Europe.
CCS Type 1 and CCS Type 2 are not interchangeable. The DC pins look similar but the AC portion is different geometry.
CHAdeMO
- Region: Japan (primarily); legacy elsewhere
- Power: DC fast only — up to 62.5 kW typical, some stations up to 200 kW (rare)
- History: Developed by a Japanese consortium (Tokyo Electric Power Company, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Toyota) in 2010. The original DC fast charging standard.
- Status: Declining outside Japan. Most new public DC fast chargers in Europe and North America are CCS or NACS, not CHAdeMO. The most common CHAdeMO-equipped vehicle outside Japan is the older Nissan Leaf.
Notable: CHAdeMO (coming soon) supports bidirectional (V2G) charging natively, which CCS only added later via ISO 15118-20.
NACS (North American Charging Standard, SAE J3400)
- Region: North America (new and emerging)
- Power: AC + DC fast — up to 1 MW (theoretical), 250 kW typical
- Design: Compact, single-connector that handles both AC and DC. Physically smaller and lighter than CCS Type 1.
- History: Originally Tesla’s proprietary connector. Opened to the broader industry in 2022; SAE-standardized as J3400 in 2023.
- Status: Being adopted across North America. Ford, GM, Rivian, Hyundai, Kia, Polestar, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Toyota — all have announced NACS adoption on new vehicles starting 2024-2026.
NACS is the consolidating standard in North America. Within ~3 years, expect most new public charging stations and most new EVs to have NACS as a primary connector, with CCS Type 1 as a transitional secondary. The NACS / J3400 switch (coming soon) has its own deep dive if you want the full timeline.
How connectors show up in charging network data
The connector on the car is one thing; the connector as a data field that networks share with each other is another. When a charging operator publishes station data to apps and roaming partners over OCPI, each plug is a Connector object with a standard field drawn from a fixed enum — for example IEC_62196_T1 for J1772, IEC_62196_T2 for Type 2, IEC_62196_T1_COMBO for CCS Type 1, IEC_62196_T2_COMBO for CCS Type 2, and CHADEMO for CHAdeMO. NACS is the interesting case: OCPI 2.2.1 has no dedicated NACS value — it ships a TESLA_S type that is mechanically NACS-compatible — and a distinct SAE_J3400 value was added in a later revision of the spec. If you care about which value applies in which version, the OCPI version history tracks changes like this, and the OCPI Locations module covers how the full connector record is structured. OCPI is one of three protocols that keep charging interoperable; the OCPI vs OCPP vs ISO 15118 comparison shows where each one sits.
The mapping that matters
Geography is the fastest way to narrow down which connector you are dealing with:
flowchart TD
R{Region?}
R -->|North America| NA[J1772 AC<br/>CCS Type 1 DC<br/>NACS AC+DC]
R -->|Europe| EU[Type 2 AC<br/>CCS Type 2 DC]
R -->|Japan| JP[CHAdeMO DC<br/>legacy]
style NA fill:#e8f4ff,stroke:#3b82f6
style EU fill:#eafaf0,stroke:#22c55e
style JP fill:#fff4e6,stroke:#f59e0bHere’s the practical version:
| If you have… | You can use… | You may need an adapter for… |
|---|---|---|
| J1772 vehicle (NA) | J1772 stations, CCS Type 1 stations (for AC portion only) | Tesla Superchargers (NACS-to-CCS adapter) |
| CCS Type 1 vehicle (NA) | J1772 stations (AC), CCS Type 1 stations (AC + DC) | Tesla Superchargers (NACS-to-CCS adapter) |
| NACS vehicle (Tesla and post-2024 NA EVs) | NACS stations (Superchargers, new public) | J1772 stations (J1772-to-NACS, included with Tesla) and CCS Type 1 stations (CCS-to-NACS adapter) |
| Type 2 vehicle (EU) | Type 2 stations, CCS Type 2 stations (AC portion only) | (nothing — Europe is consolidated on CCS Type 2 for DC) |
| CCS Type 2 vehicle (EU) | Type 2 stations (AC), CCS Type 2 stations (AC + DC) | (nothing — universal in Europe) |
| CHAdeMO vehicle | CHAdeMO stations | CCS stations (CHAdeMO-to-CCS adapter — expensive, ~50 kW cap) |
The connector compatibility checker covers all 36 pairings with the actual result for each.
The NACS transition explained
This is the biggest connector story of 2024-2027.
What happened: Tesla opened its connector (originally proprietary) to the rest of the industry in late 2022. SAE standardized it as J3400 in 2023. Major automakers — Ford first in 2023, then GM, Rivian, Hyundai, Kia, and most others — announced they’d put NACS on new vehicles starting 2024-2025.
Why it matters:
- Tesla’s Supercharger network is the largest, most reliable, and most widely deployed DC fast charging network in North America. Opening it to non-Tesla EVs is a massive infrastructure unlock.
- One physical connector for AC and DC means a simpler car inlet and a simpler cable.
- NACS is mechanically smaller and lighter than CCS — easier to handle.
What it means for existing EV owners:
- If you have a J1772 or CCS Type 1 vehicle, you’re not stranded. Adapters are available (some included by the automaker, some sold separately) to use Tesla Superchargers.
- Tesla’s “Magic Dock” at select Superchargers is a station-side adapter — the cable has both NACS and CCS Type 1 connectors built in.
- The next vehicle you buy will likely have NACS.
What stays the same:
- Europe is unaffected. CCS Type 2 remains the European standard.
- Older vehicles aren’t being retrofitted. They keep their original connectors.
- AC charging at home (J1772 cables you already own) still works on NACS cars via the included adapter.
Adapters — the bridge
When you can’t avoid a connector mismatch, adapters exist:
- J1772-to-NACS: Included with every Tesla. Lets Tesla owners use non-Tesla Level 2 stations.
- NACS-to-CCS (DC): Sold by Tesla, Ford, GM, others. Lets non-Tesla EVs use Tesla Superchargers.
- CCS-to-NACS: Less common; typically built into the Tesla Magic Dock at participating Superchargers.
- CHAdeMO-to-CCS: Exists but expensive, bulky, and capped around 50 kW. Niche.
- Tesla destination charger (NACS) to J1772: Sometimes available; lets non-Tesla EVs use Tesla AC chargers at hotels and restaurants.
What doesn’t exist as a reliable consumer adapter:
- CCS Type 1 ↔ CCS Type 2 (different physical layouts — no adapter)
- Type 2 ↔ J1772 (different physical layouts — no adapter)
- Anything that crosses the Atlantic, basically
Three things to take from this
-
Geography determines connector. North America: J1772, CCS Type 1, NACS. Europe: Type 2, CCS Type 2. Japan: CHAdeMO (legacy) and others.
-
NACS is winning in North America. If you’re buying an EV in 2025 or 2026, it likely has NACS or will via an OEM adapter program. CCS Type 1 isn’t dead but its trajectory is downward.
-
The connector controls compatibility but not speed. Plugging in is necessary; how much power flows depends on the vehicle, the station, and the battery state — not on the connector itself.
The Connector Compatibility Checker handles the lookups. Bookmark it.