Type 2 connector

The IEC 62196 Type 2 connector (often referred to as mennekes in reference to the company that originated the design) is used for charging electric cars, mainly within Europe. The connector is circular in shape, with a flattened top edge and originally specified for charging battery electric vehicles at 3–50 kilowatts, with a plug modified by Tesla capable of outputting 150 kilowatts. Electric power is provided as single-phase or three-phase alternating current (AC), or direct current (DC). In January 2013, the IEC 62196 Type 2 connector was selected by the European Commission as official charging plug within the European Union. It has since been adopted as the recommended connector in some countries outside of Europe, including New Zealand.
Released under the name SAE J3068 is three-phase AC connector for North America—with Local Interconnect Network (LIN) for control signaling based on IEC 61851-1 Edition 3 Annex D.
The Guobiao standard GB/T 20234.2-2015 for AC-charging within the People's Republic of China 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.
Description.
Cars are fitted with a standardised male vehicle inlet, whilst charging station are fitted with a female outlet, either directly on the outside of the charging station, or via a flexible cable with permanently attached connector on the end. A charging station with a permanently fixed 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 hook up the vehicle either using the charging station, or from a traditional IEC 60309-2 industrial connector.
The Type 2 connector system was originally proposed by Mennekes in 2009 leading to the colloquial name of "Mennekes". The system was later tested and standardised by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) as "VDE-AR-E 2623-2-2", and subsequently recommended by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) in 2011. , Type 2 is intended to replace the previous vehicle connectors used for AC charging within the European electric vehicle network, displacing both SAE J1772 and EV Plug Alliance Types 3A and 3C. For DC charging, the Combo 2 socket (Type 2 supplemented with 2 DC pins) shall become standard in cars, replacing Type 4 CHAdeMO. The transition period is scheduled to last until 2020.
The IEC 62196 Type 2 connector is used in a slightly modified form at all European Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles, and the European Tesla Supercharger network. As of 2017 Tesla is the only automaker which offers based on the IEC 62196-2 specification the charging with alternating current and direct current. For charging with direct current the specification IEC 62196-3 Combined Charging System (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:
The allocation of the four normal power supply pins vary depending on the mode of operation. They are allocated as one of:
Communication takes place over the signalling pins between the charger, cable, and vehicle to ensure that the highest common denominator of voltage and current is selected.
DC charging.
Some vehicle inlets may contain the extra connections to allow the Combo Coupler DC-only charger to be inserted.