Germans Agree On A Common Plug

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Germany doesn’t have an EV yet, but they already have a standard fort he EV plug. I would expect no less from my countrypersons. Before they do anything new, they first create a standard for it. Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen have agreed to support a connector system for the charging of electric vehicles based on IEC standard 62196-2. The five German vendors invited utility providers and other OEMs to join the group. Given Volkswagen’s monstrous market share in Europe, there won’t be much other choice for the juice.

According to EE Times, the OEMs have agreed upon a modular concept that has AC as base functionality, with DC charging as a future option. High voltage high-current DC charging is seen as essential for a fast charge. The connector has been submitted for standardization under the designation IEC 62196-2 Type 2 and supports single-phase and three-phase AC. The connector provides network connectivity over CAN bus and power line communications according to ISO/IEC 15118. The connector battles with a Japanese one, the CHAdeMO, based on a JARI Level 3 DC fast charge connector, and with the American SAE J1772 connector. It looks like the Japanese are ahead in the game, and the Germans would have done better with adopting the Japanese standard.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Beken Beken on Sep 17, 2010

    Another thing I learned about technology, once you have it standardized, it's considered obsolete. Obsolete even before an electric car even makes it to market.

  • Daanii2 Daanii2 on Sep 17, 2010

    We Americans cannot even get with the metric system. Let alone join with the rest of the world on any other standards that we did not start ourselves.

    • See 1 previous
    • Golden2husky Golden2husky on Sep 17, 2010

      Some parts of the US have been metric for years. Automobiles, electrical engineering, all scientific research have adopted the MKS units. But. yeah, I wish the English system would disappear for good...Kudos for Canada for making the plunge.

  • Charly Charly on Sep 17, 2010

    I miss Opel, especially as it is the only German car maker with an electric car on the market

    • Znork Znork on Sep 19, 2010

      Indeed, does that mean that Opel will use american plugs? Doesnt matter as long as you charge it in your home, but it could be a bother if you want to charge the car at say the supermarket.

  • JimC JimC on Sep 18, 2010

    Aren't we overlooking the obvious? The most basic, common plug standard of all common plugs- jumper cables!! Yes folks, I'm being facetious. Have a great Saturday.

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