Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
Following on from the final draft release of IEC 62196-1 and 62196-2, this
document goes into the technical aspects of the standard. In particular it looks
at the power supplies the standards supports and the physical attributes of each
of the plug / socket connections defined.
IEC 61851-1 defines four modes of charging. Modes 1-3 standardize various
ways of charging EVs from the AC mains while Mode 4 provides standards for
charging through a DC connection to off-grid batteries.
The electrical supplies supported by these Modes can be seen in this table:
Type
Mode 1
Mode 2
Phase
Current (max)
Voltage (max)
Single
16
250
Three
16
480
Single
32
250
Three
32
480
AC
AC
Mode 3
AC
Three
32
480
Mode 4
DC
n/a
400
1000
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
Table 1: IEC 61851-1 Charging Modes against supported power supplies
The main difference between Modes 1 and 2 is the presence of a residual
current device (RCD). These safety devices automatically disconnect the AC
power supply if an imbalance is detected between the live and neutral
components of the current supply.
Mode 1 assumes that an appropriate RCD system is part of the electrical
supply, while Mode 2 incorporates RCD equipment within the specification. In
addition, Mode 3 includes additional safety features which make it attractive for
use in public charging points.
IEC 61851-1 also defines three Cases for cable connections: Case A, where the
cable is permanently attached to the car; Case B, where the cable is not
attached to anything; and Case C where the cable is permanently attached to
the charging station.
The IEC 62196 series builds upon this standard by providing detailed technical
standards for the plug / socket combinations for charging across all four Modes:
IEC 62196-1 defines general standards common to both AC and DC charging;
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
IEC 62196-2 defines standards for AC charging (Modes 1-3); and IEC 62196-3
will define standards for DC charging (Mode 4).
The latter standard is still a working draft and is not in scope for this technical
briefing.
The standards for AC charging plug / socket combinations in IEC 62196-2 look
at both single and three-phase power supplies and define three Types of plug /
socket connectors which may be appropriate in differing circumstances.
The differences between these Types can be seen in the following table:
Type 1
Phase
Current (max)
Voltage (max)
Mode
Single
32
250
1,2
Single
70
480
1,2
Three
63
480
1,2,3
Single
32
250
1,2
Three
63
480
1,2,3
Type 2
Type 3
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
Table 2: IEC62196-2 plug / socket Types against power supply and IEC 618511 Modes
This table shows a clear difference between how single- and three- phase plug /
socket combinations correlate to Modes 1-3.
Most significantly, Mode 3
charging can only be accomplished using Types 2 and 3 combinations.
Furthermore, each of these Types has different pin configurations, as described
in the following table:
Description
Type 1
Live, Neutral and Earth, plus two data communication pins.
Live x3, Neutral and Earth, plus two data communication pins. Two
Type 2
of the live pins would be redundant for singe phase supplies.
Three configurations are available: two single phase with Live,
Neutral and Earth and one or two data communication pins; and one
Type 3
three phase with Live x3, Neutral and Earth and two data
communication pins
Table 3: IEC 62196 plug / socket type pin descriptions
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
It should be noted that these configurations reflect designs which already enjoy
widespread support in different parts of the world.
Examples of these
configurations include the Yazaki SAE J1772 proposal for single phase supplies
in Japan and North America (Type 1); the VDE-AR-E 2623-2-2 design for single
and three phase supplies without shutters (Type 2); and the SCAME / EV Plug
Alliance design for single and three phase supplies with shutters, which is
already in widespread use in Italy (Type 3).
Photos of each of these example designs can be found at the end of this
document and the standards go into further detail about the precise structure of
each plug / socket combination.
The presence of the data communication pins is significant as it allows all the
connections to support Smart Grid and other forms of data communication. In
particular it enables Types 2 and 3 to support Mode 3 charging, which
introduces the concept of a pilot conductor in order to ensure public charging
points are as safe as possible.
In addition, the main difference between Types 2 and 3 (apart from the pin
configurations) is that the latter includes a shutter on both the plug and the
socket. This enables Type 3 to conform to IPXXD standards and means both
cable and socket are protected when they’re not coupled with one another.
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
At present, many motor manufacturers are considering fitting both Type 1 and
Type 2 connectors to their vehicles in order to make them as widely
transferrable as possible.
Type 1 plug example (Yazaki SAE J1772 single phase)
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
Type 2 single- and three-phase example (VDE-AR-E 2623-2-2 plug / socket
connectors)
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
Type 3 three-phase example (SCAME / EV Plug Alliance plugs and socket with
shutters)
ENDS
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Chris Milton
IEC 62196 Technical Document
14 October 2011
MEMO NOT FOR PUBLICATION:
WC 852
END OF MEMO
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