Which Chargers Are Compatible With My EV?

Electric vehicles (EVs) are quickly gaining market share in the U.S. auto industry. With the increase in EVs on the road, the number of public charging stations and home charging options has also grown. However, you won’t be able to charge your EV at a charging station if you do not have a compatible connector.

EV connectors, or plugs, are similar to a phone charger. Android phones and iPhones have different connection ports. EVs are the same way — EVs from varying manufacturers may also have different connection ports. You cannot charge your EV with an incompatible charger, just like you cannot charge your phone with the wrong charger. EV owners should know what chargers and connectors are compatible with their vehicle.

To receive power from a charging station, your EV must have a connector compatible with the charger’s plug. While the EV industry in North America has tried to create a standardized system, there is still some variety in connectors, depending on the manufacturer.

In the U.S., there are three levels of chargers — Levels 1, 2, and 3. There are also a few different types of connectors, which determine whether an EV is compatible with a charging station.

EV chargers and connectors

This page will discuss the different types of EV chargers and the connectors that make an EV compatible with a charger. At a high level, here’s what you should know:

• Level 1 and Level 2 chargers are compatible with J1772 connectors. All new EV purchases will come with a J1772 connector.
• There are three types of connectors that work for Level 3 chargers (DC fast chargers) — CCS, CHAdeMO, and Tesla Superchargers. CCS connectors are most common in the U.S.
• Tesla is unique the in the EV industry, offering its own charging network and connectors. However, some adapters make Teslas compatible with non-Tesla chargers.

Level 1 and Level 2 chargers

You can plug a Level 1 charger directly into a regular 120-volt outlet at home. While Level 1 chargers are by far the slowest charging option, the connector is included in most (if not all) EV purchases.

For a faster charging option, you could pay to upgrade to a Level 2 charger at home. Many public charging stations use Level 2 chargers. 

Most EVs in the U.S. use an SAE J1772 connector to attach to Level 1 and Level 2 chargers. Again, this connector should be included with the purchase of an EV, making your vehicle compatible with every other Level 1 and Level 2 charging station.

The exception to this is Tesla. If you purchase a Tesla, your vehicle will come with a Supercharger connector (we’ll get into the details of this later) and an adapter. The adapter will connect the Tesla to a J1772 plug. 

Level 3 DC fast chargers

While the J1772 connector is standard for Levels 1 and 2 chargers, things get a little trickier when discussing Level 3 chargers, otherwise known as DC fast chargers. These chargers are much faster than Levels 1 and 2 and are currently only used at public charging stations. 

For Level 3 chargers, there are three types of connectors that you should know about:

• SAE Combo Combined Charging Systems (CCS)
• CHAdeMO
• Tesla Superchargers

It’s important to note that CCS and CHAdeMO connectors are not interchangeable. An EV that is compatible with a CCS connector won’t be able to use a charging station with a CHAdeMO plug and vice versa. Thankfully, CCS connectors are most common in North America.

Which EVs are compatible with CCS connectors?

In the U.S. and the rest of North America, CCS connectors are standard. Many newer vehicles provide a J1772 and CCS port combination, which has the J1772 connector port on top and an additional CCS plug-in area below. Essentially, this connector has two high-speed charging prongs that connect to Level 1 and Level 2 chargers. There are also additional DC power lines where you can connect a three-prong device, making it compatible with most Level 3 chargers.

In 2022, the Biden Administration set new standards for federally funded public EV chargers. One of these standards is that Level 3 charging stations must support CCS connectors. If your EV is compatible with CCS connectors, you will be able to charge at a growing number of public charging stations. 

EV manufacturers including BMW, Volkswagen, and GM use CCS, among many others. There are a few outliers that do not use CCS connectors, which we will cover in the next two sections. 

Which EVs are compatible with CHAdeMO connectors?

CHAdeMO is another type of EV connector that you will find in a few models of EVs. While CCS is the standard in North America, CHAdeMO is more popular in Japan and is common in earlier models of EVs from Japanese manufacturers.

CHAdeMO connectors are compatible with some EV models from Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Kia. In 2020, Nissan announced it would switch to CCS ports for future models. Kia has also used CCS compatibility with many newer models, including the Kia Niro and the Kia EV6. Teslas can also use CHAdeMO connectors with an adapter.

According to the Alternative Fuels Data Center, there are fewer CHAdeMO-compatible Level 3 public charging stations (4,455) in the U.S. and Canada than CCS-compatible stations (4,628). We expect that gap to widen as the Biden Administration supports CCS connectors for federally-funded charging stations.

Which EVs are compatible with Tesla Superchargers?

Tesla is unique because it offers its own proprietary network of Level 3 charging stations called Superchargers. Only Tesla EVs can use Superchargers (although Tesla has discussed opening these chargers up to non-Teslas in the future). Non-Tesla EVs can already use Level 2 Tesla chargers.

There are currently about 1,500 Tesla Supercharger stations in the U.S., meaning there are far more CCS and CHAdeMO-compatible stations available. As a reminder, however, Tesla offers adapters so Tesla owners can charge with J1772 or CHAdeMO-compatible stations. 

How do I know what charging stations work for my EV?

Various apps and websites are available to help you find public charging stations compatible with your EV. A few of the most popular options include PlugShare, ChargePoint, and Open Charge Mapp.

The U.S. Alternative Fuels Data Center also offers a customizable tool to help you find public charging stations. You can narrow the results to your state and choose between different levels, connectors, and networks.