Difference between CHAdeMO & CCS

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Brewer Fan

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I picked up new 2023 MIni SE yesterday and so far loving it. For a novice, could you tell me difference between a CCS and CHAdeMO charging station and can Mini use both or is the CCS the newer version (on the plugshare app it gives you this option). Thx.
 
I picked up new 2023 MIni SE yesterday and so far loving it. For a novice, could you tell me difference between a CCS and CHAdeMO charging station and can Mini use both or is the CCS the newer version (on the plugshare app it gives you this option). Thx.
I don't believe there are any CHAdeMO-to-CCS adapters due to the handshaking signals that are different for the two charging protocols. CHAdeMO is going away as Nissan adopts CCS for their newer models in the US.
 
In the US, Chademo is going away. It’s common for Nissan Leafs and not much else. You can turn of the Chademo filter in the app since you don’t need it. If there are both CCS and Chademo plugs available when you get to a charging station, leave the one with the Chademo plug vacant in case a Leaf owner pulls up. They have much fewer locations to use.
 
Only very old cars, or Asian cars up to a few years ago (ish) use CHAdeMO. As others have said it is going away. There is no adapter that I am aware of.

CHAdeMO is a round connector that does fast charging only. Cars that use CHAdeMO for fast charging also have a J1772 connector for home charging (same as the Mini at home).

Your Mini is a CCS car. You cannot use CHAdeMO.

The CCS connector looks like your home round connector but has two additional big pins on the bottom for the fast charging.
This is why, unlike a CHAdeMO car, your Mini only has a single connector, CCS into which you can plug in for home charging or fast charging. Hence CCS is “Combined Charging System”. ie both AC and DC.

You want to find CCS connectors only when you are wanting to charge quickly (in minutes) or a J1772 connector when you are ok with charging slowly (like overnight at a hotel, or several hours at a mall).

To complicate matters, there is an adapter available ($150-$200) called a Tesla Tap that will allow you to use the slow Tesla Destination chargers (ie home or hotel chargers) but you cannot use it with the fast Tesla Superchargers, those big white units you see around.

And a final tip:
The Mini can charge at a maximum rate of 50kW. If you pull up at an Electrify America station that has 350kW units and 150kW units (it will be written on them) you should use the 150kW unit as your car can only pull 50kW and while it will work on a 350kW unit you would be hogging that super fast charger which the driver of a Hyundai Ioniq5, Porsche Taycan etc could use at a much faster speed than you so it would be bad to make them use a slower charger.
You may come across charging stations that also have a single 50kW unit in addition to those 150kW and 350kW units. In theory you should use that 50kW unit as again, why hog a 150kW unit when your car can’t take advantage of it? Except… the 50kW unit is typically the only unit that has a CHAdeMO connector in addition to a CCS connector. That means those older Japanese cars like Nissan leafs would have nowhere to charge if you hog that machine as the other units don’t have CHAdeMO connectors. So it’s a judgement call on which machine to use… I would leave the CHAdeMO machine free for older EVs and use the 150kW unit but I would move to the CHadEMO unit if someone with a modern car showed up so they could use the 150 and with the whole station now full any Leaf owner would need to wait anyway so I’m not annoying or inconveniencing anyone.
 
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What is this charging etiquette called?
One who gets the 2 year complimentary DC fast charging takes the 350kW unit first and charges to 100% SoC.

And a final tip:
The Mini can charge at a maximum rate of 50kW. If you pull up at an Electrify America station that has 350kW units and 150kW units (it will be written on them) you should use the 150kW unit as your car can only pull 50kW and while it will work on a 350kW unit you would be hogging that super fast charger which the driver of a Hyundai Ioniq5, Porsche Taycan etc could use at a much faster speed than you so it would be bad to make them use a slower charger.
Only the 77.4kWh Korean E-GMP platforms get the 697V architecture and the lower 58kWh trims are 522.7V. Porsche Taycan is 723V for the 93.4kWh version. Lucid is the only true 800V with a nominal pack voltage of 798.6V.

Since the rest of the EVs use the 400V architecture, I propose we call it 503V charging (400V + 103V market adjustment).
 
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