RAA Charge plug types explained
When completed in 2024, RAA Charge will be South Australia’s first and largest border-to-border network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
The network will have 140 charging locations equipped with more than 500 charging points and will include three types of charging stations – Destination (7kW), Rapid (150kW) and Ultra-rapid (200kW).
Here’s how to use Rapid and Ultra-Rapid DC Chargers on the RAA Charge network.
What types of EV plugs are available?
RAA Charge supports the plug types that suit the EVs currently sold in Australia.
Across the nation, the standard plug type used is the Type 2/CCS (aka CCS2) plug for both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) charging. A limited number of EVs, such as the Nissan Leaf, use the older CHAdeMO plug.
Let’s look at the different plug types in more detail.
Type 2 plugs
The Type 2 plug is found across the country. The plug has a seven-pin design with up to five power-point pins to support three-phase charging, depending on your vehicle.
The Type 2 plug includes an automatic locking mechanism, which secures the connection between the vehicle and the charging station. It also includes built-in safety features, such as temperature and current sensors to prevent battery overheating and overcharging.
All Destination charging sites within the RAA Charge network support Type 2 plugs, with a maximum power output of 7kW. The chargers are designed for longer stays in overnight accommodation and multi-hour car parks.
EV drivers need to bring their own Type 2 charging cable to use these chargers. You can pick one up from the RAA shop online.
CCS2 plugs
The CCS2 plug is an enhanced version of the Type 2 AC plug and has two additional power contacts, supporting DC charging. CCS stands for Combined Charging System. CCS2 plugs can deliver up to 350kW of DC power and are the standard for DC EV charging in the European Union as well as Australia. All 54 Rapid and Ultra-rapid charging sites in the RAA Charge network will have two or more CCS2 plugs.
The CCS2 plug works with most of the EVs in Australia. One of its main benefits is that it can charge at high power levels, which reduces EV charging times considerably.
Tesla Supercharger stations, which use CCS2, often only support Tesla vehicles due to the company’s current decision to restrict access to their own branded vehicles in some locations. If you drive a Tesla, you can use the RAA Charge network, but if you have a pre-2018 model you’ll need an adaptor to use the CCS2 plug.
CHAdeMO plugs
The DC-only CHAdeMO plug is mostly found in older Japanese-built EVs (BEVs) and some plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). It allows relatively high charging capacities, as well as bi-directional charging, where energy can flow from the grid to the car or vice versa.
The CHAdeMO plug has a large, circular head and three prongs, which can deliver up to 62.5kW of power. Most EVs with CHAdeMO sockets also come equipped with the standard Type 2 socket for AC charging.
All 17 Ultra-rapid (200kW) charging sites across the RAA Charge network feature one CHAdeMO plug in addition to the CCS2 plugs (which is the common plug type for these chargers).
How do I know which plug is where?
EV drivers can see which chargers have both the CCS2 and CHAdeMO plugs on the Chargefox app, which is also used to pay for charging.
Charging times will range from 10 to 45 minutes at Rapid and Ultra-rapid charging sites, depending on the capacity and charge left in your EV’s battery.