Electric Drive Charger Type

How Do I Know What Charger I Have?

There’s not much point paying out for a fast charger if your car doesn’t support fast charging.

There are various ways to see which charger you have but the easiest way is just to look at the charger port.

451 Fortwo ED (Electric Drive)

The following information is for the 451 ED.

Type 2 Socket 3.7kW Charger

Notice that, although there are 7 holes, the socket only has 5 pins. Position L2 and L3 are empty. This is the standard slow charger.

Pin Designation

Pin	Function
PP	Proximity Pilot – Pre-insertion signalling
CP	Control Pilot – Post-insertion signalling
L1	Line 1 – Single phase
Earth	Protective Earth
N	Neutral

Type 2 Socket 22kW Charger

The fast charging 22kW socket has all 7 pin positions populated.

Pin Designation

Pin	Function
PP	Proximity Pilot – Pre-insertion signalling
CP	Control Pilot – Post-insertion signalling
L1	Line 1 – 3 Phase AC
L2	Line 2 – 3 Phase AC
L3	Line 3 – 3 Phase AC
Earth	Protective Earth
N	Neutral

 

American Smarts

It should be no surprise that the US settled on a standard that almost no other countries use. They settled on Type 1, also known as J1772. This standard is used pretty much only in Japan and America.

Type 1 Socket

Thanks to Zoltán F for the photo.

There is no 22kW option on the US smart as Type 1 is only single phase. The 451 had a 3.3kW charger. This was the only options for that model.

Pin Designation

Pin	Function
N	Neutral
L1	Line 1 – Single phase
CP	Control Pilot – Post-insertion signalling
PE	Protective Earth
CS/PP	Control Status / Pre-insertion signalling

 

453 Fortwo & Forfour ED/EQ (Electric Drive)

The following information is for the 453 Fortwo & Forfour ED and EQ.

Type 2 Socket 7.2kW Charger

Notice that, although there are 7 holes, the socket only has 5 pins. Position L2 and L3 are empty. This is the standard slow charger.

Pin Designation

Pin	Function
PP	Proximity Pilot – Pre-insertion signalling
CP	Control Pilot – Post-insertion signalling
L1	Line 1 – Single phase
Earth	Protective Earth
N	Neutral

 

Type 2 Socket 22kW Charger

The fast charging 22kW socket has all 7 pin positions populated.

Pin Designation

Pin	Function
PP	Proximity Pilot – Pre-insertion signalling
CP	Control Pilot – Post-insertion signalling
L1	Line 1 – 3 Phase AC
L2	Line 2 – 3 Phase AC
L3	Line 3 – 3 Phase AC
Earth	Protective Earth
N	Neutral

 

American Smarts

It should be no surprise that the US settled on a standard that almost no other countries use. They settled on Type 1, also known as J1772. This standard is used pretty much only in Japan and America.

Type 1 Socket

Thanks to Andrew Y for the photo.

There is no 22kW option on the US smart. The US 453 fortwo only had a 7.2kW charger.

Pin Designation

Pin	Function
N	Neutral
L1	Line 1 – Single phase
CP	Control Pilot – Post-insertion signalling
PE	Protective Earth
CS/PP	Control Status / Pre-insertion signalling