SAE J1772 is a North American standard for electrical connectors for electric vehicles maintained by the Society of Automotive Engineers and has the formal title "SAE Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice J1772, SAE Electric Vehicle Conductive Charge Coupler”.[1] It covers the general physical, electrical, communication protocol, and performance requirements for the electric vehicle conductive charge system and coupler. The intent is to define a common electric vehicle conductive charging system architecture including operational requirements and the functional and dimensional requirements for the vehicle inlet and mating connector.(1)
The SAE J1772-2009 connector specification has been added to the international IEC 62196-2 standard (1)
The SAE J1772-2009 was adopted by the car manufacturers of post-2000 electric vehicles like the third generation of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf as the early models. The connector became standard equipment on the US-market due to the availability of charging stations with that plug type in the nation's electric vehicle network (with the help of funding such as ChargePoint America program drawing grants from provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).(1)
Thanks, I just found that Tesla has an adapter for it's cars to connect to SAE J17772 plugs: http://my.teslamotors.com/roadster/charging/j1772-mobile-con... . Too bad Tesla didn't standardise on that format so that other cars can benefit from their chargers.
You're confusing the issue. The J1772 standard for Level 1 (120V) and Level 2 (240V) charging is standard, and all electric cars use it. Tesla provides a J1772 adapter with every car they sell for at home and public charging.
The non-standard is the Level 4 direct DC charging, which has multiple competing standards. Tesla developed their own because there wasn't a standard when they launched Model S, and they wanted a system that allowed for free DC charging for their cars.
The SAE J1772-2009 connector specification has been added to the international IEC 62196-2 standard (1)
The SAE J1772-2009 was adopted by the car manufacturers of post-2000 electric vehicles like the third generation of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf as the early models. The connector became standard equipment on the US-market due to the availability of charging stations with that plug type in the nation's electric vehicle network (with the help of funding such as ChargePoint America program drawing grants from provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).(1)
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772