technology in detail

It is common knowledge that all modern electric cars can charge with Type 2 or Type 1. This is a standardized plug that works across manufacturers.

But what exactly is it that makes it so special? How does it work and why did Mennekes take the trouble to develop it instead of simply charging all cars with a household socket? I would like to outline that in this article and if you want to go deeper, you will find many links to the EQpassion Wiki. With the documentation there, you can effectively build a wallbox yourself or use it to build a tester to check wallboxes and charging stations.

But don't worry, the article itself is very general and shows even beginners how it works.

It was the year 2012 and my parents didn't know any better: They had ordered our first smart ED and did not order the 22 kW charger. It's expensive and you don't need it in a city car anyway. That was their though

How often have we been bothered about our wrong decision in the meantime. But that is finally over. A few weeks ago I retrofitted the 22 kW charger in our smart and I would now like to tell you how you do that and what it costs.

The 4th generation smart electric drive is based heavily on the Renault Zoe and that's why we had to wait a year until the 22kW charger became available. What took them so long was optimizing it to German standards.