CCS Charging for Electric Vehicles

Apr 21, 2023

All you need to know about a Combined Charging Station (CCS) infrastructure

Worldwide, we have been witnessing a huge uptake in the use of electric vehicles (EVs) over the past few years. One of the targets set by the Climate Agreement is for all new cars sold in the Netherlands to be electric by 2030. This will give a huge boost to the production and sale of electric vehicles and infrastructure. But it poses many challenges too. In order to keep all these EVs on the road, an effective charging infrastructure will be needed. One of the most important types of charging stations is CCS (Combined Charging Station). In this blog you can read more about CCS and why CCS testing is important.

What is CCS?

CCS is a type of charging infrastructure. It is found mainly in Europe and North America. Most electric cars can be charged using this system. When we talk about CCS, we are referring to both the hardware (such as type of plug) and the software (the type of communication protocol). Other types of charging infrastructure exist alongside CCS. These include CHAdeMO (for Japanese car makes), GB/T (for the Chinese market) and Tesla (for Tesla vehicles). The plugs are all different, as too is the communication between the car and the charger. Likewise, there are public charging stations in Europe that support both CCS and CHAdeMO charging. That means both types of EVs can be charged here.

What is CCS charging?

One key aspect of CCS, as with other charging infrastructures, is the charging capacity. If a car or charging station has a low charging capacity, it will take hours to recharge an EV. Of course, for cars parked overnight at home, this is not a problem, but not at all suitable for charging stations along the motorway. If this were the case, drivers would be left waiting hours before they could get back on the road again. More and more however, we are seeing charging stations that have a high charging capacity. These work on the basis of direct current (DC) rather than alternating current (AC). Charging via CCS works on the basis of direct current, which means that the infrastructure has a high charging capacity.

Why is it important to test CCS infrastructure?

Testing is extremely important for all charging stations. In this way, only products that are both safe and meet the standards can be sold. In addition to safety, it is important that charging stations are tested for interoperability with CCS. This ensures a seamless connection between car and charging station. A testing laboratory such as DEKRA can perform the charging station test for you. CCS testing has the following advantages:

With a certificate, you will be able to sell your product internationally.
This safeguards both the safety of the charging stations and of the users.
In this way you can be assured that your products meet the current standards.

OCPP certification

Optimize EV charging: start your OCPP certification.

CharIN compliance

Certifying interoperability of charging stations.

IEC 61851

Discover the international standard for safe charging stations.

CHAdeMO charging

What is the difference between CHAdeMO and CCS?

ISO 15118

Want to meet ISO 15118 requirements to reduce interoperability issues in the field?

Veiligheid en eMobility

All certificates and tests under one roof. View an overview of all standards here.

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