Phoenix Contact presents CCS connector for up to 1,000 kW

The fact that the 1,000 kW (short-term) is possible with the new CCS plug has led the German company to announce that it has reinvented ‘high power charging’. Until now, the Combined Charging Standard was limited to a charging capacity of several hundred kilowatts. With the usual 500 ampere charging current, a maximum of 200 kW is possible with a 400-volt system voltage in the vehicle; with 800-volt vehicles, it is up to 400 kW. However, even in electric lorries with significantly larger batteries than in electric cars, such charging capacities can often not be maintained for long, as the charging plugs and cables overheat.

Phoenix Contact wants to take this to another level in future with its trade fair premiere at Power2Drive 2025. This is because the second generation of the liquid-cooled CCS charging connector CHARX connect professional can handle up to 1,000 kW in boost mode and can transmit 800 kW continuously. “This is made possible by a newly developed cooling concept in which the environmentally and maintenance-friendly coolant is channelled directly through the power cores for particularly efficient cooling,” the company explains.

“This connector is capable of providing the maximum charging power for buses and lorries as well as for the future generation of passenger cars,” said Michael Heinemann, CEO of Phoenix Contact E-Mobility, at the launch. “All vehicles equipped with CCS2 – of course there are many cars, many commercial vehicles, many buses, many trucks- will benefit from the 100,000 or so existing CCS2 chargers in Europe. That really is the big thing.” However, Phoenix Contact will continue to drive forward its developments relating to the MCS megawatt charging standard.

In addition, the second generation is said to be 20 per cent lighter despite its megawatt performance, making the connector and cable easier and more comfortable to handle – the latter is “significantly more flexible thanks to the new design,” as the German supplier wrote. The improved ergonomics in the grip area should also contribute to this, according to Phoenix Contact. Since both the mating face frame and all contacts of the HPC connector can be replaced without opening the housing and draining the coolant, maintenance should also be more favourable and sustainable.

However, the focus of the new product is clearly on charging performance. According to Phoenix Contact, up to 1,000 amps of charging current in boost mode and 800 amps continuously are possible with active cooling. With passive cooling, it is 200 amps less in each case, i.e. 800 amps in boost and 600 amps continuously. This makes it clear that the DC rated voltage is 1,000 volts. If a vehicle operates at 800 volts, for example, between 640 and 480 kW of continuous charging power is possible, depending on the cooling. A water-glycol mixture is used as the cooling medium.

In addition, the second generation of the CHARX connect professional offers reliable leakage detection and the billing of charging processes in compliance with calibration law, thanks to the integrated four-wire measurement technology. According to the press release, in addition to a standard cable end assembly, customised connection concepts for power, signals and cooling are also available on request to support charging station manufacturers in the construction of their HPC charging stations.

Phoenix Contact also has a new CCS product for vehicle manufacturers at its trade fair stand in Munich: The CHARX connect universal CCS charging sockets act as a high-power charging interface with charging capacities of up to 700 kW to shorten the charging times of electric vehicles and mobile machines. For the first time, CCS type 2 charging sockets with pre-assembled cable harnesses are now available as a ready-to-install solution, Phoenix Contact announces.

“The new, ready-to-install CCS type 2 charging sockets CHARX connect universal are now available with standard plugs for a wide range of market requirements from a single source,” the company wrote. “The pre-assembled inlets are compatible with standard on-board chargers and numerous PDU and BMS connections. They enable the retrofitting of cable glands and support AC/DC charging for commercial vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and similar applications.”

phoenixcontact.com, phoenixcontact.com (in German, CCS plugs), phoenixcontact.com (in German, CCS charging socket)