Choosing the right charging cable for your new full electric or hybrid Peugeot, Citroen, DS or Opel is an easy and very important task as it allows you to maximize charging power and, at the same time, to save money. It is just necessary to choose whether you want to charge your car from your home socket or from public wallboxes (the mode of a cable) and to consider the capacity of the onboard charger of your car.

Let´s have first a brief introduction on the mode and types of charging cables. Later we will explore the capacity of the onboard battery and how concretely to choose the right cable for your car. If you just want to know which product is the best for you, skip to the final table.

 

MODES OF CHARGING CABLES

There are 4 different charging modes for electric and hybrid vehicles. The modes differ in terms of safety and speed of charging.

- Mode 1 is the least safe and outdated mode of cables and is no longer in use.

- Mode 2 enables to connect the car to the wall socket of your home, and it is equipped with a control box in the middle of the cable length that guarantees a certain level of safety. Mode 2 can be used for domestic and industrial sockets. It uses alternating current (AC).

- Mode 3 is the current standard for charging cables, and it is used for charging from wallboxes, commercial charging points and similar. It uses alternating current (AC).

- Mode 4 is the so-called fast charging and uses direct current (DC). The conversion from AC to DC happens in the charging station and not in the vehicle as in the other modes. This type of cable is always provided by the charging station itself and does not need to be purchased by the car owner.

 

Thus, if you want to charge from your home socket look for MODE 2, if you are willing to charge your car from public wallboxes look for MODE 3.

 

TYPES OF CHARGING CABLES

There are 2 types of plugs that are common on charging cables in Europe. Type 1 was used several years ago in Europe on certain older electric and hybrid models. However, in the most recent European cars is no longer installed. Today´s Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Opel cars are manufactured with Type 2 charging cable only. Thus, you don´t need to consider this point in the choice of your cable.

Type 2, called Mennekes, are produced in 3 combinations, depending on the amplitude, power and on the number of phases:

Nr. of phases

Ampere

Power (kW)

1

20 A

7,4 kW

1

20 A – 32 A

11 kW

3

32 A

22 kW

 

CAR MODELS AND CABLES´ CHARACTERISTICS

In order to choose the cable that enables to use the maximum charging power of your car, you need to consider the battery charging capacity.

- If you own a full electric battery vehicle (BEV), the onboard charger supports 3 phase current with a power of 11kW. For this reason, you should choose a threephase 11 kW cable. You can also choose a threephase 22kW one, but the speed of charging will not be higher as it is limited by the power that can be transformed by the onboard charger, that is 11 kW.

Full electric models for each brand are:

   - Peugeot: e-208, e-2008, e-Rifter, e-Traveller, e-Expert

   - Citroen: e-C4, e-C4 X, e-Berlingo, e-Spacetourer

   - DS Automobiles: DS 3

   - Opel: Mokka-e, Corsa-e, Combo-e, Vivaro-e, Movano-e

 

- If you own a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the onboard charger supports 1 phase current only, with a maximum power of 7,4 kW. In this case, you should choose either a monophase 7,4 kW cable or a threephase 22 kW one. Indeed, power capacity needs to be divided for the number of phases supported by the onboard charger to get the real power and speed of charging. This means that for PHEV vehicles the real charging power when using the 22 kW cable is just 7,33 kW. The power and hence the speed of charging depends internally on the car charger and not on the cable itself.

 Plug-in hybrid models for each brand are:

   - Peugeot: 308 (P5), 408, 508 (R8), 3008 (P84)

   - Citroen: C5 X, C5 Aircross

   - DS Automobiles: DS 4 (D41), DS 7, DS 9

   - Opel: Grandland X, Astra

 

- If you own both PHEV and BEV car it is convenient for you to choose a 3 phase 22kW cable, as it enables you to maximize speed and charging power for both models.

 

SO, WHICH PRODUCT SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?

To sum up, in the table below you can find which cables are the best choice for each engine type. In the right column find the reference number of the original product Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Opel that you can enter in the search bar in the upper part of the page.

Highlighted in blue are mode 2 cables for charging from house socket. They are equipped with the European EF type of house socket (if in your country you use a different one, use an adapter). In white find the cables for charging from public wallboxes.

Engine type

Charging cable

Cable length

(m)

Cable mode

Product reference numbers

BEV

3 Phase, 8 A

6

2

9846744480

3 Phase, 14 A

6

2

9846743980

3 Phase, 11 kW

6

3

9844681280

PHEV

1 Phase, 7,4 kW

6

3

9844681180

3 Phase, 8 A

6

2

9846744480

3 Phase, 14 A

6

2

9846743980

3 Phase, 22 kW

5

2 and 3

9835783780

6

3

9844681380

7

3

9844681480

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