Are EV Chargers Universal?

Yes EV Chargers are universal.

Yes in the sense, that you can charge your EV at any EV charging station. Afterall it is just the power that transfers to your EV’s battery from a power source with the EV charger (EVSE) as an intermediary device.

But currently the charging connector and charge port exists in the market are not standard. There are 6 types of charging connectors currently. And corresponding there are the same compatible charge ports in EVs. So not all connectors fit into all charge ports.

So EV chargers are universal but not charging connectors (at least yet). So you need to use a charging adapter which acts as a convertor device makes you enable to charge your EV with one type of charge port and EVSE with another type of charging connector, to make a proper Male/Female fit between the connector and port.

It is very similar to charging your smartphone having type C port with a charger of micro USB connector, with micro USB to type C converter.

In North America mostly NACS, J1772 and CCS connectors are used and similarly most EVs have corresponding charge ports. However, the standard is shifting towards NACS gradually. Currently, all Teslas come with NACS port and non-Teslas with J1772 or CCS port.

So, there are adapters available in the market converting one type of charging connector to another type.

For e.g. NACS to J1772 adapter or NACS to CCS adapter and vice versa.

So don’t worry with a compatible adapter you can charge your EV at any charging station. In that sense it is universal.