There are types A (Japan), B (US), C (EU), D (India), E (France), F (Germany), G (UK), H (Israel), I (AU) and so on: in which all have a distinct plug shape and differences in prongs. Type A plug is just two straight prongs without a ground while Type B is nearly identical to A but with a ground connection and Type F has no ground attached to the outlet while Type E does, usually this is solved with a adapter (for electronics that are dual voltage and support 50/60Hz frequency).
However, household appliances are typically region locked in the sense of being singular voltage (like electric kettles, toasters, refrigerators, washing machines) since those are intended to not be made for travel (mainly for domestic use supporting only a single plug type) unless you have both an adapter and a transformer. You can’t just plug a 120v 60Hz Toaster (B Plug) onto a 230v 50Hz outlet (Type F socket) with an adapter alone as that’ll blow the fuse.
Most modern electronics (as in laptops, game consoles and smartphones) support dual voltage and frequencies but their default plug type is region locked, so if you’ve bought a PS5 in the UK importing it into the US (the default cable is Type G that comes with the packaging when plugging into a TV) unless you swap cable for a Type B plug but it’ll work fine. Why is there no unilateral plug type that’s “region free” when discussing plug types found in appliances.
All these plugs were standardized 70 years+ ago when no one imagined one day you’ll be able to buy a Switch from Kazakhstan on something called the internet. In a probably accidental version of regulatory capture, the bean counters at the manufacturers kind of like it that way because they have control over what merchandise goes on sale in what market.
It’s also now cheaper to build 50 different plugs in some factory before we ask the whole world to switch to one type of plug. Picking a standard will also be impossible if everybody gets a vote in the process.
USB is the only hope for truly universal stuff but that won’t do for a kettle.
To elaborate: in 220V countries a kettle can pull 3,000W. The spec for USB PD 3.1 is max 240W and requires a specialized cable.
Using an online calculator: a 1m cable capable of handling 3,000W at USB-PD voltage would be almost 9mm in diameter.
We sorta do have universal mains connector (ignore for five minutes that there’s like 5 variants)
USB-D: now with support for AC up to 230V
I have a feeling it will necessitate a change in all the wall and counter outlets of every coffee shop on the planet though, right? I don’t think you can run 230V through those old connectors, can you?
But… Kazakhstan is the greatest country in the World?
All other countries have inferior potassium.
But that is precisely why I picked it here.
Excellent!
The way USB-C has been going, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next USB standard starts pushing enough power through it for kettles to be viable.
Though, actually, for high-power appliances, automotive EV charging plugs could conceivably end up being a worldwide standard for high-power connections. They’re already pretty standardized worldwide, and getting more standardized as time goes on. And they can handle tons of power throughput, both AC and DC.
It starts with high-power tools and appliances that you can plug into your car’s charge port. After all, it’s a convenient source of high power. So maybe if you’re going to run a welder or a powerful space heater or an electric clothes dryer, that’s a convenient way to be able to use it without running new wiring for it.
And then, hey, once people are kind of used to doing that, why not other things that use high power? Portable ovens, kettles, electric barbecue grills, portable cooktops…
But, really, wouldn’t it be better to have those things in the kitchen where they belong? So people start installing EV-style plugs indoors for high-power appliances. That way they can use these ‘portable’ appliances in more permanent installations.
And if that really starts to catch on and goes mainstream, maybe it becomes the standard going forward and all of our previous high-power plugs are considered ‘obsolete’.
And, eventually someday, homes all around the world are usually wired with only two types of power connectors in the wall: USB-C for low power devices and EV plugs for high-power devices.