Is there continued movement towards unification of electric power wall socket/plug standards?

Question

As we all know, when traveling abroad we usually have to use electric power socket adapters, since there are several form factors in use in the world, and most are incompatible with each other (i.e. not physically pluggable; I'm not talking about electric compatibility and voltages here).

Now, in Israel/Palestine, when I'm from, we used to have this silly custom socket standard, H-type, not used anywhere else in the world. We didn't even have the British type G, which we could have gotten as a colony (and neither did India by the way. Isn't that weird?) Luckily, in 1989, the standard was revised so that sockets could now accommodate a Euro-Plug (and thus also type F plugs) with no adapter, as well as the olg plugs. And indeed, a lot of the computer parts and electrical appliances we get now are those with plugs designed for "Schuko" countries. Which is great. To some extent this coincided with Israel developing closer relations with European states and the EU in the 1990s, joining a bunch of programs such as the EU Framework Program of academic research etc.

I guess earlier examples of this are the spread of F plugs, and the combination F-and-E sockets you find in many places (the E is French, the F is German, originally), and the very existence of the C-plugs - which represent the coming together of European states for the past several decades.

But this is old news. I was wondering if this process is ongoing these days, i.e. are there important transitions of socket/plug standards corresponding or reflecting political changes, and are there ones planned for the near future.

(To be honest, I also think some standards are technically superior to other prevailing standard in terms of convenience and/or safety, and I would assume those should "take over", but I don't want to get into that.)

Answer 1

Lets only consider the ~230V systems; the ~110V systems seem to have largely standardised on the American plug.

guess earlier examples of this are the spread of F plugs, and the combination F-and-E sockets you find in many places (the E is French, the F is German, originally)

I have never heard of a combination "E+F" socket; it is the plugs that are typically a combination.

Luckily, in 1989, the standard was revised so that sockets could now accommodate a Euro-Plug (and thus also type F plugs) with no adapter

So it can accept the plugs, but they will not be earthed and so will be operating with a reduced level of safety to if they were connected properly. Many countries would not find that acceptable.

and neither did India by the way. Isn't that weird?

India and South Africa do use British-derived plugs and sockets but they are derived from the older BS546 standard rather than the BS1363 standard that is now almost completely dominant in the UK.

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The IEC tried to introduce a new standard plug/socket type (60906-1) but it never caught on. Only South Africa adopted it. Brazil introduced a plug and socket type based on it but incompatible.

The fundamental problem is that for a country that currently has strong electrical standards and is able to enforce them a transition will almost certainly meet strong resistance due to the medium term reduction in safety and convenience, not to mention in some cases the impact on national pride.

So convincing the likes of the UK, France, Germany, Australia, etc that a transition is a good idea is likely to be virtually impossible and for a global manufacturer those are all counties that are "too big/rich to ignore".

The EU apparently was asked to consider standardising plug/socket types recently but (as expected) rejected doing so. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/xii24a_plugs_and_sockets.pdf

So while individual countries may move from one type to another I don't see there being any real progress towards a single standard.

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Tech manufacturers have largely solved the problem in other ways, through the use of external power supplies and/or detachable power cords that can be easilly swapped out for each target market.

Answer 2

Yes. The IEC (site) is still active.

I'm not aware of any specific program for further integrating connectors, but they have enough committees that's probably me just not bothering to look.

Answer 3

Part of the problem is that the underlying electric grids use different voltages & frequencies. North America uses 110/220 volts at 60 Hz, much of Europe uses something like 200/400 volts at 50 Hz. Plug a device designed for one voltage into another system, and the best case is that it doesn't work. It's quite likely that you'll destroy the device in the process, with risk of fire, electric shock, &c. So to a certain extent, incompatible plugs are a desireable safety feature.

That's even true of devices on the same system, so in the US we have different-shaped plugs for standard household 110 V (and even those differ if the device/outlet has a ground: the difference between 2 and 3 prong plugs), and for more power-hungry devices that use either single or 3 phase 220 V power.

Edit In response to @einpoklum: What I'm trying to point out here is that trying to standardize on a plug format is a really bad idea unless and until the utility grids standardize on a common voltage and frequency. (Which requires a major investment in infrastructure.) From your map, it seems like most of the rest of the world - most of Europe, a large part of Asia, and a good chunk of Africa - has standardized on a set of plugs for their voltage/frequency.

Instead of asking what's happening with plug standardization, I think it would be interesting to ask why they ever became non-standardized in the first place. Given that the modern A/C grid is mostly an American development, why did Europe &c choose to use different voltages & frequencies?