CHAdeMO is a fast-charging system for

battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, wi ...

s, developed starting in 2010 by the CHAdeMO Association, formed by the

Tokyo Electric Power Company , also known as or TEPCO, is a Japanese electric utility holding company servicing Japan's Kantō region, Yamanashi Prefecture, and the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture. This area includes Tokyo. Its headquarters are located in Uchisaiw ...

and five major

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese automakers. The name is an abbreviation of "CHArge de MOve" (which the organization translates as "charge for moving") and is derived from the Japanese phrase "" (), translating to English as "How about a cup of tea?", referring to the time it would take to charge a car. It competes with the

Combined Charging System The Combined Charging System (CCS) is a standard for charging electric vehicles. It can use or connectors to provide power at up to . These two connectors are extensions of the IEC 62196 Type 1 and Type 2 connectors, with two additional di ...

(CCS), which since 2014 has been required on electric vehicles sold in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, Tesla's proprietary connector used by its

Supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

network outside of Europe, and China's

GB/T charging standard The GB/T charging standard is a set of GB/T standards, primarily in the GB/T 20234 family, for electric vehicle AC and DC fast charging used in China. The standards were revised and updated most recently in 2015 by the Standardization Administra ...

. , CHAdeMO remains popular in Japan, but is being equipped on very few new cars sold in North America or Europe. First-generation CHAdeMO connectors deliver up to 62.5 kW by 500 V, 125 A

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

through a proprietary

electrical connector Components of an electrical circuit are electrically connected if an electric current can run between them through an electrical conductor. An electrical connector is an electromechanical device used to create an electrical connection between ...

, adding about of range in a half an hour. It has been included in several international vehicle charging standards. The second-generation specification allows for up to 400 kW by 1 kV, 400 A direct current. The CHAdeMO Association is currently co-developing with China Electricity Council (CEC) the third-generation standard with the working name of “

ChaoJi The ChaoJi connector (, meaning "Super" and referenced as CHAdeMO 3.0) is a proposed standard for charging electric cars, under development since 2018. The connector has a lemniscate shape ( ∞), with a flat bottom edge and is planned for char ...

” that aims to deliver 900 kW.

History

Chademo-combo2-iec-type-2-connectors-side-by-side

CHAdeMO originated out of a charging system design from the

(TEPCO). TEPCO had been participating on numerous EV infrastructure trial projects between 2006 and 2009 in collaboration with

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Fuji Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate primarily involved in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation manufacturing. It is best known for its line of Subaru automobiles. Founded in 1953, the company was formerly named ( ...

(now

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

), and other manufacturers. These trials resulted in TEPCO developing patented technology and a specification, which would form the basis for the CHAdeMO. The first commercial CHAdeMO charging infrastructure was commissioned in 2009 alongside the launch of the

Mitsubishi i-MiEV The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (MiEV is an acronym for ''Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle'') is a five-door hatchback electric car produced in the 2010s by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. Rebadged variants of ...

. In March 2010, TEPCO formed the CHAdeMO Association with Toyota along with earlier partners Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Subaru. They were later joined by

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

and

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

. CHAdeMO would be the first organization to propose a standardized DC fast charge system to be shared across diverse EVs, regardless of their brands and models. CHAdeMO became a published international standard in 2014 when the

International Electrotechnical Commission The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and r ...

(IEC) adopted

IEC 61851 IEC 61851 is an international standard for electric vehicle conductive charging systems, parts of which are currently still under development(written 2017). IEC 61851 is one of the International Electrotechnical Commission's group of standards fo ...

-23 for the charging system,

-24 for communication, and

IEC 62196 IEC 62196 ''Plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and vehicle inlets – Conductive charging of electric vehicles'' is a series of international standards that define requirements and tests for plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and veh ...

-3 ''configuration AA'' for the connector. Later that year, the

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization CENELEC (french: Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique; en, European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) is responsible for European standardization in the area of electrical engineering. Together with ETSI (telecom ...

(EN) added CHAdeMO as a published standard, followed by the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

(IEEE) in 2016. A major blow to the international adoption of CHAdeMO came in 2013 when European Commission designated the

(CCS) Combo 2 as the mandated plug for DC high-power charging in Europe. While the European Parliament had contemplated removing all CHAdeMO infrastructure by January 2019, the final mandate only required that all publicly accessible chargers in the EU be equipped with CCS Combo 2, allowing stations to offer multiple connector types. While CHAdeMO was the first fast-charging standard to see widespread deployment and remains widely equipped on vehicles sold in Japan, it has been losing market share in other countries. Honda was the first of the CHAdeMO Association members to stop equipping the connector on vehicles sold outside of Japan starting with the Clarity Electric in 2016. Nissan also abandoned CHAdeMO on its

Ariya Ariya may refer to: Music * Aria (band), a Russian heavy metal band, also known as Ariya People * Ariya Daivari (born 1989), American professional wrestler * Ariya Gulite (born 1941 or 1942), Soviet long track speed skater * Ariya Hidayat, d ...

SUV introduced in 2021. Toyota and Subaru have also equipped their jointly developed bZ4X/Solterra with the CCS connector outside of Japan. , the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and

Nissan Leaf The , stylized as LEAF, is a Compact car, compact five-door hatchback battery electric vehicle, battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufactured by Nissan. It was introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010, and its second generation w ...

are the only plug-in vehicles equipped with CHAdeMO for sale in North America.

Connector design

DC fast charge

Most

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

s (EV) have an on-board charger that uses a

rectifier A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The reverse operation (converting DC to AC) is performed by an Power ...

circuit to transform

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

(AC) from the

electrical grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

(DC) suitable for recharging the EV's battery pack. Most EVs are designed with limited AC input power, typically based on the available power of consumer outlets: for example, 240 V, 30 A in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and Japan; 240 V, 40 A in Canada; and 230 V, 15 A or 3Φ, 400 V, 32 A in Europe and Australia. AC chargers with higher limits have been specified, for example

SAE J1772 SAE J1772, also known as a J plug or Type 1 connector after its international standard, IEC 62196 Type 1, is a North American standard for electrical connectors for electric vehicles maintained by SAE International under the formal title "SAE Su ...

-2009 has an option for 240 V, 80 A and

VDE-AR-E 2623-2-2 IEC 62196 ''Plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and vehicle inlets – Conductive charging of electric vehicles'' is a series of international standards that define requirements and tests for plugs, socket-outlets, vehicle connectors and veh ...

has a 3Φ, 400 V, 63 A. But these charger types have been rarely deployed. Cost and thermal issues limit how much power the rectifier can handle, so beyond approximately 240 V AC and 75 A it is better for an external

charging station A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric ...

to deliver DC directly to the battery. For faster charging, dedicated DC chargers can be built in permanent locations and provided with high-current connections to the grid. Such high voltage and high-current charging is called a DC fast charge (DCFC) or DC quick charging (DCQC).

Connector protocols and history

While the charging system design for CHAdeMO came out of TEPCOs trials starting in 2006, the connector itself had been designed in 1993, and was specified by the 1993 Japan Electric Vehicle Standard (JEVS) G105-1993 from the JARI. In addition to carrying power, the connector also makes a data connection using the

CAN bus A Controller Area Network (CAN bus) is a robust vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other's applications without a host computer. It is a message-based protocol, designed originally for mu ...

protocol. This performs functions such as a safety interlock to avoid energizing the connector before it is safe (similar to

), transmitting battery parameters to the charging station including when to stop charging (top battery percentage, usually 80%), target voltage, total battery capacity, and how the station should vary its output current while charging. The first protocol issued was CHAdeMO 0.9, which offered maximum charging power of 62.5 kW (125 A × 500 V DC). Version 1.0 followed in 2012, enhancing vehicle protection, compatibility, and reliability. Version 1.1 (2015) allowed the current to dynamically change during charging; Version 1.2 (2017) increased maximum power to 200 kW (400 A × 500 V DC). CHAdeMO published its protocol for 400 kW (400 A × 1 kV) 'ultra-fast' charging in May 2018 as CHAdeMO 2.0. CHAdeMO 2.0 allowed the standard to better compete with the CCS 'ultra-fast' stations being built around the world as part of new networks such as IONITY charging consortium.

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G)

In 2014, CHAdeMO published its protocol for

vehicle-to-grid Vehicle-to-grid (V2G), also known as Vehicle-to-home (V2H) or Vehicle-to-load (V2L) describes a system in which plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) sell demand response services to the grid. Demand services are either delivering electricity or by red ...

(V2G) integration, which also includes applications for vehicle to load (V2L) or vehicle to home-off grid (V2H), collectively denoted V2X. The technology enables EV owners to use the car as an

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...

device, potentially lowering costs by optimising energy usage for the current time of use pricing and providing electricity to the grid. Since 2012, multiple V2X demo projects using the CHAdeMO protocol have been demonstrated worldwide. Some of the recent projects include UCSD INVENT in the United States, as well as Sciurus and e4Future in the United Kingdom that are supported by

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the United ...

CHAdeMO 3.0: ChaoJi

In August 2018, CHAdeMO Association announced they were co-developing the next-generation ultra-high-power protocol, named CHAdeMO 3.0, with China Electricity Council (CEC), which would harmonise the CHAdeMO standard with the CEC

20234.3-2015. This project includes a new connector with the code name

(), and plans to increase charging rate to 900 kW (600 A x 1.5 kV), all the while ensuring backward compatibility with the current CHAdeMO and

GB/T The National Standards of the People's Republic of China (), coded as , are the standards issued by the Standardization Administration of China under the authorization of Article 10 of the Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China. A ...

20234.3 ( IEC 62916-3 configuration BB) DC chargers, according to the Association. It was revealed that ChaoJi can also be made backward compatible with CCS and such study is under consideration as of summer 2019. The ChaoJi connector could also take the place of the DC connector of CCS Combo 2. By adopting liquid cooling within the cable and moving the locking mechanism from the connector to the vehicle, the ChaoJi connector is significantly lighter and more compact than the prior CHAdeMO design. IEC 68151-1 prohibits the use of adapters for high power charging; an amendment was submitted by the ChaoJi alliance to allow the use of adapters. A prototype adapter was built by Fujikura, but it was inflexible and heavy at nearly because the cable did not use internal cooling.

Deployment

Charging stations

CHAdeMO-type fast charging stations were initially installed in great numbers by TEPCO in Japan, which required the creation of an additional power distribution network to supply these stations. Since then, CHAdeMO charger installation has expanded its geographical reach and in January 2022, the CHAdeMO Association stated that there were 44,900 CHAdeMO chargers installed in 96 countries. These included 7,700 charging stations in Japan, 22,500 in Europe, 8,000 in North America, and 1,000 elsewhere. For the historic evolution of CHAdeMO installation, see above under History. As of January 2022, a total of 260 certified CHAdeMO charger models have been produced by 50 companies.

In vehicles

Models supporting CHAdeMO charging include: * Bollinger B1 *

BMW i3 The BMW i3 is a B-segment, high-roof hatchback manufactured and marketed by BMW with an electric powertrain using rear-wheel drive via a single-speed transmission and an underfloor Lithium-ion battery, lithium-ion battery pack and an optional R ...

(Japan only) * Citroën C-ZERO *

Citroën Berlingo Electric Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...

/E-Berlingo Multispace (until 2020) * ENERGICA MY2021 * GLM Tommykaira ZZ EV *

Honda Clarity The Honda Clarity is a nameplate used by Honda on alternative fuel vehicles. It was initially used only on hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles such as the 2008 Honda FCX Clarity, but in 2017 the nameplate was expanded to include the battery-elec ...

PHEV (Japan only) *

Honda Fit EV The second generation Honda Fit is a subcompact car or supermini manufactured by Honda from 2007 to 2014. It debuted on 17 October 2007 at the 40th Tokyo Motor Show. __TOC__ Overview The vehicle offered a longer wheelbase than its pred ...

Hyundai Ioniq Electric The Hyundai Ioniq is a compact five-door liftback manufactured and marketed by Hyundai. The nameplate ''Ioniq'' is a portmanteau of '' ion'' and ''unique''. It is marketed as the first automobile to be offered without a standard internal combus ...

(2016) *

Jaguar i-Pace The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or ...

(Japan only) *

Kia Soul EV The Kia Soul EV (also known as Kia e-Soul) is an all-electric subcompact crossover SUV manufactured by Kia and based on the Kia Soul. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official range for the 2020 Kia Soul EV is 243 miles (391 km ...

(for American and European market until 2019) *

LEVC TX The LEVC TX (previously known as the TX5) is a purpose-built hackney carriage manufactured by the British commercial vehicle maker London EV Company (LEVC), a subsidiary of the Chinese auto-maker Geely. It is the latest in a succession of purp ...

* Lexus UX 300e (for Europe) * Mazda Demio EV * Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter *

Mitsubishi i MiEV The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (MiEV is an acronym for ''Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle'') is a five-door hatchback electric car produced in the 2010s by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. Rebadged variants of ...

* Mitsubishi MiEV truck *

Mitsubishi Minicab The is the kei truck and microvan, built and sold in Japan by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since 1966. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Galant Shop. An all-electric model of the Minicab, called the Minicab MiEV, ...

MiEV * Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV * Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV *

Nissan LEAF The , stylized as LEAF, is a Compact car, compact five-door hatchback battery electric vehicle, battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufactured by Nissan. It was introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010, and its second generation w ...

Nissan e-NV200 The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009. Overview The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...

* Peugeot e-2008 *

Peugeot iOn The Mitsubishi i-MiEV (MiEV is an acronym for ''Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle'') is a five-door hatchback electric car produced in the 2010s by Mitsubishi Motors, and is the electric version of the Mitsubishi i. Rebadged variants of ...

Peugeot Partner Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

EV * Peugeot Partner Tepee *

Subaru Stella The Subaru Stella is a 5-door kei car produced by Subaru starting in June 2006. The Stella is based on the same architecture as the Subaru R2. It can be considered as a direct replacement of the Subaru Pleo, although the Pleo soldiered on for ano ...

EV * Tesla Model 3, S, X and Y (North American, Korean, and Japanese models via adapter,) * Tesla Model S, and X (Models with European charge port via adapter, prior to models with integrated CCS 2 capability) *

Toyota eQ is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Toyota Prius PHV The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid (often abbreviated as the Prius and known as the Prius Prime in North America, South Korea, and New Zealand) is a plug-in hybrid liftback manufactured by Toyota. The first-generation model was produced from 2012 t ...

(Japan only) *

XPeng G3 The XPeng G3 is a battery-powered crossover SUV produced by the Chinese electric car company XPeng. It was the first mass produced vehicle by XPeng as production commenced November 2018. Originally revealed as the XPeng Beta during prototype p ...

(Europe 2020) *

Zero Motorcycles 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usuall ...

(via optional inlet) * Vectrix VX-1 Maxi Scooter (via optional inlet)

Gallery

File:CHAdeMO Vacaville Davis St DC4.jpg, A TEPCO branded charger in

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it ...

, U.S. File:Borne de recharge Circuit électrique Maskinongé QC 2018-05-25.jpg, A charging site in Quebec, Canada with a 50 kW CHAdeMO / CCS "combo" DC fast charger and a Level 2 AC connector. File:Fastchargepoint3plugs.jpg, A "combo" fast charger station with Type 2, CHAdeMO, and CCS connectors File:EVolt Tri-Rapid Compact Charger CHAdeMO plug.jpg, CHAdeMO plug

References

External links

* {{Electric vehicles International Electrotechnical Commission DC power connectors Plug-in hybrid vehicle industry Charging stations Automotive standards 2010 establishments in Japan