CHAdeMO has become one of the most popular forms of fast charging for EV’s. With European automotive industries developing CCS (an alternate and more widely universal form of fast charging), the Asian automotive industry uses its own specific type of fast charging system.
You might have been to the recharging station and have taken note of the different outlets for charging vehicles. These are due to the charging standards of the three major electric players. CHAdeMO (short for Charge de Move) is simply another form.
Why Does The Japanese Market Use CHAdeMO?
A simple history lesson: Japan was the first country to introduce electric vehicles. While GM had its first American electric car in the early 2000s the island of Japan had been developing large scale charging stations for some time prior. CHAdeMO is actually one of the first fast-charging ports invented. By 2010 it was adopted as an industry-standard charging unit.
Charging Port Competition
What separates the CHAdeMO charging system from the rest is its availability. Where a company like Tesla boasts its numbers for charging stations across the US and the world, so does the folks across the Pacific. The current numbers for this type of charging station far outnumber both CSS and Tesla. This method has become the most widely used within the world and the increase in charging ports between 2015 to the end of 2019 is staggering.
The Numbers:
2015:
10,000 Charging Stations worldwide
Asia: 5,974
Europe: 2,755
North America: 1,400
2017:
16,000 Charging Stations Worldwide
Asia: ≈7,100+
Europe: 4,600
North America: 2,200
Other Countries: 2,000
2018:
25,300 Charging Stations Worldwide
Asia: 7,600
Europe: 9,200
North America: 3,200
Other Countries: 5,000
An Industry Standard
This method of charging has become the most common method and incorporates itself primarily with the Japanese auto market. Automakers like Nissan, Honda, and Toyota all use this method. Even Tesla has presented its own CHAdeMO adapter.