At the beginning of the year, the European Commission  published the Clean Power for Transport (CPT) package, including a policy paper on an alternative fuels strategy and the recommendation for standardization on recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

While it is encouraged to see clear targets for the deployment of a minimum number of recharging stations at a national level, which signals the momentum to pick up on Zero Emissions mobility, the CHAdeMO Association, which aims to increase quick-charger installations worldwide and to standardize how to charge electric vehicles, said it was disappointed that its standardization was excluded from the DC fast-charging specification.

According to the association, the CHAdeMO standard is used by more than 600 chargers across Europe in Norway, the Netherlands, the UK, France, and Estonia. There are more than 20,000 CHAdeMO-equipped vehicles on the road in Europe, which the association pointed to as “demonstrating that customers and investors have taken a vested interest in the adoption of electric vehicles. They should not be excluded from this initiative.”

The association asked that the European Commission to consider a dual charging system for DC fast charging with CHADeMO and combined charging system that will allow use by the majority of current and future electric vehicles. It noted that, from a cost point of view, there are significant commonalities between the two devices of more than 80 percent, with the only difference relating to communication protocol and charging gun.

The statement concluded that “the adoption of a technology-neutral approach not only reflects market realities but also ensures that multi-standard Combo2/CHAdeMO DC chargers are deployed. If this path is taken, Europe will leverage significant investment already made in the member states, and will be able to build a quicker and strong zero-emissions transportation network.”

CHAdeMO was formed initially by The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Fuji Heavy Industries. Its worldwide membership includes OEMs and suppliers of electric vehicle charging equipment.