The European Commission today (January 24, 2013) 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.

It is encouraging 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.

However, the CHAdeMO association would like to ensure that the CHAdeMO standard is not excluded from the DC fast charging specification.

The CHAdeMO standard is used by more than 600 chargers across Europe in Norway, Netherlands, UK, France, and Estonia. There are more than 20,000 CHAdeMO-equipped vehicles on the road in Europe, 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 CHAdeMO quick-charger is expected to be included in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard in the second half of 2013 and the process will be expanded to allow for third party certification to increase the availability of CHAdeMO quick chargers.

We request the European Commission consider a dual charging system for DC fast charging with CHAdeMO and CCS (combined charging system) that will allow use by the majority of current and future electric vehicles. From a cost point of view, there are significant commonalities between the two devices of more than 80%, with the only difference relating to communication protocol and charging gun.

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.