Fast charge adapters are possible, but how many really need CHAdeMO-CCS adapters?

There are at least four kinds of (longtailpipe.com) DC Fast Charging systems in existence, CHAdeMO, ComboCharging System, Tesla Supercharger and at least Chinese system. In the U.S. and Europe the first three are competing for market share dominance, since the SAE standards process failed to develop a DC fast charging standard that was acceptable to all the electric car manufacturers. An obvious product that’s theoretically needed are adapter cord sets to convert from one fast charging protocol to another.

A fast charging adapter would be similar to the adapter cords international travelers carry while traveling abroad. Different countries chose different electrical outlets, and an adapter cord lets you use a USA laptop or shaver in other countries. Similarly a CHAdeMO to CCS or other fast charging adapter could be useful for electric car owners.

At the time this is written (Sept 2015) the strongest need is for owners of cars with ComboCharging System (CCS) ports to use a CHAdeMO charging station. Cars with CCS ports are still at an early stage of adoption, with a sales rate low enough that there aren’t as many CCS-compatible charging stations. Now that it is May 2017, the CCS car sales rate is increasing, as are the number of CCS-compatible charging stations.

Over time the CCS stations may become the most popular fast charging protocol, or perhaps it will be the Tesla Supercharger standard. Since Nissan (and Kia) are the only companies supporting CHAdeMO, its days are probably numbered. Bottom line is the current situation, with three fast charging standards (four if you count China), is ripe with a need for fast charging adapter cords. The big question is whether when will the demand be high enough to warrant building such a product, and exactly which adapters are the greatest need.

With an app like PlugShare, one can readily see that fewer CCS charging station deployments exist than CHAdeMO stations. Therefore a CHAdeMO-to-CCS adapter would help owners of those cars, at this time. But the number of CCS charging stations is growing rapidly, and therefore in a few years CCS-to-CHAdeMO adapters may be required to support Nissan Leaf owners. However, the rapid growth of Tesla’s vehicle and charging station offering may swamp the market share of all other fast charging systems.

Tesla’s CHAdeMO adapter

Will you need an adapter?
A trend is forming where charging networks (longtailpipe.com) deploy charging stations supporting both CHAdeMO and CCS standards. This way owners of either kind of car can arrive at a fast charging station and use the cord appropriate to their car.

The more dual protocol charging stations are installed, the less need there will be for adapters.

An adapter is required if an electric car owner can only find the wrong sort of fast charging station in their region. For example, a CCS car owner whose region only has CHAdeMO fast charging stations or vice versa. But if most fast charging stations support both CHAdeMO and CCS, both CHAdeMO and CCS car owners will be equally able to fast charge. A practical example exists between the California-Oregon border and the Sacramento area where (in early 2017) there is a string of 25 kiloWatt CCS-only stations, with no CHAdeMO stations at all.

In the due course of time a market for fast charging adapters may develop depending on the sales rate of the different systems.

There is a market-share competition Between CHAdeMO and CCS. These are the two systems blessed by standards organizations, supported by multiple charging station manufacturers, and manufactured by multiple automakers. It seems likely that CCS will win out over CHAdeMO over time, because more automakers have voiced support for CCS. But, the sales rate of CCS is just now beginning to surpass CHAdeMO cars, meaning there are still lots of CHAdeMO cars on the road. But, the Tesla Model S and Model X sales rate surpass all the rest, and later in the year Tesla will add the Model 3 to its line-up.

Going by market share trends we can predict that in a few years fast charging will settle down to two dominant systems: Tesla Supercharger and CCS. Whether the Supercharger will be dominant depends on whether the automakers follow through on promises to start selling large numbers of electric cars.