The 440-volt CHAdeMO socket is on the left; the standard 220- and 110-volt socket is on the right. Photo: Nissan.

Earlier this year the Japanese embraced a standard plug they call CHAdeMO. Now it appears the United States may follow suit. According to a report in Yomiuri Shimbun, the United States (presumably through the Department of Energy) will install 310 CHAdeMO-equipped quick-chargers in Arizona, California, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon and Washington.

Those markets happen to be where the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are currently available.

As Yomiuri Shimbun notes, widespread adoption of CHAdeMO by the United States and Japan almost certainly would make it the world standard for 440-volt DC charging. The Nissan Leaf already features a CHAdeMO-ready socket — it’s the larger one in the photo above. This is the first large-scale use of the standard outside of Japan, and speaks to the foresight of the Japanese automakers in rallying around a standard.

CHAdeMO, adopted by Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru and 154 other Japanese companies, is a riff on “charge de move,” or, roughly, “charge for moving.” It’s also a pun on the Japanese “O cha demo ikaga desuka,” which means, “Let’s have a tea while charging.”

Photo: Mitsubishi. The i-MiEV charging at the nation’s first public DC quick charger, which opened earlier this year in Vacaville, California.

See Also:

• Let's Have Tea While Charging Our EV
• Our Journey Toward Public EV Quick-Charging Begins
• Road Test: Seeing Green in New Way With Nissan Leaf
• EV Days Are Here Again

Authors: Chuck Squatriglia

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