On April 24, the CHAdeMO Association released the 3.0 version of its charging protocol. It was co-developed by the China Electricity Council, setting up a global battle of EV quick-charging protocols between a Japan-China alliance – and automakers in Europe and the US that use the CCS standard.

What do we know about the just-released CHAdeMO 3.0 standard? Its features include:

A connector that’s light and compact with a smaller diameter cable
Brand-new, identical plug with GB/T protocols
DC charging with power over 500kW (maximum current 600A)
Liquid-cooling technology
Locking/unlocking mechanism from the connector
Backward compatibility of the CHAdeMO 3.0-compliant vehicles with the existing DC fast charging standards (CHAdeMO, GB/T, and possibly CCS). Presumably, there will be adapters for Tesla vehicles.

Let’s not forget that CHAdeMO was designed with bi-directional charging as a core feature. The CCS standard is at least a few years behind in adding two-way capabilities.

Bidirectional charging will be a breakthrough for the integration of EV charging, home power, and managing grid services. It allows not only the charging of EV batteries but also the ability to take energy from the car and push it back to the power grid.
Japanese versions of the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi Outlander, which use the CHAdeMo standard, are the only vehicles today that have the bi-directional capability. Last month, Nissan displayed a system that uses vehicle-to-grid technology to allow the Leaf to power a 7/11 store.

The next generation of home chargers, such as Quasar, will use DC to provide a bi-directional flow of electrons.

Global DC-charging protocol smackdown
In CHAdeMo’s official release, the organization said that Japan and China have agreed to continue working together on the technical development and to promote this next-generation charging technology. With this collaboration, China’s emerging standard, dubbed “ChaoJi,” becomes a rising force.

India is also expected to join the team. South Korean automakers have danced DC protocols, most recently swaying toward CCS. But CHAdeMO says that South Korea, as well as Southeast Asian countries, have expressed their “strong interests” in participating in the development.