CHAdeMO Installation

I think the point that Bisco is making is that because standard household voltage in Japan is 100 volts, it would take considerably longer to charge the Prime using a Level 1 plug-in charger like the one supplied with the U.S. version of the Prime. Hence, CHAdeMO is more necessary and more widely deployed in Japan.

As of July 2017, the CHAdeMO Association web site states that there are 7,133 CHAdeMO chargers installed in Japan compared with 2,204 in all of the United States. Japan is about 142,000 square miles in total land area. By comparison, that's smaller than just the state of California which is about 164,000 square miles -- and much, much smaller than the continental US which is about 3,100,000 square miles!

Most current CHAdeMO chargers can deliver 40 – 60 kW. That means that the nominal 12.5 kWh full charge of the Prime could be delivered in about 15 minutes. Faster charging times also mean that a single public charger can service many more vehicles over the course of a day.

Given the availability and popularity of CHAdeMO in Japan, it would be foolish for Toyota not to equip the Japanese version of the Prime with a CHAdeMO charging port. Similarly, including this feature in the US model would add needless cost and be useful to very few U.S. owners.

 

Any updates?

 

nope

 

There are 3 CCS/Chademo public stations within 3 miles is where I live and 1 is free. It's too bad Prime can't take advantage.

 

yup

 

The prius prime battery pack is thermally managed and air cooled.

So you would have to change the connector, change the charging circuit, and come up with a new thermal management.

Then you would have to figure out how to attach the system to the existing toyota computer.

Might be cheaper to get a different vehicle.

The amount of heat that the batteries generate while charging, is the limiting factor, especially when you consider the range of environment that it has to tolerate (like as in new mexico summer) .

I would not be surprised if it's already being charged the fastest way possible with the existing cooling system.

Speaking of connector, how come no car has connectors at either end of the vehicle ?
That way you could park the way that you want to park, and not the way that the charging port dictates.

 

Japanese Prius PHV do have a quick charge port , but can only charge at 80% ( in 20 mins )

Domestic voltage in Japan is 100V ... it take 14 hours to charge at 100V@6A or 2 hours and a half at 200V@16A

I guess they added the quick charge port because the LVL 1 @100V port is too low to be usable ... lol

 

I cannot imagine the Japanese variant having different battery and cooling technology than ours? How do they make it work.

 

I would expect that the "magic" happens in the inverter/converter circuit and allows for the CHAdeMO DC voltage to be efficiently distributed over appropriate clusters of the Prime's traction battery cells.

Keep in mind that batteries are DC devices and must be charged using DC current. The Level 1 (120 volt) and Level 2 (240 volt) EVSE. just deliver power-line voltage AC current which the Prime's internal charging circuit must convert to DC and supply to appropriate clusters of cells to match the charging voltage. CHAdeMO delivers 500 volts of DC which makes life easier for the vehicle's internal charging -- but more difficult for the CHAdeMO charging station.

This video from the McKinsey consulting firm explains why deploying a network of fast DC charging stations like CHAdeMO is not simple problem:
Video | McKinsey & Company

 

Why wouldn't it just draw 20% more Amps to deliver the same power? If my measurements are typical, that would only bring the Amperage up to around 11-12, still well within a 15A circuit's capacity.

 

You are thinking of typical US houses. The CHAdeMo option is for Japanese market, where entire house hold breaker is often 10A, no isolated circuit at all. They get charged based on the house breaker, larger cost more, and many of Japanese houses have minimum size house breaker installed.

 

The whole house is limited to 1,000W? Like, if they microwave something they have to turn off all the lights first?

 

Yap, that's correct.

 

How would CHAdeMo change that? They'd have to install new wiring, in which case they could just install a normal Level 2.

EDIT - I always wondered why it seemed so ironic that Japanese cars always have so few electrical outlets compared to others even though you would think with families of cellphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets, the Japanese would be the first to have a million outlets in their cars. Now this makes more sense in that they're used to dealing with inadequate electrical infrastructure.

 

CHAdeMo charge station is public, though I am not sure how much it costs to charge at the station. Basically, in Japan, there are very few houses that can handle PHEV or even larger BEV battery charging at their own home. Most household will not be able to handle that large electric load without first spending a huge cost on infrastructure, which I think is one of the main reason Japan (and many Japanese auto makers) are slow in BEV adoption.

 

With that kind of infrastructure I'm surprised they have any electric adoption at all.

 

Do they even sell LEAF in Japan? I know they do sell e-Power Note there which is all electric motor car but has gas engine solely as a generator.

Edit: Well, I looked it up. They seems to have LEAF sold in Japanese market, but not sure if how well they are selling.
日産：リーフ[LEAF]電気自動車（EV） ｜ すべてが驚き。リーフに変える。くらしが変わる。

 

It sells almost as bad as in the US. Around 140,000 since 2010.

 

Isn't LEAF only BEV sold in Japan? How many did they sell in the US?

 

Nissan LEAF Sales On Downward Trend Both In Japan And U.S.

November 2019: Nissan LEAF Sales Down In Japan, Flat In U.S.