In the transportation sector, electric vehicles (EV) are expected to play an instrumental role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions due to their eco-friendly and high-energy efficiency features. Further, in light of recent plans that have been announced globally to introduce the EV, it is believed that the spread of this new technology will be inevitable.
Although EVs were on track to become widespread many times in the past, they never did take off and the underlying reason(s) why must be investigated so as to not repeat the same mistakes that had prevented the past dissemination of this revolutionary new technology.
The major factor impeding the spread of EVs is the limited capacity of the lithium ion battery stored inside the vehicle. Although, there have been price and performance improvements allowing for widespread application to cell phones and computers etcetera, the exorbitant costs make substantial onboard battery enhancements prohibitive. Although the present infrastructure is unable to support electric vehicles, it is believed that with sufficient upgrades such facilities can be made useful and help pave the way for reduced battery capacity. In developing the design of the CHAdeMO standard quick charger, the following past infrastructure challenges were addressed.