Porsche last month rolled out the Taycan electric car in Japan for the first time, with a charging demonstration in cooperation with the charging-hardware provider ABB. 

The demonstration charger featured with the Taycan, which will have Japan’s ubiquitous CHAdeMO charge port when it’s for sale in the country, was said to be capable of “power levels exceeding 100 kw,” with plans to eventually go to 150 kw―an exceptional setup in a nation where 50-kw fast chargers are ubiquitous, but 50 kw is the maximum. 

Last week we asked Matthias Kirchgässner, the global sales and marketing director for the Taycan model line, about the importance of the fastest charging—and whether we’ll ever see a version of the Taycan’s phenomenally quick 22-minute peak CCS charge time from 5% to more than 80% from CHAdeMO hardware in Japan or from GB/T hardware in China. 

Kirchgässner confirmed to Green Car Reports that regardless of how the charging rate progresses for CHAdeMO or the Chinese GB/T standards, 800V charging for the Taycan would remain the exclusive domain of CCS. 

He explained that the Taycan will charge at the peak (150-kw) rate with 400V charging whenever possible. “Our target all the time with the Taycan is fast charging, worldwide; so if there will be a new standard we will try to fulfill the maximum charging speed.”

Charging the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo

Charging the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo

“We say we’re a sports car...battery size is weight, and we need to be flexible, as light as possible, to satisfy our driving dynamics,” explained Kirchgässner. “Most important is that we have a quick stop to recharge your lost energy.”

“If Japan is working on that we will try to also fulfill the best (fastest) charging,” Kirchgässner summed. 

Actually CHAdeMO already offers that possibility. Under the CHAdeMO 2.0 standard released on May 29, 2018, CHAdeMO permits charging at up to 400 kw and up to 1,000 volts with liquid cooling. 

Models using CHAdeMO fast charge standard - 2019 CHAdeMO report

Models using CHAdeMO fast charge standard - 2019 CHAdeMO report

The Nissan Leaf Plus is also compatible with 100-kw CHAdeMO hardware but can only offer its peak speeds in the U.S. Nissan, with EVgo, is installing 200 chargers capable of 100 kw here.

The new-generation 150-kw ABB CHAdeMO chargers are said to go live in Japan starting by mid-2020—which is when things will speed up a little bit more for those in that nation fortunate enough to have Taycans.