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[ultrarnr]

See link:
http://rideapart.com/articles/top-5-bikes-of-eicma-2014

I really like the Eva but Energica completely missed the mark on fast charging format. J1772 Combo plug? Really? Are there even any of these being installed in the US? Everything seems to be CHAdeMO here.

[benswing]

Now that BMW has their i3 & i8 in the US that has a CCS charger, more will be coming.  Yes, ChaDeMo has a HUGE head start, but Chevy, Volkswagen and the non-japanese manufacturers are planning to use it. 

Let the Beta vs VHS wars begin anew!

[DynoMutt]

VHS vs. Beta.  The only winners were media manufacturers (having to replace one's Beta player and tapes with VHS after the standard solidified) and intellectual property owners (bought two copies of the same movie).

The sad part of CCS vs. CHAdeMO is that both are extremely similar.  I'd venture to guess that it won't be a VHS / Beta type of war, rather, the charger manufacturers will be putting both types of connectors onto their chargers going forward as there's only a very small difference between them in the grand scheme of things.  I'd point out that I think that CHAdeMO (DC) is superior because it is the same no matter where in the world you might go with your vehicle, regardless of whether single phase AC or three phase power AC is commonly used.  The CHAdeMO "standard" effectively acts as a power translation layer.  CCS (DC) has two types of connector, as you were told at the Energica demo.  There is the Euro Type II with a Mennekes AC connector on the top and the NA Type I with the J1772 AC connector on top.  Also, Energica indicated that once a bike is manufacturered with a particular (J only, M only, Type I only, or Type II only) connector, it would not be possible to change it on that bike ever, not even as a paid service.  With gasoline cars, you can take a car, even if temporarily, from one place to another, and it would technically work.  Have a CCS Type II connector in North America? good luck.  Any engineers out there?  Please correct me, I wish I was wrong.

[ultrarnr]

And the bad news is who ever buys a Energica bike is paying for a fast charging system they are unlikely to be able to use. VHS vs Beta is a great way to describe this but at least video tapes were cheap. DCFC systems aren't. Based on what North Carolina currently has and is projecting to install in the near future I can't imagine having anything other than CHAdeMO on an EV. There is no cheap/easy fix to this. Would love an EVA but without CHAdeMO I would not buy one. Maybe the question to ask is how expensive is to to refit existing CHAdeMO systems to have both a CHAdeMO and a Combo J1772 plug on them?

[DynoMutt]

As I think I previously commented, the answer is that charger units need to have both connectors.  There is an extremely small (~5-10%?) difference in what needs to be supported.  That consists of connector and control protocol.  The hard part, the power line drop and the conversion to high-voltage DC, is already done, regardless of delivery standard.  Some vendors are already selling dual-standard units today, and refits very likely involve replacing boards and adding a cable.  I'm not EE, this is just what I've read in various places.

[Justin Andrews]

The combined charging plug makes a lot of sense over here, not sure about the continent, but here in the UK, combined J1772 (in the Menenkies format) are much more common.

I honestly can't see much of a future for CHaDeMO.

[Zer0G]

VHS vs. Beta.  The only winners were media manufacturers (having to replace one's Beta player and tapes with VHS after the standard solidified) and intellectual property owners (bought two copies of the same movie).

The sad part of CCS vs. CHAdeMO is that both are extremely similar.  I'd venture to guess that it won't be a VHS / Beta type of war, rather, the charger manufacturers will be putting both types of connectors onto their chargers going forward as there's only a very small difference between them in the grand scheme of things.  I'd point out that I think that CHAdeMO (DC) is superior because it is the same no matter where in the world you might go with your vehicle, regardless of whether single phase AC or three phase power AC is commonly used.  The CHAdeMO "standard" effectively acts as a power translation layer.  CCS (DC) has two types of connector, as you were told at the Energica demo.  There is the Euro Type II with a Mennekes AC connector on the top and the NA Type I with the J1772 AC connector on top.  Also, Energica indicated that once a bike is manufacturered with a particular (J only, M only, Type I only, or Type II only) connector, it would not be possible to change it on that bike ever, not even as a paid service.  With gasoline cars, you can take a car, even if temporarily, from one place to another, and it would technically work.  Have a CCS Type II connector in North America? good luck.  Any engineers out there?  Please correct me, I wish I was wrong.

Your are quite right. It's silly that USA and EU have different connectors especially if you think that from an electrical/communication protocol point of view are absolutely the same (except a small difference in the proximity line but normally vehicle electronics can handle both configuration).
CHAdeMO is completely different from a communication  point of view (and lot simplier).
CHAdeMO has some drawbacks. First of all it has only DC Charge so to allow also the AC option you need a second connector that is not a problem on a car but it is hard to fit in a sport  bike.
Then in my opinion the end of CHAdeMO is starting right now. BMW and WV are betting on CCS  and if they decide to use CCS there is little than the rest of the world can do against them.

[ultrarnr]

BMW and VW may be betting on CCS but they aren't building the infrastructure. There are very few BMW dealers that have installed a CCS charger and I don't know of any VW dealers that have installed them. Nissan has not only installed them at most of their dealers but Nissan has also donated CHAdeMO systems outside of their dealers. There is a Eaton CHAdeMO system in the town of Apex, NC. Unless you read the article in the local paper where it said that the charger was donated by Nissan there is no way anyone would know that. And that isn't the only case that I know of like that. Most of the DCFC that have been installed this year in North Carolina are dual CCS/CHAdeMO stations.