Japanese automakers including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi have joined hands to build charging infrastructures for electric-powered vehicles including Plug-in Hybrids (PHVs), plug-in hybrid electrics (PHEV) and electric vehicles (EV) in Japan.
The joint project, also aimed at expanding sales of green vehicles, involves installation of chargers for EVs, in addition to building a charging network service to improve driver convenience by enabling charging the vehicles from a power point.
As part of the project, the automakers will also work with the Japanese Government to double the charging outlets to about 4,000 quick chargers and nearly 8,000 regular chargers.
Claimed to exploit the electric-only driving performance and combined fuel economy of PHVs, the expanded charging network would enable extending the driving range of EVs.
Japanese automaker's will also work on promoting the installation of charger by temporarily bearing some of the installation and maintenance expenses, while also developing charging stations capable of accepting same credit card for payment at all stations.
The Japanese government, which has allocated subsidies worth $1.02bn for installation of charging facilities to accelerate the development of charging infrastructure, while boosting deployment of electric-powered vehicles using alternative energy.
The government is also anticipating sales of EVs accounting for 15-20% of new-car sales in 2020.
