Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi Agree to Build Japanese EV Infrastruture

ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
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, HondaHondaJapan, 1948 > present102 models
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, NissanNissanJapan, 1932 > present159 models
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and MitsubishiMitsubishiJapan, 1917 > present72 models
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have signed a deal with the Japanese government to more than triple Japan’s electric car charging infrastructure my March 2014. The government is partially subsidizing the plan, but the auto companies will be directly responsible for the chargers’ installation and maintenance.

Japan currently has 1,700 quick chargers and 3,000 standard chargers across the country. The new plan will boost that to 4,000 quick chargers and 8,000 standard chargers by the end of the fiscal year in March. The government is contributing 100.5 billion yen ($1.03 billion or €773 million) to the plan that must be spent before the end of the fiscal year.

The automakers will work together to choose locations to install the chargers. The government had mandated that locations with the highest public value have the highest priority. These include places like shopping centers and along major roadways. Each charging location has to be usable by EVs or plug-in hybrids by all four of the automakers.

With its highly urban population, Japan is trying to get its population to transition to EV and hybrid vehicles. The government has set a goal to have a minimum of 15% of new car sales be EVs or plug-in hybrids by 2020.