When it comes to green cars, the Japanese keep showing us how it’s done. If it’s not Toyota selling the world’s most popular hybrid car, or Honda and Nissan introducing their own green vehicles, then it’s the capital city itself making huge breakthroughs for electric cars.
One of the main reasons electric cars have thus far failed to break out into the mainstream is due to the lack of infrastructure in place – namely the fact that there are few recharging stations for electric cars to be repowered while on the move. Well now Tokyo is attempting to address this problem by setting up 1,000 recharging sites.
According to the plans, there will be an initial 200 recharging stations during the fiscal year in 2009 – with this expanding to 1,000 in around three years.
TEPCO has developed a quick recharging system that allows electric vehicles to run for 25 miles on a five-minute charge or 37 miles on a 10 minute charge. The plan is to start installing these devices to coincide with Mitsubishi and Subaru introducing their own electric cars – TEPCO is working in partnership with the two manufacturers.
The recharging stations will be found at Mitsubishi and Subaru dealerships, parking facilities and even shopping malls.
