Japanese carmaker Nissan wants a European wide network of quick charging stations – and it’s willing to back its plans by giving them away.
Four hundred of Nissan’s quick charging stations will be given for free to EV charging operators. They have been engineered to the CHAdeMO – Charge to Move – standard and can deliver up to 50kW of high voltage direct current electricity. The standard was developed and agreed on by several Japanese companies including: Toyota; Mitsubishi; Fuji Heavy Industries; and Nissan itself.
In addition, the quick charging stations are ‘AC-ready’ in an effort to support the arrival of electric vehicles from Renault – Nissan’s Alliance partner.
Nissan has already made an agreement with five of Europe’s leading utility and electric vehicle infrastructure companies to speed up the arrival of quick chargers. The chargers, developed by Nissan, are less expensive and smaller than ever before and now Nissan wants several thousand units in place by the end of 2012 – and tens of thousands by 2015.
The new points will be positioned strategically and will offer electric vehicle drivers more freedom and flexibility by extending the range of their car. The lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80 per cent of their capacity in just 30minutes using a quick charger.
