Japanese Automakers, Others to Send EV-Charging Technology to Foreign Markets
By Scott Doggett March 17, 2010
Japanese automakers and power companies plan to work together to bring their electric-vehicle-charging technology to overseas markets, seeking to speed up the adoption of technology needed to spark demand for electric cars.
Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (parent of Subaru) and Tokyo Electric Power Co. have set up an association to promote the use of their jointly developed quick-charging technology.
The companies aim to make the technology the de facto global standard by promoting its use in markets in which they plan to roll out plug-in vehicles.
"Our main activity will be to standardize chargers overseas," said Tokyo Electric Power Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, who heads the new group, speaking at a meeting open to the media on Monday.
An additional 158 business entities and government bodies, including 20 foreign companies such as Robert Bosch GmbH of Germany, PSA Peugeot Citroen SA of France and Korea Electric Power Corp., are expected to become members of the association.
The group is called CHAdeMO, which is derived from the words "charge" and "move." The association's logo is pictured here.
In Japan, charging methods are mostly unified through technology developed by Tokyo Electric Power and its automaker partners. Vehicle chargers aren't sold on a commercial basis in other markets.
Mitsubishi became the maker of the world's first mass-produced zero-emissions electric car through the launch of its i-MiEV model in Japan last July. The company plans to roll out the i-MiEV in Europe, as well as supply it to partner PSA Peugeot Citroen, by year's end.
Nissan said it will introduce its Leaf electric vehicle in the U.S., Europe and Japan this fall. Toyota plans to launch electric vehicles by 2012 in the U.S., while Fuji Heavy Industries, in which Toyota owns a 16 percent stake, launched an electric car in Japan last year.
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