Nissan To Prepare Infrastructure For Leaf In Japan With Network of Quick Chargers
By John O'Dell May 24, 2010
Nissan Motor Co. says it will be selling its own quick charging stations in Japan in advance of the December introduction there of the Nissan Leaf EV.
Prototype Nissan EV uses rapid charger at company's test center outside of Yokohama.
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The company said it will install the 49-kilowatt, 200-volt three-phase chargers - which also can be used with EVs made by Subaru and Mitsubishi - at 200 select dealerships in Japan - sufficient to space them about 40 kilometers (25 miles) apart throughout the country.
Nissan also is expected to sell the chargers to Japanese retailers, government agencies, utilities and other entities that want - and have the electrical service to support - a high-power rapid charger.
A Nissan spokesman in the U.S. said he wasn't aware of plans for the automaker to market the chargers here. Nissan already has announced plans to work with Arizona-based eTec to deploy chargers for the Leaf.
Nissan designed the system using a connector standards from the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and a car-to-charger communications protocol, called CHAdeMO, that Japanese automakers and utility companies have agreed to use in common and are hoping to persuade automakers and utilities throughout the world to adopt as the global standard for Level III chargers.
Several U.S. companies, including Eaton Corp. and Aker Wade, are making Level III chargers that use the CHAdeMo communications standard and the TEPCO connector.
Nissan's chargers, which will step-up the output to as high as 500 volts and 125 amps, depending on the vehicle's demand - will be priced at 1.47 million yen ($16,300) for the base version. The company also will offer a cooling system-equipped hot-climate model priced at 1.73 million yen ($19,250) and a heated cold-climate version at 1.54 million yen ($17,150).
Nissan said it also plans to install conventional 200-volt Level II chargers at all 2,200 Nissan dealerships in Japan by December.
The quick charger will take a depleted 24-kilowatt Leaf battery pack to an 80 percent charge in less than 30 minutes, versus several hours for the standard 200-volt system.
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