Japan now has more charging sites than gas stations, but many are private

By Imad Khan May 5, 2016

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The all-electric automotive future is fast approaching, and Japan is leading the way.

The Japan Times reports that the country now has more electric vehicle charging stations than gas stations. This fact comes from Nissan, which said that there are now 40,000 fast-charging stations around the island nation. This outpaces the country’s 34,000 gas stations by a good margin. It should be noted that this figure includes charging stations both on the streets and in homes.

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This is great news for Nissan, as the increased availability promises to make its all-electric Leaf even more attractive to Japanese buyers. The Leaf can travel 107 miles on a single charge, and with so many charge points, range anxiety should diminish.

Granted, this number is greatly skewed by including charging stations inside private garages. But that may soon change as well. PlugShare is a website that maps out charging stations across the world, including private ones available for public use. Think of it as Airbnb for car charging. If this concept takes off, then car charging will gain the benefits of the sharing economy.

As for actual charging stations, there are a 6,469 CHAdeMO DC quick chargers in Japan. That number may look small, but compared to Europe’s 3,028 or the 1,686 in the U.S., Japan still far outpaces the rest of the world. If things continue to go this way, then Japan will be on track to have 2 million charging stations by 2020, with 50 percent of new car sales being green.

Japan has been aggressive with tax breaks and subsidies for buyers willing to make a more environmentally conscious purchase. Even Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe boasted that as much as 3 million yen ($27,937) could be offered as subsidies to buyers. With incentives this generous, it’s easy to see why Japan has done so well in the EV space.

With Tesla aggressively pushing its all-electric vehicles in the U.S., incentives could also expand for American buyers.

H/T Transport Evolved | Photo via Portland General Electric/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

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Imad has been a gamer all his life. He started blogging about games in college and quickly started moving up to various…

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Costco, known for its discount gas stations, has left EV drivers in need of juicing up out in the cold for the past 12 years. But that seems about to change now that the big-box retailer is putting its brand name on a DC fast-charging station in Ridgefield, Washington.
After being one of the early pioneers of EV charging in the 1990s, Costco abandoned the offering in 2012 in the U.S.
While opening just one station may seem like a timid move, the speed at which the station was installed -- just seven weeks -- could indicate big plans going forward.
Besides lightening-speed installation, Electric Era, the Seattle-based company making and installing the charging station, promises to offer “hyper-reliable, battery-backed fast charging technology in grid-constrained locations.”
Its stalls can deliver up to 200 kilowatts and come with built-in battery storage, allowing for lower electricity rates and the ability to remain operational even when power grids go down.
If that sounds like it could very well rival Tesla’s SuperCharger network, it’s no coincidence: Quincy Lee, its CEO, is a former SpaceX engineer.
Costco also seems confident enough in the company to have put its brand name on the EV-charging station. Last year, the wholesaler did open a pilot station in Denver, this time partnering with Electrify America, the largest charging network in the U.S. However, Costco did not put its brand name on it.
In an interview with Green Car Reports, Electric Era said it was still in talks with Costco about the opening of new locations. Last year, Costco said it was planning to install fast chargers at 20 locations, without providing further details. It has maintained EV-charging operations in Canada, the UK, Spain, and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the wholesaler’s U.S. EV-charging plans might very well resemble those of rival Walmart, which last year announced it was building its own EV fast-charging network in addition to the arrangements it already had with Electrify America.