Nissan today revealed its new ChaDeMo quick charger and announced plans for this proprietary technology to go on sale in November 2011 at Nissan parts companies throughout Japan.
The newly-developed DC500V / 125A unit is the same performance as the current quick charger manufactured by Nissan, which is currently on sale with a suggested retail price of 1.47 million yen (about GBP 12,000), but is nearly half the size by volume (H 1840mm x W 380 x D 665). Nissan say that the new charger unit's smaller size will take up less space and enable easier installation. When it goes on sale, the new standard specification quick charger unit will cost half the price of the current unit, about £6,000.
Nissan aims to sell 5,000 of the new quick chargers by March 2016 to contribute to the ongoing development of the EV quick charging infrastructure in Japan. The company plans to install the new charging units at its dealerships nationwide, at local government facilities and in locations that draw large numbers of customers in regions throughout Japan.
My view: £6,000 is a big improvement in pricing but still makes the business case difficult. I reckon we need to get the cost down by 25% to 50% again in order to make public fast charging a viable business.
Update 12/10/11: Nissan have announced that within 10 years they will have a fast charger that will charge an EV in less than 10 minutes by using a capacitor electrode made of tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide instead of carbon, which is used in today's chargers.
My view: £6,000 is a big improvement in pricing but still makes the business case difficult. I reckon we need to get the cost down by 25% to 50% again in order to make public fast charging a viable business.
Update 12/10/11: Nissan have announced that within 10 years they will have a fast charger that will charge an EV in less than 10 minutes by using a capacitor electrode made of tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide instead of carbon, which is used in today's chargers.
