Japan plans to substantially increase EV charging Stations

According to overseas media reports, the Japanese government has promised to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. However, the current penetration rate of electric vehicles in Japan is only about 1%. Year) is being completely deactivated.

In fiscal 2021, the Japanese government provided a total of 100 billion yen (approximately US$911 million) in subsidies to build EV Charger stations and stimulate the development of the electric vehicle market. Charging piles have sprung up like mushrooms. However, according to data from Zenrin, from April 2020 to March 2021, the number of charging piles for electric vehicles in Japan has dropped from more than 30,300 to about 29,200.

Tsuyoshi Ito, manager of the planning department of e-Mobility Power, said that "2022 or 2023 will be the peak period for the replacement of electric vehicle charging piles." He believes that in order to maintain the continuous growth of electric vehicles, it is necessary to install charging piles in a convenient location for users and ensure that they will not fail in large numbers in the same period.

It is understood that Japan plans to increase the number of charging piles for electric vehicles nationwide to 150,000 by 2030, and companies will also actively participate in them. Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) plans to increase the number of fast charging stations on highways to 1,000 by 2025, and Hitachi Ltd. is developing smaller and lighter charging stations.

But Akio Toyoda, the chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, warned that blindly pursuing quantities could be problematic. Toyoda stated in June, “I hope that the government and companies can avoid the pursuit of the number of electric piles installed as a goal. It seems feasible, but it will eventually lead to low utilization of electric piles and greatly reduce the convenience of electric piles. ."

The Japanese government is also actively promoting the promotion and application of electric vehicles. The Japanese government has introduced a subsidy system that provides subsidies of up to 600,000 yen for the purchase of electric vehicles, and subsidies for the purchase of plug-in hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles of 300,000 yen and 2.5 million yen, respectively. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan is considering increasing subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles, so that the price of electric vehicles will be equal to that of gasoline vehicles.

Current situation in Japan: the number of charging stations for electric vehicles per capita is only one-third of France

According to foreign media reports, the number of charging stations for electric vehicles in Japan is lagging behind many international regions and less than half of that of major international regions in Europe.

There are approximately 18,000 electric vehicle charging stations in Japan—about 60% of the number of gas stations, but they are severely missing in rural areas. Some charging stations have also been out of service due to years of disrepair.

At the beginning of March this year, a familiar scene appeared in the Lotus Field service area on the Tohoku Expressway in Japan. Electric cars heading to Tokyo lined up in front of a fast charging station. A Honda owner said: "I have waited 15 minutes to check out. If there are several charging points, the problem may be resolved soon."

The comfort of electric vehicles can be measured in part by the accessibility of charging stations. According to data from Japanese map maker Zenrin, as of March 2020, a total of 18,270 charging points in Japan are open to the public, which is only 60% of the number of gas stations (29,600) in the country. In addition, there are only 160 hydrogen refueling stations in Japan for fuel cell vehicles. According to charging station provider e-Mobility Energy, 18 areas in Japan do not have charging facilities within a 70-kilometer highway. Among the main roads, there are 60 areas without charging piles within 40 kilometers.

The cruising range of electric vehicles is usually shorter than that of internal combustion engine vehicles. Ultimately, the scarcity of charging stations means that fewer consumers are willing to buy electric vehicles. According to a survey conducted by Deloitte in 2020, when purchasing electric vehicles, lack of charging infrastructure is the most typical concern of Japanese consumers, and 29% of respondents chose this reason.

At the same time, in Europe, France has about 6.9 charging points per 10,000 inhabitants, which is three times that of Japan’s 2.3; Norway has 35 charging points per 10,000 inhabitants, and 54% of the country’s passenger car sales in 2020 Comes from electric cars. In 2020 alone, the number of charging piles in Norway has increased by nearly 5,000.

Norway has been using measures such as tax exemption and free charging in public parking lots to promote the popularization of electric vehicles. Most of the country's electric energy will come from hydrogen energy. Since 2017, charging pile operations have become profitable, and the private sector has begun to inject capital into this new business.

However, Japan relies on subsidies to develop these infrastructures. Among the 30,000 charging piles in Japan, about 20,000 received government subsidies and were constructed from 2013 to 2016. However, the funding for charging stations in the Japanese economy, trade and industry sectors has decreased. Therefore, according to Zenrin's data, as of February this year, the number of charging stations was 800 fewer than the number in March 2020.

In addition, the aging of existing charging piles has also exacerbated the charging problem in Japan. In June 2020, Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, Japan removed a fast charging station that was installed in a visitor center in 2011. After the charging pile failed in 2019, Yonago decided not to repair the charging pile because the repair would cost nearly 1 million yen (approximately US$9,100).

Toko Takaoka, a manufacturer of charging stations, said that a fast charging station has a lifespan of 8 years. But in areas with high traffic volume, the service life can be as low as less than three years. Many charging piles in Japan need to be replaced in fiscal year 2022, but the maintenance or replacement costs are high.

The government of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is considering revising the 2030 target for drastically reducing carbon emissions. To achieve this goal, Japan will need to use more renewable energy and invest heavily in charging stations.