No. 102: Gas stations are generally positive about installing chargers (July 15, 2010)

According to a survey that covered 165 companies operating gas stations nationwide, 60% (87 companies) are positive about introducing chargers for electronic vehicles: 7.3% (12 companies) wish to install chargers and 52.7% (87 companies) are interested in installing chargers. Asked why they are positive about installing chargers, they said that EV would increase in number to create new business prospect, some kind of measure would be needed to cope with the decreasing gasoline sales, it would be necessary to expand the business scope to become a base for fuel supply. However, 17% (28 companies) are not interested in installing chargers in view of the possibility whether charging becomes viable business. Asked whey they are against installing chargers, 17% (28 companies) said that installing a charger system would not create high cost effect because nearly 10 million yen is required to build a charging station, it takes too much time to charge, and no charging station will be required because it would be possible to charge a car at home. The Japanese government plans to install 2 million standard chargers and 5,000 rapid chargers by 2020. As always, cost to build a charging facility will decrease as the number of charging stations increases in the future.