SOON it won’t be just Nissan dealers who can have a quick charger installed on their sites – garages and service stations across Europe could have them too.
That’s because Nissan has teamed up with leading European utility and electrical vehicle supply equipment companies to speed up the development of cheaper, smaller, quick chargers for electric vehicle batteries, and accelerate the installation of publicly-available Quick Charge (QC) points across Europe.
The agreement is expected to result in a dramatic reduction in the price of the units by over half to under €10K (£8,700).
It will allow businesses such as service stations, car park operators and retail outlets to install quick chargers and run them profitably as a commercial enterprise, but perhaps more importantly it will mean LEAF drivers, and other quick charge enabled vehicles, could use their car for longer journeys and recharge the car’s battery to 80 per cent capacity in less that half an hour.
As a result, it is expected that there will now be thousands of QCs across Europe by the end of 2012, and tens of thousands by 2015. This infrastructure will open up Nissan LEAF ownership to a whole new spectrum of buyers who occasionally need to do longer journeys.
A quick charge allows the battery to be topped up in little more time than it takes to refuel a conventional car, and of course the owner can leave the Nissan LEAF while it is being ‘refueled’ to make calls, have lunch or take a break.
‘We are confident that the Nissan LEAF’s range will be enough to satisfy most drivers’ daily needs. However, with a significant number of QCs available across Europe, EV owners who need to drive longer distances will be able to do so with confidence, knowing they will be able to recharge no matter where they go, which we believe is essential for the mass adoption of EVs,’ said Toshiyuki Shiga Nissan COO.