The Level III fast charging stations will be co-developed, distributed, marketed and supported by both companies. Designed in accordance with the TEPCO Level III specifications, the charger will be qualified for use with several electric vehicle brands including the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi i-Miev.

Field studies in Tokyo have shown that deploying fast chargers increase vehicle usage by more than 50 percent. And this is with first generation battery electric vehicles that were yet to be optimized for fast charging. With coming improvements in Li-ion technology charge times will be reduced to as little as fifteen minutes. This is the point where consumers will abandon gasoline for electricity. This is the tipping point for electric vehicles.

—Bret Aker, Aker Wade Power Technologies CEO

Managed by Coulomb’s open architecture ChargePoint Network, the new Level III networked fast charge stations will have all of the features of Coulomb’s Level I and II stations including:

• An integrated billing system
• Smart Grid integration tools
• Remote station management
• Ability to find available stations online

Level III fast charging stations will charge an EV in less than one hour. Level III stations rely on an off-board charger that converts AC to DC, using a 480 Volt, three-phase electric service. The Level III ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations provide unique benefits including the ChargePoint Network application suite. The Level III charging stations for EVs will be available for purchase in Q3 2010.

Aker Wade develops and manufactures fast chargers and battery management software for the electric vehicle and industrial forklift markets. Aker Wade is collaborating with battery companies, infrastructure suppliers and EV manufacturers to deliver advanced Level III fast charging solutions for the coming generation of battery electric vehicles. Among the companies Aker Wade is working with are EnerSys, A123, Coulomb Technologies, and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).