Report: Mitsubishi Group to Set Up 1,000 Charging Stations For EVs
19 January 2010
The Nikkei reported that Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi Estate Co. plan to construct a network of up to 1,000 charging stations for electric cars in Japan by 2012 through a tie-up with highway operators, municipalities and others.
The two Mitsubishi group firms will call on automakers, telecommunications firms, major retailers and others to participate, according to the report. The cost is estimated at several billion yen.
In the first phase, charging stations will be built on a highway between Tokyo and Niigata several tens of kilometers apart. Electric cars will have access to high-speed chargers at service areas, near highway ramps and in other locations. The equipment will allow the typical electric car to run about 100km on a 30-minute charge. The number of these high-speed chargers will be increased based on demand.
...The Mitsubishi firms plan to gradually expand the charging network to cover roads connecting central Tokyo to the area's airports as well as other main arteries, including routes between the capital and western Japan. In the future, drivers will be able to check the availability of charging stations via wireless telecommunications services.
...The charging stations will be made available to corporate and individual customers. One proposal on the drawing board calls for a flat fee of several thousand yen a month for unlimited use of all charging stations.
Japan had slightly more than 100 charging stations—with about 60% concentrated in the Tokyo area—ate the end of 2009. The number of electric cars in Japan totaled about 8,900 as of March 2009.
Shares in Mitsubishi Motors Corp. rose 4 yen to 143 yen rose on Tuesday, after the Nikkei report.
About the economics of fast charging stations
A level 3 charger costs from 60,000 to 120,000 USD and can charge 2 cars simultaneously at 50 kW each.(1) Assume 25% utilization of the charging station and a kWh price premium of 20 cents per kWh meaning a price of about 30 cents per kWh. This charging station’s profit will be (2 cars*6 (hours per day)*50 (kWh)*365 (days per year)*0.2 (USD profit per kWh)) = 43,800 USD per year. Time to payback about 2 years. That makes a good business case for investing in EV charging stations.
Off cause people will predominantly charge their EVs at home using their own level 2 chargers at 10kW that cost about 4000 USD to install.(2) I think people will use public fast chargers predominantly for emergency situations spending 10 minutes to get 8 kWh or enough for 30 miles to drive home to your own charger where you can charge at much lower rates. People don’t mind paying 30 cents per kWh for emergencies and spend 10 minutes charging while doing some errands. I certainly wouldn’t.
Also note that at 100,000 USD per fast charging station the US could get one doing two cars at each gas station in the country for as little as 14 billion USD as there are about 140,000 gas stations in the US. This is about the same as the cost of two carriers. In other words, it is pocket money in perspective.
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1) http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2010/01/fast-charging-systems-on-the-way-30-minutes-or-less-to-recharge-an-ev.html
2) http://www.avinc.com/downloads/EVs_The_Next_Big_Thing_V2.pdf (see page 4)
Posted by: Account Deleted | 19 January 2010 at 03:24 AM
About the logistics of fast charging stations
In the post above I assumed that people only use fast charge stations for emergencies and do the bulk of their charging at home. The question is, if people behave like this, how many EVs and PHEVs should there be around to sustain a network of 140,000 charging stations in the USA or one at each gas station?
In the example above I assumed a utilization of 25% per charging station. This would give (6*2*140,000) = 1.68 million charging hours per day. If people only use these fast chargers for emergencies it could be a little as 14 minutes per week or 2 minutes per day per EV owner. In order to spend the 1.68 million charging hours per day that would require a population of ((60/2)*1,68) = 50,4 million EV vehicles in the US.
The 50.4 million EVs is going to take a long time to get in the US so that means that either the kWh price at the charging station will have to cost more (for example 90 cents per kWh) or the government is going to subsidize the spread of fast chargers or there is going to be fewer fast charging stations. I suspect it will be a combination of all three.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 19 January 2010 at 06:56 AM
Henrik:
In the long term, when BEVs e-range is increased to 500+ Km and PHEVs to 100+ Km, fewer public charging stations may be required.
However, two specific needs will stay, i.e. along highways for long trip travellers and in cities and towns for people not equipped with home charging facilities.
To invest the equivalent of ONE aircraft carrier for USA is not that much, specially when the pay back on fully automated charging stations could be very short (2 to 3 years) while the pay back on an aircraft carrier is very negative due to very high operation cost and quick depreciation.
Manufacturing and installing 140,000+ public charging stations could be a good work creating project, at least for the next 10+ years.
Progressively closing and cleaning up 140,000+ existing liquid fuel pumping stations and a few hundred refineries may cost much more. In reality, it has already started. Our city had 6 refineries in 1960 and by May 2010 we will be down to a single one. Hundreds of gas stations have already been closed and more are closing every week. With mass production of 35+ mpg ICE, 60+ mpg HEVs, 150+ mpg PHEVs and BEVs, this trend will accellerate during the current decade.
Interesting transition ahead.
Posted by: HarveyD | 19 January 2010 at 08:07 AM
This would be an interesting challenge and an excellent works project, to boot. The logistics could be daunting, however, in certain situations. On populated roadways, such as Highway 57 through Illinois, there are regular rest stops and side towns that could easily serve electric fueling stations. However, if you consider the long stretch of Highway 87 in the Texas panhandle, such conveniences won't be available. Plus you have to take into account the times some drunken yahoo wants to beat the crap out of "that machine" at three o'clock in the morning.
Like I said, an interesting challenge.
Posted by: sheckyvegas | 19 January 2010 at 10:38 AM
By the way, I'm not insisting there are drunken yahoos only in Texas. There are drunken yahoos everywhere.
Posted by: sheckyvegas | 19 January 2010 at 10:39 AM