Nissan will provide 400 quick chargers free in Europe as the Japanese giant takes an aggressive forward approach to overcome sluggish electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure development.
The new recharging locations will provide an extra incentive for new car buyers to consider pure electric vehicles - more freedom, flexibility and extra range.
Nissan already has agreements with five of Europe’s leading utility and EV infrastructure supply companies to speed-up development. Nissan’s latest quick chargers are smaller and around half the price of previous versions/
Nissan UK has put its hand in the air for 65 of the quick charge stations being offered for free and is already in discussions with owners of the three largest service station chains who jointly operate 100 outlets on UK Motorways.
The UK move mirrors the situation in other European countries – the best bids will secure an allocation of the quick charge points, installed for free by Nissan. Sites in city centres and airports are vital planks in the bold initiative by Japan’s second-largest automotive company.
Nissan is currently testing its excellent LEAF electric vehicle in Australia and in Europe, where the LEAF is already sold, customers are enjoying a range between recharges of around 180kms. A recharge from a quick charge station does take a little longer than re-filling a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle, but of course is significantly less expensive.
Nissan’s plan is to have several thousand quick charge points operational throughout Europe by the end of next year with significantly more operating by 2015.
