One thing we have learnt this week -Electric cars are selling like hot cakes in Japan

charging point for electric carsElectric cars are selling like hot cakes in Japan.  It the third largest market in the world.  The reasons for this are unclear but it has more charging points than petrol stations according to a recent survey by Nissan.  When it comes to electric cars the Japanese seem to be suffering less from range anxiety than others.  Presumably this lack of concern is due to 40,000 charging points compared to 35,000 petrol stations.  This is about the same as the whole of Western Europe.

We should not exaggerate though not all these these charging points would be public some will be in peoples garages.  Also petrol stations have multiple pumps.  With each car taking half an hour to charge to 80% capacity then being stuck behind a couple of others in a queue for a single charging point could be a very frustrating experience.  Before electric cars really take off there need to be lot more charging points including multiple ones (as well as longer ranges).

Electric cars selling so well in Japan is somewhat of a surprise with a potential shortage of electricity although there has been a massive amount of renewables investment since 2011.  Questions still hover over electric cars though, not least over lithium supplies.

Neil

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