The electric vehicle and EV charging market enjoyed a surge in late 2022 despite continued high energy prices.
EV Charging Index: Expert insight from Japan
By Hitoshi Kaise and Waichi Yamamoto
EVs are yet to fully take off in Japan, although sales are gradually increasing
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EV sales remain low in Japan and the country falls several places in this year’s rankings. Lack of customer satisfaction with public charging is a major factor, but this could change as Japan’s infrastructure expands.
"Japan’s EV sales penetration rate crept up from 3% to 4% in 2023 but is still well below the global average of 19%."
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EVs still yet to fully take off
Japan’s EV sales penetration rate crept up from 3% to 4% in 2023 but is still well below the global average of 19%. Customer satisfaction with charging speeds remains a serious barrier to EV adoption, with Japan having by far the lowest ranking in terms of customer satisfaction with public charging speeds. This could be set to change after the government said it would relax restrictions on installing fast chargers, which should lower installation and operation costs.
As more companies focus on environmental sustainability, the electrification of company cars may increase the size of the EV parc, but we are yet to see any large-scale moves in this direction.
"Customer satisfaction with charging speeds remains a serious barrier to EV adoption, but this could change as government regulations evolve."
Solid charging infrastructure has room for improvement
When it comes to private charging, there has been a major increase in the promotion of 6kW outlets to replace the slower 3kW ones.
The number of workplace chargers is slowly starting to increase but is unlikely to accelerate rapidly until there is a more widespread push for EV company cars.
Japan’s ratio of public charge points to EVs is good (4.5), although there is the caveat of a relatively small EV parc. Subsidies are available for a range of locations to install public charging points, such as parking lots.
Despite customer dissatisfaction with charging speeds, Japan has a solid ratio of DC to AC chargers (25% DC), with the number of fast-charging stations on highways gradually increasing.
Exploring V2X innovation
So far, V2X bi-directional charging has been installed mainly as a backup power source during emergencies, but in recent years, an increasing number of demonstration projects have been conducted to verify them as a regular power source during normal times. Further practical application is expected in the years ahead.
Further readings
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