Nissan to Trial Fast Charge Electric Car Network in Arizona
Nissan have announced plans to roll out a ‘fast charge’ electric car network in Arizona, capable of topping up batteries in as little as 10-15 minutes.
The Japanese company has teamed up with EV charge-tech firm ECOtality and the Pima association of government’s, (representing the Tucson, Arizona region), to establish a pilot-scale network in readiness for the launch of Nissan electric cars in the US next year.
- » See also: Is the Renault-Nissan Alliance Going in Two Different Electric Car Directions?
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As part of the deal, Nissan has agreed to supply EVs to public and private fleets across the region and publicise the benefits of zero-emission vehicles.
ECOtality President and chief executive Jonathan Read used the partnership announcement to take a swipe at recharge infrastructure competitors Project Better Place, arguing that their fast charge system is cheaper and more user-friendly than Project Better Place’s battery swap model.
He told reporters, “It takes 10 or 15 minutes to fast charge, which isn’t going to be much quicker or slower than swapping a battery, and certainly a lot less moving parts and potential points of failure. Let alone the capital costs required to build a battery swap infrastructure,” he said. “Batteries are going to get larger. Range is going to get greatly improved. The amount of energy that you’re going to pour into a vehicle in a given timeframe is going to increase shortly.”
Image Credit - Alan_D via flickr.com on a Creative Commons license
Meanwhile, in Israel they’re going with battery leasing.
Leasing the battery takes out the single largest capital cost from the electric car paradigm.
I can’t help but think that battery leasing and robotic swapping would be faster and more efficient in the long run.
Make the battery case long and cylindrical, so a robotic system can pull them out and replace with a charged unit.
Highly unlikely. Robotic swapping when they can even settle on a standardized cell phone charger? Or a standardized charging scheme for autos? Robotic?????!? Just give me a plug and I will plug it in. Too easy…. Next they will want a robot that puts on their socks! Gesh….
[...] last Wednesday. Stations are also being considered between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, since Nissan’s new electric vehicle is being test marketed there. Nissans electric vehicle travels 100 miles on a single charge which, [...]