The initial goal will be to deploy 48 super-quick, high-voltage DC chargers in California and strategic places on the East Coast. The exact placement in key markets has yet to be determined but Nissan projects the goal will have been met by the end of 2013.

“Nissan’s commitment to expanding EV charging infrastructure–including quick chargers with businesses such as CarCharging–not only supports today’s Nissan Leaf and other EV drivers, but also helps prepare communities for the increasing use of EVs,” said Brendan Jones, Nissan director for EV Infrastructure. “With more than 25,000 Nissan Leaf already on U.S. roads, bolstering infrastructure further accelerates the adoption curve as it provides range confidence and promotes additional zero-emissions driving.”

During a media presentation given at Nissan’s new Smyrna EV battery plant, one journalist had wryly asked Nissan “How long does Nissan plan to be in the charging business?”

The short answer was for as long as it takes, and indeed, if the so-called chicken-and-egg dilemma is to be fixed, and a new paradigm hatched, as Tesla is also showing with its Supercharger network, manufacturers are essentially doing the equivalent of establishing new fuel stations along with the new kinds of cars they are trying to see accepted.

This present initiative is therefore only one aspect of broader goals by Nissan to significantly expand the network in the not-too-distant future.

Part and parcel with the initiative to create a broader net of quick chargers will be a well-rounded consumer educational and awareness program.

“This campaign will include tools to communicate the charging opportunities for drivers without private garages, such as residents of apartment and condo communities; the ease and benefits of public EV charging; and charging subscription offerings,” said Nissan.

Additionally, CarCharging will offer a free app for Leaf owners that gives real time location info for all CarCharging EV charging stations, including ChargePoint(R) and Nissan’s quick chargers. The proprietary software will offer turn by turn directions, and available at participating Nissan dealerships.

“CarCharging is thrilled to enhance our products and services by including Nissan’s quick chargers in our public EV charging network and to offer our evCharge card to consumers who purchase a LEAF at a Nissan dealership,” said Michael D. Farkas, CEO of CarCharging. “Through our partnership with Nissan, we are eager to expand the EV market by educating consumers who don’t live in single-family homes and may not be aware of public EV charging services available today.”

Whether you drive a Nissan EV or another, and wish to pinpoint the new quick charger stations or CarCharging’s EV charging station locations, you can request CarCharging’s evCharge card at CarCharging.com.

The post Nissan and Car Charging Group Expanding EV Quick Charger Network, Educating Consumers appeared first on HybridCars.com.

The association also projects that by the end of 2013 the number of units installed will again double, reaching 4,000 DC chargers in operation.

“Today, we have more than 2,000 CHAdeMO quick-chargers in place in Europe and the US as well as Japan,” CHAdeMO’s president, Toshiyuki Shiga, said in a release.

“There’ s even a CHAdeMO quick-charger in oil-rich Abu Dhabi. And plans are in place to more than double this figure again, above 4,000, by the end of 2013.”

As of the end of last year Japan had gone from 833 to 1,381 CHAdeMO installations, while Europe increased to 601 from 158 units, and the U.S. from a mere 12 to 154.

Lengthy charging times and limited availability of charging equipment in public places for electric vehicles (EV) are one of the turnoffs prospective buyers cite as what prevents them from buying an EV. But with DC quick chargers, charge times can be a fraction of the time it takes with a standard charger would take to replenish an EV’s battery.

The other half of the equation is getting enough of these quick chargers spread around routes and places that will allow EV drivers to realize expanded driving ranges.

One of the most significant CHAdeMO installations is the West Coast Electric Highway, a 1,300-mile network, which has already close to 40 CHAdeMO quick-chargers installed every 25 to 50 miles along the West Coast of North America. The so-called Electric Highway effectively links British Columbia, Canada to Baja California.

CHAdeMO is a consortium of mostly Japanese companies with the target of establishing a standard for the charging of EVs. Shiga, CHAdeMO’s president, is also the COO for Nissan.

While the CHAdeMO standardized charger, created in 2010, clearly has an established lead, it does have competition in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J1772 “combo” quick charge coupler standard.
 

SAE combo charge coupler

The SAE combination charge coupler was developed by more than 190 experts from various fields within the EV industry, and while not currently installed in the volume of the CHAdeMO charger, is starting to see a growing development of installations.

Some form of standardization is helpful to EV consumers, but standardization hasn’t reached the level of the common 120-volt outlet and required plug found in just about every home and building in North America.

With different EV manufacturers using either CHAdeMO – like, naturally, the Nissan Leaf – while General Motors, VW, BMW, Ford, and several other large automakers, have gone with the SAE charge coupler, EV drivers for now will have to be cognizant of which type of charging unit they can use, and where they’re located.

The post CHAdeMO Says Quick Charger Installations Doubled Last Year, To Double Again in 2013 appeared first on HybridCars.com.