The German company Audi built in Tokyo the first powerful center for fast charging of electric cars outside of Europe, trying to stimulate their spread in Japan, where this technology is being introduced rather slowly. About this Kyodo reports.
The 150 kW center with four charging points is the seventh for the company. It opened in one of Tokyo's business districts next to the Audi dealership where it is sold electric sports SUV Q4 e-tron. In the near future, the company plans to build another charging center in another area of the Japanese capital.
The remaining six Audi charging centers are located in the German cities of Nuremberg, Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt, as well as in Salzburg, Austria, and Zurich, Switzerland.
In the Japanese division of Audi, they believe that the possibility of fast charging in the center of Tokyo will encourage citizens to switch to electric cars.
The new charging center will serve not only Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche cars that are part of the Premium Charging Alliance, but also other brands. This does not apply to Tesla cars due to differences in charging electric cars of European brands and the American automaker.
In 2023, all-electric cars will account for only about 2% of total new sales in the country, according to Japanese industry associations. Local manufacturers still prefer hybrid cars that use both electricity and gasoline.
At the same time, the share of fully electric cars in the sales of imported cars reached a record 9.2% last year thanks to the popularity of such brands as Tesla and China's BYD.