Vending machines in Japan to charge electric cars

Beverage vending machines across Japan plan to install electric vehicle chargers to charge cars, the AFP reported today.

Ten Japanese companies recently announced plans to install 10,000 electric vehicle chargers at vending machine sites in the first year of their project, according to the report.

The consortium includes Forking Co., a major vending machine operator, and Panasonic Electric Works which will develop and produce electric vehicle chargers with rivals, the report added.

According to The Nikkei, Forking Co. will offer free lease of a charging station for every two vending machines. They will be installed for free and serviced by the involved companies. SoftBank Telecom and SoftBank Mobile will provide communications services for the charging systems.

So far Nissan has installed charging equipment at all its 2,200 domestic dealers in Japan, so as to enable the drivers to charge the car when the battery runs low.

Earlier in November, Nissan tied up with Mitsubishi Motor Co. to allow drivers of their electric vehicles to share battery chargers at their 2,900 dealerships nationwide in a bid to increase the popularity and convenience of the eco-friendly cars.

According to a recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, plug-in electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles, have the potential to make up 9 per cent of auto sales in 2020 and 22 per cent in 2030 (1.6 million and 4 million vehicle sales respectively).