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Japanese automakers kick in $800k for new charging-station company

Cynics may say that gathering $800,000 (total) from four of Japan's largest automakers is merely a rounding error. Still, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi, along with the Development Bank of Japan, are putting those funds to good use. So, that's something. Last week, those five entities officially founded Nippon Charge Service LLC. The company was established to promote plug-in vehicle charging installations across Japan and the automakers seeded it with 80 million yen, or about $786,000 US. Those funds will be used to help business owners deploy charging stations at convenience stores, highway-side locales and other locations that will make it easier for plug-in vehicle drivers (of Toyotas, Hondas, Mitsubishis and Nissans, obviously) to get their juice. The automakers first announced they'd collaborate last year, when they said they'd work with the Japanese government to more than triple the country's publicly accessible chargers to about 17,000 units. No targets were disclosed as far as how many charging stations would be deployed this time out, but, in a move similar to the EZ Charge system in the US, Nippon Charge Service will also have universally-accepted charging cards available by the end of the year to drivers all of those brands' plug-in vehicles to make the charging process a little more seamless. Check out Honda's press release below. Japan Automakers Advance Electric Charging Infrastructure with New Company, Nippon Charge Service -Established to help build charging infrastructure for electric-powered vehicles (PHVs, PHEVs and EVs)- Toyota Motor Corporation Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Development Bank of Japan Inc. TOKYO, Japan, May 30, 2014 - Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation jointly established a new company, Nippon Charge Service, LLC, on May 26 to promote the installation of chargers for electric-powered vehicles (PHVs, PHEVs, EVs). The goal is to help build a charging network that offers more convenience to drivers in Japan. The new company will promote the installation of chargers, for the good of society and to expand the use of electric-powered vehicles. Related industries are also expected to benefit. Development Bank of Japan Inc.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV selling well in Netherlands

Talk about a Dutch treat. Mitsubishi says sales of its Outlander Plug-in Hybrid are brisk in Europe, helped in a big way by plug-in vehicle tax incentives in the Netherlands that are getting more people there to buy the world's first production plug-in hybrid CUV. The Japanese automaker has taken more than 12,000 orders for the model from Europeans and had delivered about 8,200 of them as of the end of last year, all but 200 of which were to the Netherlands. Mitsubishi will start broader sales throughout the continent this year and is also expected to start sales in the US by next year. The company is looking for plug-ins to account for 20 percent of its global sales by the end of the decade. Mitsubishi, which also sells the model in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, hopes to reach an annual production rate of 50,000 Outlander PHEVs by the end of the year. Last August, the company resumed full-scale battery production after shutting things down for a few months for a safety probe stemming from a short-circuiting issue. The Outlander PHEV can run for 32 miles on electric power alone and gets a European-rated 124 miles per gallon. Check out Mitsubishi's press release on its Euro sales below. MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER PHEV CY13 SALES – EUROPEAN INAUGURATION With a plan for EVs and EV-derived PHEVs to represent 20% of its global sales by 2020, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has set itself an ambitious, yet realistic target. More so in Europe, Mitsubishi Motors' largest market for these technologies. 12,000+ orders / 8,000+ deliveries In this respect, the successful sales launch of Outlander PHEV in Europe – MMC's first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and forerunner of a wider PHEV range – tends to vindicate the Corporation's objectives. First launched in selected markets (The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland) from October 2013,Outlander PHEV has collected over 12,000 orders in Europe and these have already translated into 8,197 deliveries to end-customers by the end of December, of which 8,009 units for The Netherlands, the latter boosted by a tax scheme favourable to eco-friendly technologies such as low-emission vehicles. With more cars currently on their way to Europe, Mitsubishi Motor Sales Netherlands will soon be able to deliver the 11,000+ orders currently in its books and growing.

NuTonomy shows that people quickly relax in autonomous cars

For six weeks, nuTonomy has had a fleet of self-driving taxis on the streets of Singapore, and it seems the experiment is already yielding useful information based on rider surveys. CEO Dr. Karl Iagnemma revealed at UPSHIFT 2016 that despite most first-time riders initially being nervous about stepping into a self-driving vehicle, the anxiety quickly fades. In fact, after a minute or two in the car, riders will relax into near boredom. Customers who ride along in either a fully autonomous Renault Zoe or a Mitsuibshi i-MiEV have been providing valuable feedback to engineers pre- and post-ride. The research and data obtained from their self-driving taxi service and the riders who use it is already being integrated into their future, Level 4 autonomous products. The Cambridge, MA, based company has also found that riders are attributing human-like characteristics to the vehicles. It seems that riders prefer when the machines don't behave like machines but more like people. NuTonomoy is tailoring their future vehicles to be less trolly-like. Iagnemma revealed that the company is in talks with other global cities to bring their autonomous products to the roads. Related Video: Image Credit: Adam Whittaker Green Mitsubishi Renault Autonomous Vehicles Electric renault zoe nutonomy