Nissan Quickcharger: Half The Size At Half The Price

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: September 12th, 2011

nissan quickcharger half the size at half the price

If you want to charge your Nissan Leaf in 30 minutes, Nissan will (at least in Japan) sell you (reluctantly) a pricy quickcharger. It costs about half of what a U.S. Leaf costs – before incentives and rebates: The current quickcharger sets you back 1.47 million yen, in today’s dollars, that’s about $19,000. Soon, this will get considerably, well, more reasonable. Nissan today announced a quickcharger with the same performance, but at half the size and half the price of the old one.

According to an emailed statement by Nissan, “the newly-developed quick charging unit retains the high performance of the current quick charger manufactured by Nissan,” but will “take up less space and enable easier installation.” A final price is not set. However, Nissan says that the unit will “cost significantly less than one million yen,” and “the base specification unit will cost only below one half the price of the current unit.” That would be around $8.500 – in Japan, including tax.

The new unit complies with the CHAdeMO protocol and is rated at a hefty 49kW at “3- AC200V” (which I assume means 200V 3phase). It produces 500V DC at 125 Amps. Apart from the base unit, a (pricier) outdoor unit and one for cold climes are available. All share the same electrical specs.

Still, the quickcharger is not expected to be a fast moving item. Nissan aims to sell 5,000 of the new quick chargers by March 2016 (!!!). The target market is Nissan dealerships, local government facilities and “locations that draw large numbers of customers in regions throughout Japan.”

The U.S. and Europe will get the charger at some point. Given high enough quantities, the price can drop considerably . A DC welder with similar ratings can be had for less that $1,000.

#BertelSchmitt #ElectricVehicle #Japan #Leaf #Nissan #Quickcharger

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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6 of 23 comments

SCE to AUX on Sep 12, 2011

"A DC welder with similar ratings can be had for less that $1,000." That remark either shows your ignorance of how lithium battery chargers work, or is meant to be a shocking point of comparison. A 'smart' charger contains a lot more than a rectifying diode and some wiring, particularly at these power levels. You have to monitor numerous parameters to achieve a proper and safe charge, while providing feedback to the customer about state of charge, errors, and other desirables. As for quick-charging, that is an exceptionally bad practice for lithium batteries, and I'm surprised Nissan will stand by the warranty of a car subjected to it.

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- Scoutdude on Sep 12, 2011
  
  From what I have read Ford's Focus EV will be equipped with the CHAdeMO, but warn that it is for emergency/limited use and frequent use will reduce battery life. The CHAdeMO is not supposed to charge the battery beyond 80% to reduce the negative effects of the massive charge rate. (and prevent you know "fiery death")
  
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Slance66 on Sep 12, 2011

Sounds like a perfect item for outside of casual restaurants or Starbucks. Pull up, bide your time and change while you wait.

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- Rudiger on Sep 12, 2011
  
  This may be the way EVs eventually find their way into the mainstream. I don't think recharging will work in the conventional, ICE-method of having a nationwide infrastructure of filling stations where you tank up in a few minutes, then you're on your way. The technology just isn't there for that sort of quick fill-up in the foreseeable future. Rather, the much more time-consuming EV way of 'filling the tank' could evolve into having charging stations at destinations where you'll have a place to kill some time (and buy stuff) while waiting for the charging to complete. In that respect, I would think that, along with coffee shops and restaurants, big-box stores would be among the first to start offering charging stations. In particular, some trendy place like IKEA would seem to be perfect for those intersted in being on the forefront of the lastest 'new thing'. Especially IKEA since the stores are designed so you can't get out of one in less than 30 minutes...
  
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- Seanx37 on Sep 12, 2011
  
  @rudiger My local grocery store has chargers at them. Of course, they are across the street from GM's Tech Center. I see Volt's plugged into them quite often
  
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- Dhanson865 on Sep 14, 2011
  
  @slance66 why would I bother to charge at the restaurant if I'm still at 80% charge by the time I get there? It's only a few miles to any restaurant I care about from my house and I'd be leaving the house with a 80-100% charge. Other than holidays my longest trip is to go to the next biggest shopping area about 6-10 miles one way. I could do that several days in a row without charging a Nissan Leaf between trips but in reality I'd charge it when I'm home for the night and when I wake up it'll be charged to my choice of either 80% or 100%. Since my house is slightly up hill I'll just charge to 80% and gain some charge leaving the house by way of regenerative braking. I can't remember the last time I pulled up to a restaurant and wished they had a gas pump there. I see no reason to think of an EV differently. I'd get my fuel at home or at a gas station not at a restaurant.
  
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