The fast chargers will be designed as universal, able to support any electric vehicle. In terms of Nissan’s interest in building more charging points, the growth in EVs includes the Nissan Leaf e+, which was launched in 2019 so a general promotion of systems to make charging easier is in the company’s wider strategic interest.
The Nissan Leaf e+ has a a 62kWh battery which provides a maximum range of 226 miles and fast-charging capability. This puts the vehicle in the same bracket as the Tesla Model 3 and the top-model Kia e-Niro and Hyundai Kona Electric.
The new 100 kilowatt DC fast-charging stations will be equipped with CHAdeMO and CCS connectors. In the EV world, the manufacturers are slugging it out over connector types and standards, which brings to mind the VHS vs Betamax technology wars in the early days of home video.
CHAdeMO connectors allow for rapid DC charging only, up to 50 kW, when you are away from home. Nissan is one of the primary advocates for CHAdeMO chargers, together with Peugeot and Citroen. CCS (Combined Charging System) connectors are sockets that permit rapid DC charging, like CHAdeMO, but also allow slow/fast home AC charging. This technology is backed by Hyundai, BMW, Jaguar, Kia and VW. An advantage that CHAdeMO has it is that is bi-directional charger, which enables electricity to flow both from the charger into the car, and also from the car into the charger.
With the new development, TechCrunch reports that Nissan and EVgo have entered into a six-year partnership with the vison of developing a corridor of EV chargers along Interstate 95 on the East Coast of the U.S., plus an additional network running between Monterey, California and Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada. To date, Nissan has installed over 2,000 quick-charge connectors in the U.S.
Commenting on the plans, Aditya Jairaj, director, EV Sales and Marketing (U.S.) said ahead of the launch of a new marketing campaign: “Given the tremendous driver response to the 2019 long-range all-electric LEAF, Nissan and EVgo will accelerate fast charging by committing to a multi-year charger construction program that will continue to expand fast-charging options for EV drivers across the country.”
