Japan Develops Electric Car Standard

Four Japanese auto giants and the country's largest power company are setting up a common system to recharge electric cars, the AFP is reporting today. They aim to create a global standard. It’s a sign that Japan is serious about competing in the electric car market. The U.S. has yet to develop a universal electric car standard.

Toyota (NYSE: TM), Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries have linked up with Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as members of the new grouping called "CHAdeMO". The name is derived from a combination of the words "Charge" and "Move" and a pun on a popular Japanese phrase.

158 companies and government bodies are members, including 20 foreign firms, among them Bosch, and Peugeot SA.

“Standardizing charging infrastructure is vital to making electric vehicles popular”, TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said. "We need to make this protocol a standard protocol outside of Japan," he said.

The growth of the electric vehicle sector has been hampered by the question of what should come first zero-emission cars or the networks of recharging stations to keep them on the road.

Mitsubishi Motors last year rolled out the i-MiEV and Fuji Heavy the Subaru Plug-in Stella, both in Japan. Nissan is set to launch the world's first mass market electric vehicle, the Leaf, later this year.

Toyota has promised to launch its own version by 2012. It has already begun leasing a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle since late last year.

The Japanese government is throwing its support behind the move, and has earmarked 12.4 billion yen (13.7 million dollars) in the budget for fiscal 2010 starting in April to develop a recharging grid.