Japan’s EV Battery Charging Infrastructure Development

In March 2022, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced the expansion of support measures for the introduction of charging infrastructure in order to promote the spread of BEVs and PHEVs. Parking lots and commercial facilities that were not previously covered by the subsidy are now also be covered. Infrastructure expansion is required for the popularization of BEVs, but the increase of quick charger installation locations has been sluggish especially since 2019.

The number of BEVs and PHEVs owned in Japan exceeded 200,000 units in FY 2017 and reached 250,000 units in FY 2020. On the other hand, the number of quick charging locations increased rapidly until 2016 to over 6,000, but the pace has slowed since then, and as of May 2021, it was under 8,000.