Japan: Land of the rising … electric vehicle!
by Tom Okada, Vice President, WiTricity
I grew up in Japan, and I have always been proud of my country’s cutting-edge technology. It’s always been an advanced and global leader in the robotics, natural sciences, aerospace exploration, and biomedical research areas.
Of course, everyone knows that this technology edge easily carried over to car manufacturing. Japan is home to many of the world’s well-known car brands such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, Isuzu, Subaru, and others. Yet, Japan has lagged behind other automotive OEMs in EV production. EV adoption efforts are in place with government decarbonization policies, but challenges persist – from price and cruising range to charging time and charging infrastructure development. Even urban space constraints can make plug-in stations difficult to accommodate. So, what will help Japanese car manufacturers break through and grow EV market share?
Wireless EV charging
If you guessed wireless EV charging, you’d be right. Wireless charging not only improves the user experience by eliminating the hassle of plugging in and unplugging, but it’s always accessible and provides easy bidirectional charging –enabling automated V2G charging (which reinforces the rapid adoption of renewable energy). In addition, wireless charging requires less real estate than a plug-in charger and can be used by automated parking garages without the need for a person to plug in the vehicle.
This is why I am excited that WiTricity is joining the Japanese EV Wireless Power Transfer Council. I’m convinced that with serious Japanese companies coming together to promote the adoption EV wireless charging, Japanese car manufacturers will leapfrog over their competition while the infrastructure will be upgraded with wireless charging that even allows bi-directional charging to support the adoption of renewable energy. Consumers want wireless charging and are willing to pay more for it. They’re tired of plugging/unplugging their vehicles (when they remember).
This is great news for the EV market. Japanese car manufacturers will continue to establish themselves as market leaders and EV drivers will benefit with easy-to-use wireless charging.