This agreement between Nissan, Circutor, DBT, Efacec, Endesa and Siemens is expected to result in a dramatic reduction in the price of the units – by over half to under €10,000 (US$13,668) – paving the
way for businesses such as service stations, car park operators and retail outlets to install quick chargers and run them profitably as a commercial enterprise. This will mean Nissan Leaf drivers, as well as other quick charge-enabled vehicles, could use their car for longer journeys and recharge the car’s battery to 80 per cent capacity in less than half an hour. A Cha de Mo DC quick charger delivers 50 kW of high-voltage direct current (DC) electricity straight to the battery, speeding up the charging process.
As a result of Nissan’s intervention, it is expected that there will now be thousands of QCs across Europe by the end of 2012, and tens of thousands by 2015