Audi AG has installed its first electric vehicle charging center outside Europe in central Tokyo, business agency Kyodo News reported on May 4.
The automaker’s seventh charging station opened in late April near its dealership in Kyoito, an area close to many offices, commercial sites and government buildings, and offers four charging points with a capacity of 150 kilowatts.
Audi already has six charging centers located in the German cities of Nuremberg, Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt, as well as in Salzburg, Austria and Zurich, Switzerland.
The automaker’s Japanese unit said it plans to open another soon in Tokyo’s Shiba Koen district, near Tokyo Tower.
“Many people find it difficult to imagine life with an electric car without charging equipment close to home,” Audi Japan President Matthias Schepers said in a recent interview in Japanese, adding that the charging center helps people to experience that life firsthand.
Fast charging in city centers is key to encouraging more people to switch to electric vehicles as many potential buyers, most of whom are wealthy urban dwellers, are reluctant to purchase vehicles due to a lack of points fast charging in urban areas and their communities. .
The center is open not only to car brands belonging to the Premium Charging Alliance, which includes Volkswagen and its two groups, Audi and Porsche, but also to models outside the alliance, although Tesla cars cannot use the facility due to to differences in the charging method. , the company said.
All-electric vehicles accounted for just 2 percent of total new car sales in Japan in 2023, according to industry data, as Japanese automakers, strong advocates of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, until recently They were reluctant to switch to electric vehicles.
Foreign brands are leading the shift toward electric vehicles in the Japanese market, with all-electric vehicles reaching a record 9.2 percent of imported vehicle sales in 2023, driven by the popularity of brands such as Tesla and BYD from China.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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