R: A recent article on Bloomberg made the extraordinary claim that
Japan has more electric car chargers than gasoline stands,
which I thought was absolutely incredible.
Jun and I wanted to learn more about it,
so we came to the source of those claims--Nissan!
J: We heard that Japan has more electric car chargers than gas stations.
N (Nissan employee): There are more chargers than McDonald's.
J: More car chargers than McDonald's. N: Yep.
J: The McDonald's restaurants in Japan. N: Yep.
J: But not as many as gas stations yet. N: No, but more than McDonald's.
N: But most Leaf owners charge their cars at home,
rather than coming here to use our charger.
J: So if you add in all the chargers people have at home-
N: Then there are definitely more chargers.
J: So there are more chargers than gas stations.
J: How many? 40,000? R: 40,000.
J: If you count those personal chargers, we heard there are more than 40,000 chargers total.
N: Definitely.
Nissan wants to broaden the market for electric vehicles,
so we've been paying for the construction of home chargers
for people who buy our electric cars.
J: How much longer will you be doing that?
N: For a little while longer, right now.
And also, in Aichi prefecture, the first 5 years of road taxes for the Leaf are free.
R: That's great!
N: With electric cars you don't have to replace engine oil, or belts, or brakes
because they don't use oil.
R: Right.
N: So when you have your car inspected, you pay almost nothing.
[Annotation: Cars in Japan have to be inspected every few years]
J: Is it that cheap?
That's really economic.
N: Starting in April, Leaf drivers won't have to pay to use the expressway.
[Annotation: The expressways in Japan are tolled. Nagoya -> Tokyo one way (350km/217mi) costs > $70.00)]
Up to ￥30,000 a month ($250).
I heard they'll be doing this for about 6 months to a year.
J: How much does it cost to charge the car?
[Annotation: A full charge drives between ~100-200km (~62-124mi)]
N: This says $3 for 8 hours (a full charge).
But that's the cost of an all-electric house using a midnight plan.
[Annotation: A midnight plan means electricity used at night costs less.]
So if your house isn't all-electric (as in, it also uses gas) and you use a normal
electric plan, I assume it'll cost $6.
J: Even then, $6 is cheap!
People tend not to be careful when they charge batteries...
N: That's all right.
The makers thought about that, so once the recharging battery reaches 80% full,
it charges the rest of the way slowly.
The electric current gets limited.
J: Oh, really?
N: Otherwise the battery life can be damaged.
J: Were those all our questions?
R: Yes.
N: You should test drive it.
Driving it yourself is the best way to understand it.
J: Thank you. N: I'll go get the key.
J: Oh, right now?
N: Let's go~!
N: Here you go.
J: I very humbly accept this offer to drive the Leaf.
J: I can drive just like that? N: Yes.
J: It's so quiet!
N: You can see it's 93% charged.
It says you can drive about 110km (68mi).
J: All of it's written on the screen.
N: The seat heater is on-can you feel it?
R&J: Ooooo!
N: Hold the brakes.
Now you can drive.
J: ........
J: Just like that? N: Yep.
N: And this is reverse.
Like this.
And parking.
You don't have to JANKAKAJAN like with a gear stick.
J: Like this?
It's so quiet it feels strange.
N: Let's go!
You can drive now, just like a regular car.
J: Okay.
This is awesome!
N: Push down harder on the gas pedal. It accelerates well.
J: It really does.
Rachel... this isn't a car.
It's smooth like a train.
R: I want one.
N: When the Leaf first came out, I really underestimated it.
I thought it'd be like a golf cart.
A slightly better version of a golf cart.
But when I actually drove it, it felt like an expensive car.
J: It really does.
If you buy the Leaf, the government will give you ￥530,000 ($4,380).
J: Right.
N: So it's not that expensive.
R: Well, let's buy one.
J: Let's save up a little bit.
N: Stop here.
And press this.
J: Just press it?
N Yep.
And press the foot brake.
And then press the engine button.
J: This one, right?
It's so quiet!
N: Now press the charging door button.
And we can go charge.
When you charge at home, you use this one.
The home charger is 200V.
The 400V charger is this one.
J: 400V?
N: It's the fast charger.
Plug it in...
and press the start button.
J: And now it's charging.
N: Yep.
J: It shows you it's charging up there.
N: When you want to stop...
J: ...press the stop button.
N: And we're done.
J: It doesn't smell!
Thank you!