A few days ago, we blogged about the Nissan LEAF, a completely electric compact sedan from Nissan that will debut in the U.S. this year. But how will the U.S. – or any other country, for that matter – adapt its infrastructure to support electric vehicles (EVs)? Enter the “EV Project.”
To help ensure the LEAF will be a viable consumer product, Nissan has collaborated with a number of government agencies and other companies. Through the EV Project, an entire global infrastructure is being established to support the functions of the Nissan LEAF and other globally connected electric/hybrid vehicles.
The EV Project serves as more than a simple support system for electric cars. An initial group of test markets are being set in place across the U.S. to aid in the analysis of the overall EV support system. Project leaders hope the data collected will allow them to streamline deployment when full production numbers of the LEAF and other EVs are reached.
A number of countries have already joined the EV Project including China, the U.K., and Israel. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Energy has granted the Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation nearly $100 million to install approximately 11,000 charging stations that support electric vehicles.
By fourth quarter 2010, the EV Project hopes to install 10,950 Level 2 (220V) chargers in five states to support the initial 4,700 Nissan LEAF cars that will enter production this year.
For more on the EV Project, visit www.theevproject.com.