Japanese automakers join forces with utility

Four Japanese auto giants and the country’s largest power company have joined forces to set up a common system to recharge electric cars, with the aim of creating a global standard. Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries have linked up with Tokyo Electric Power Co. as the organizing members of the new grouping called “CHAdeMO.” The name is derived from a combination of the words “Charge” and “Move” and a pun on a popular Japanese phrase. In total, 158 companies and government bodies are members, including 20 foreign firms, among them Bosch, Peugeot SA and Enel SpA. Standardizing charging infrastructure is vital to making electric vehicles popular, TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said. “We need to make this protocol a standard protocol outside of Japan,” he told a gathering in Tokyo. (March 19, 2010)