Lexus Considers Building Its Own Electric Vehicle Charging Network In Japan

Lexus LF-ZC at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show. (Doc. Lexus Global)

JAKARTA - Lack of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Japan is one of the reasons the country is a little late in the adoption of electric vehicles.

Seeing this, Lexus will take various strategic steps, including building an EV charging network like Tesla.

Lexus CEO, Takashi Watanabe, said that Lexus can win the hearts of customers in Japan anywhere, by increasing the charging infrastructure.

"We ask ourselves, how can we make this experience better? For the Japanese market charging is difficult to obtain, by introducing a new port is likely to be positive," he said, quoted from the Carscoops page, Friday, October 27.

Watanabe believes that Japan could be a reference going forward for interesting ideas around the electric vehicle segment and if it can be applied to other markets.

Lexus is not the first automaker to propose the creation of its own charging network. As is known, Tesla is the most successful in providing charging infrastructure around the world because almost all electric car brands can use its charging ports.

Not only Tesla, but other premium brands are also creating their own charging stations, even in July, seven large manufacturers consisting of BMW Group, General Motors (GM), Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group, and Stellantis NV, officially created a joint venture to create EV charging in North America. However, one by one the above manufacturers also announced a deal with Tesla for Tesla's charging system adoption.

Even for North America, Toyota has also announced that in mid-October it will reach an agreement with Tesla for the adoption of the North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging system for the Toyota Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) starting in 2025.

This decision makes Toyota also Lexus join the list of manufacturers who have access to Tesla charging, from Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Ford, GM, Rivian, Jaguar, Fisker, Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis.