Mitsubishi plans on commercialising EV charger equipment for parking platforms in January 2010.

The Japanese car maker has announced the development of a special plug for parking platforms. Due to the very restricted space in their cities, the Japanese have developed a method to triple the capacity of parking lots by using semiautomatic lift systems to stack the cars on top of each other. Mitsubishi has upgraded these parking lift platforms with plugs to recharge electric vehicles (EVs) while they are parked. Older lift parking systems can be retrofitted with the plugs as well.

Initially, the installation of the plugs will cost around 7,700 Euros but with more units sold the price will quickly fall. For 2010, Mitsubishi plans production of 50 units, envisaging to increase production to around 500 units a year by 2014.

Conversion to electric mobility

Mitsubishi’s EV plugs for parking platforms fit into the many Japanese initiatives that promote electric mobility. The country is continuously expanding its infrastructure for EVs with several innovative and trendsetting projects in place (e.g. Tsukuba’s Environmental Style Project, Yokosuka’s installation of fast charger terminals etc.).