Seven & i Holdings, NEC to install EV, PHV chargers at supermarkets, shopping centers

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Seven & i Holdings Co and NEC Corp have announced plans to install chargers for electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHV) at supermarkets, shopping centers and department stores operated by Seven & i Holdings and to provide a fee-based charging service.

This project is the largest scale introduction of EV and PHV chargers ever attempted in Japan. Services will be gradually launched from November in stores where chargers have been installed.

Seven & i Holdings will install 3,380 units of NEC’s wall-mounted AC chargers for EV and PHV in parking lots at a total of 45 stores, including Ito-Yokado supermarkets, Ario shopping centers, and Sogo and Seibu department stores. It will also install NEC’s wall-mounted charging controllers that enable user authentication for multiple chargers, billing management, and central monitoring and control.

NEC will borrow the complete charging infrastructure from Seven & i Holdings to provide a fee-based charging service for EV and PHV users. This charging service will support payment with a charging card issued by Nippon Charge Service LLC and Seven & i Holdings’s electronic money “nanaco.” To facilitate the setup of the charging infrastructure, the subsidy system provided by the Japanese government for projects to promote the development of charging infrastructure for next-generation vehicles will be used.

Recently, tax reduction measures and subsidies have been implemented to help spread the use of EVs and PHVs as environmentally friendly next-generation vehicles with lower air pollutant emissions. To help popularize these next-generation vehicles, it is essential to develop a charging infrastructure. Installation of chargers has already begun in the parking lots of commercial and public facilities with support from the Japanese government.

The supermarkets and department stores where EV and PHV chargers will be introduced are commercial facilities that users visit frequently while carrying out daily errands. Seven & i said it hopes the project will improve the convenience of these facilities and attract more customers, as well as encourage people to charge their EV or PHV at places they often visit. Moreover, the project aims to help establish a low carbon society through the spread of environmentally friendly next-generation vehicles.