Japan has a small area, poor resources, low carbon and strong environmental awareness. The Japanese government and the automobile industry attach great importance to the research and development and promotion of new energy vehicles, and have done a lot of work in the three aspects of technology, price and convenience. In May 2006, the Japanese government formulated the “New National Energy Strategy”, proposing to increase the ratio of new energy vehicle sales to 50% of total new vehicle sales by 2020, and to 70% by 2030; Nearly 50% of oil dependence is reduced to 40%. Thanks to policy support, Japan has made remarkable achievements in the new energy vehicle market. The sales statistics of Japanese new energy vehicles in the first quarter of 2014-2017 are as follows:
Year 2014:
Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: 15,352 units
Sales of pure electric vehicles: 16,257 units
2015:
Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: 12413 units
Sales of pure electric vehicles: 10356 units
2016:
Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: 5365 units
Sales of pure electric vehicles: 35045 units
The first quarter of 2017:
Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: 0 units
Sales of pure electric vehicles: 4912 units
The characteristics of the development of new energy vehicles in Japan are as follows.
(1) Technology gradually matures.
At present, Japan’s new energy vehicles mainly include hybrid electric vehicles, pure electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles are the key development direction and are generally regarded as the best transition technology before the arrival of the “zero emission” era. Japan’s hybrid electric vehicle technology ranks among the world’s leaders.
As early as 1997, Japanese automobile giant Toyota launched the world’s first mass-produced hybrid electric car Prius in Japan. After that, hybrid technology was adopted in more than a dozen of the company’s models. The cumulative sales of Toyota’s hybrid models have exceeded 10 million.
In addition to Toyota, Honda is also investing heavily in hybrid technology. In Japan, 47% of Honda cars are hybrid electric vehicles, and the layout of the models is very complete, such as Insight, Civic.Accord, etc. Companies such as Nissan and Mitsubishi have set their sights on pure electric vehicles. In 2010, Nissan launched LEAF, a pure electric vehicle. Its latest model has a range of 280km on a single charge, which can basically meet the needs of short- and medium-distance transportation. As of the end of 2017, LEAF had sold more than 240,000 vehicles worldwide, ranking among the top sales of new energy vehicles in the world.
However, hybrid electric vehicles are not the ultimate environmentally friendly vehicle after all, and the driving range of pure electric vehicles is difficult to achieve a leap-forward breakthrough, so Toyota and Honda have turned their attention to hydrogen energy vehicles. At the end of 2014, Toyota sold hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles-Mirai to ordinary consumers for the first time in the world, with a driving range of 700km. In January 2016, Honda also announced the sale of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles-CLARITY in the United States.
Japanese car companies have been quite advanced and mature in the technologies of several new energy vehicles. Not only are they low-carbon and environmentally friendly, but they also surpass similar internal combustion engines in driving performance and comfort. The remaining problems are the purchase price, use cost and related supporting facilities. The completeness of the facilities.
(2) Subsidy promotion power.
In order to promote new energy vehicles, the Japanese government and various local governments have successively introduced a series of vehicle purchase subsidy policies, such as redemption subsidies, government vehicle purchase subsidies, hybrid vehicle subsidies, and private vehicle purchase subsidies.
Redemption subsidy: After April 10, 2009, when consumers replace an old car that has been in use for more than 13 years, they can get an average subsidy of 250,000 yen for purchasing a hybrid electric vehicle.
Government car subsidies: All government agencies must use “low pollution vehicles.” The cash subsidy for the purchase of “low pollution vehicles” by local groups or corporate legal persons can be up to 1/2 of the price difference of ordinary cars of the same level or 1/2 of the price of the car
Hybrid vehicle subsidies: In Japan, Toyota Prius sells for 2 to 3 million yen, but the Japanese government gives consumers 200,000 yen in subsidies.
Private car purchase subsidies: In Japan, when private people buy electric cars, the government subsidizes half of the price difference between electric cars and fuel vehicles (about 780,000 yen on average), and local governments also provide additional subsidies accordingly.
Japan has implemented the “green tax system” on April 1, 2009, and the applicable objects include pure electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, clean diesel vehicles, natural gas vehicles and vehicles that have been certified as low-emission and low-fuel consumption vehicles. The first three types of cars are defined by the Japanese government as “new generation cars”. In June 2009, the Japanese government launched the “new generation cars” plan, striving to make environmentally friendly cars occupy about 50% of the total automobile market by 2050. The purchase of “new generation cars” can enjoy a variety of tax exemptions, and the corresponding car quality tax and car purchase tax are deducted based on the quality. For example, the highest discount that Toyota Prius hybrid electric vehicles can enjoy is the exemption of 100% of the quality tax and purchase tax on new cars, as well as subsidies. This has greatly boosted the hot sales of new energy vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles in Japan.
In addition to the price of Prius, a hybrid electric vehicle with a higher penetration rate, which is basically the same as that of similar internal combustion engine vehicles, the price of pure electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles is relatively high. For example, the price of a Nissan pure electric car LEAF is about 3.12 million yen, but the purchase of the car can enjoy a state subsidy of up to 510,000 yen. Some local governments also provide a subsidy of 50,000 yen for car purchases, and there are about 120,000 days. Tax cuts for environmentally friendly vehicles of RMB yuan. Comprehensive comparison, for consumers, the actual price of pure electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles is not much different.
Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle-Mirai launched at the end of 2014 is priced at about 7.23 million yen, but it can enjoy a tax reduction of about 2.25 million yen. The price after the tax reduction is about 5 million yen, which is good for high incomes. It is acceptable to consumers, so once Mirai was launched, the order volume far exceeded expectations.
In addition to a large number of government subsidies, the biggest advantage of consumers buying new energy vehicles is the low cost of use. The fuel consumption level of hybrid electric vehicles is low; pure electric vehicles only need about 300 yen for a full charge, depending on the model, the full charge time ranges from 8 to 11 hours; hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles only need 4,000 to refill hydrogen fuel once With more yen, the driving range can reach 700km.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan estimates that by 2020, the annual sales of electric vehicles in Japan will increase to 800,000, and the annual sales of hybrid electric vehicles will increase to 1.2 million. However, the biggest obstacle restricting the rapid popularization of new energy vehicles is supporting facilities such as charging and hydrogen refueling. Japan is also leading the world in the development of these areas.
(3) The supporting facilities are gradually improved
In order to realize that new energy vehicles will account for 70% of Japan’s new car sales in 2030 and have an advantage in the international competition of the new energy vehicle industry, the Japanese government has made long-term plans and vigorously supported new energy technology research and development, infrastructure construction, etc., and gradually promoted the relevant Complete supporting facilities.
Since 1993, Japan has initiated the ECO-Station project. It plans to establish 2,000 alternative energy vehicle fuel supply stations, including 1,000 fast charging stations for pure electric vehicles. The Japanese government plans to invest 21 billion yen in this project within seven years; through development High-performance electric vehicle power batteries will increase the driving range of Japanese electric vehicles on a single charge by more than three times before 2020, and achieve the expected target of new energy vehicle sales in 2020.
In 2010, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan announced the “New Generation Vehicle Strategy 2010” plan, pointing out that by 2020, 5,000 fast charging stations and 2 million household ordinary charging stations will be built nationwide, and emphasized that Japanese companies are developing future power batteries. International standards must play a leading role.
In order to overcome key battery technologies, the New Energy Industry Technology Development Organization (NEDO) under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan established the All Japan system and established the largest new energy vehicle industry alliance for the development of high-performance electric vehicle power batteries, and jointly implemented 2009 The annual “Innovative Battery Cutting-edge Science Basic Research Special” project. The alliance includes automobile companies such as Toyota and Nissan, electric motor and battery manufacturers such as Sanyo Electric, and famous universities and research institutions such as Kyoto University, with a total of 22 member units. Each unit assigns more than 50 professionals to engage in cooperative research and develop common basic technologies required by the enterprise.
Take pure electric vehicles as an example. In 2014, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and the Japan Policy and Investment Bank jointly established the Japan Charging Service Company to undertake the construction and maintenance of charging piles in commercial areas. In addition, several major convenience stores in Japan are also actively responding to the issue of charging piles, hoping to attract more customers. By the end of 2015, Japan has 40,000 car charging piles, including private charging piles, which is more than refueling. The number of stations, and this number is still increasing. The more convenient charging, it will further increase the enthusiasm of Japanese people to buy pure electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Compared with pure electric vehicles, a relatively complete charging network has been formed, and the supporting facilities for hydrogen energy vehicles are still in their infancy. As of the end of 2016, Japan had 82 hydrogen refueling stations (including mobile hydrogen refueling stations), mainly located in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyushu and other places. Users can check the nearest hydrogen refueling station via mobile phones. In order to build more hydrogen refueling stations, the Japanese government plans to build hydrogen refueling stations in 100 areas centered on the above four urban agglomerations and on the highway connecting the four urban agglomerations. The government will provide half of the subsidies to promote the construction of hydrogen refueling stations. The Japanese government and companies will also use the opportunity of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to showcase their hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles to the world.
The picture below shows the development strategy of Toyota’s new energy vehicles in Japan from 1990 to 2050
