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OSAKA EYES INDUSTRIAL PROMOTION FOCUSED ON ELECTRIC VEHICLES
2/24/2010


Kippo News from Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Osaka Prefecture is home to a cluster of manufacturing companies with advanced fundamental technologies as well as to new energy-related industries, universities and research institutes centering on solar, lithium ion and fuel cells. Tapping these huge potentialities, the Osaka Prefectural Government is working on industrial promotion sparked by alternative energy industries. Among other policy initiatives, Osaka mapped out in June 2009 the "Osaka EV Action Program," an assortment of measures for industrial promotion based primarily on electric vehicles (EVs), a major application area for lithium ion batteries.

Osaka started out with a plan to install 20 quick-charge facilities in the prefecture by the end of fiscal 2010 to build infrastructure so as to assure EV drivers concerned about running out of electricity, hoping to stimulate demand at an early stage. Moreover, Osaka is planning to experiment in optimizing location of quick-charge facilities, developing a simulation system to that end. In the first attempt of the kind in Japan, it will also develop a communication platform that can be commonly used for quick-charge facilities and 200V chargers supplied by various manufacturers, paving the way for the development and demonstration of a future system that permits such undertakings as verification of individual users of contactless IC cards and acceptance of charge reservations via mobile phones.

In addition, the "Conference for EV Promoting Action in Osaka," an all-Osaka amalgamation of 41 industrial, academic, governmental and EV-related organizations, is mulling an Osaka EV roadmap designed to hatch as many Osaka-based businesses as possible in the coming EV society. Based on the roadmap, the conference will first identify tasks and then resolve them by putting various undertakings and projects into practice, aiming for "EV-leading city Osaka" which contributes to the building of a low-carbon society and combines EV-related technologies, human resources and funds to bring forth global standards for EVs.

For inquiries, please contact New Energy Industry Division, Department of Commerce, Industry & Labor, Osaka Prefectural Government. (Japanese Only) Tel:06-6944-6117



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