SlashGear

NEC aren’t just responsible for the batteries in Nissan’s Leaf EV, they’ve also been working on the chargers too.  The Japanese company has kicked off a new pilot scheme in Oregon, installing chargers that can rejuice electric cars to around 80-percent in just 20-30 minutes.  The scheme follows on from a project started in October 2009, with around fifty of the new third-gen chargers being installed.

Existing chargers for the Leaf were capable of running from either a 110V AC connection – and taking around 20hrs for a full charge – or a 220V connection, which roughly halved the time.  The new systems apparently aren’t proprietary to the Leaf, either; instead they adhere to industry standards which should hopefully see rival EVs using the same charging technology, and getting the same recharge speed advantages.