Infrastructure for Next-Generation Vehicles

Abstract

During and after the intense growth period of the economy in Japan around the 1960s, the number of fuel filling stations increased with the rapid spread of automobiles. However, two oil crises in the 1970s triggered the introduction of “next-generation vehicles.” Examples include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), compressed natural gas vehicles (CNGVs), and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). After the 1990s, CNGVs began to be introduced, and the development of BEVs and FCEVs accelerated. However, penetration of these next-generation vehicles was not fully successful, owing to their inferior performance (range, acceleration, durability, economic efficiency, and other factors) compared with conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) and a lack of infrastructure, e.g., insufficient CNG stations for CNGVs.