The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group plans to assist businesses in adopting electric vehicles by providing the infrastructure and services necessary to do so.
To commercialize this business within two years, the group will launch a car-sharing trial in March. The car-sharing service will combine such technology as NTT Facilities Inc.'s rapid chargers with NTT Data Corp.'s authentication systems.
- The car-sharing program will use rapid chargers installed at NTT buildings.
Charging stations will be installed at two NTT group buildings. Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s i-MiEV and Nissan Motor Co.'s Leaf electric cars will be deployed.
The EVs will be fitted with telecommunications equipment using the cellular phone lines of NTT DoCoMo Inc. GPS technology will allow the EVs' locations and other details to be checked online.
This will let the group offer a bundle of services, including call centers to help operate chargers and assist with breakdowns, driver recognition technology using telecommunications networks, and charger infrastructure.
Users can borrow the EVs when they want on an hourly basis. The cost is targeted at around 800 yen per hour, which is on a par with current car-sharing prices.
Based on the trial results, the NTT group will commercialize the leasing of EVs and chargers to businesses, as well as market support services to outside firms.
EVs are increasingly being adopted by local governments, but have yet to spread widely among businesses. Companies say that initial costs, charging infrastructure and maintenance are an obstacle for using EVs for business purposes.
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