Toyota Motor Corporation announced Tuesday it will start selling chargers for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles next month.
The Japanese auto giant plans to sale around 3,000 chargers, know as ‘G-Station’ by the end of 2012, to Toyota dealerships in Japan as well as shopping malls and restaurants.
G-Station, compatible with the proposed Japanese EV and PHEV charging methods and usable with both Toyota and non-Toyota vehicles, will be available in Type A (standard) and Type B (advanced) versions.
The G-Station chargers, priced at 280,000 yen ($3,490) and 448,000 yen ($5,585), will be connected to the internet to permit drivers to check locations and availability via mobile phones and in-car navigation systems.
The 200 V G-Station features a contact-less smart-card recognition function, and can connect via the Internet with the Toyota Smart Center, which uses a global cloud platform recently announced as a co-development project with Microsoft.
Users can receive e-mails informing them that charging is complete and can also check, using a smartphone or a mobile phone, the location and availability of chargers. By identifying the user through smart card verification, charger administrators can access use history, bill the user or award points according to use time, and monitor use of the charger remotely. The administrator can also attach supplementary information to the G-station location information it sends. In addition, the location of chargers can be displayed and set as a destination on G-BOOK2 compatible navigation systems and Smart G-BOOK, an information service for smartphones. Furthermore, information from the Toyota Smart Center regarding charger location and availability will be in an open format, allowing the information to be displayed on maps on the Internet and on navigation systems produced by other manufacturers.[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
