By Roy L Hales

Fastned CEO Michael Langezaal recently compared EVs to computers on wheels. Gas powered vehicles, on the other hand, have a single function: going forward.  The EVs superiority is so obvious that once they have  4-6% of the market and an infrastructure is in place, they will take over. Today’s announcement that Fastned is partnering with Nissan is a wake-up call. The EV tipping point is almost here.

Soon Every EV Will Offer +100 Miles

At the Frankfurt Motor show, Nissan unveiled a 2016 Leaf whose 30 kWh battery delivers a driving range of 250 km/155 miles.

Tesla, the undisputed king of long range, has responded by announcing the launch of its’ Model X – the affordable Tesla – on September 29.

Soon every EV manufacturer will be offering models that travel more than 100 miles to a charge.

Building A Fast Charging Infrastructure

In January 2013, an EV drove across the United States. It was a Tesla, of course, but the infrastructure has grown considerably since then.

A fleet of EVs made the 4,200 km/2,610 mile trek known as “etour Europe” last May.

The number of charging stations is expected to increase twelvefold over the next five years, making long distance EV trips  commonplace.

The Netherlands, Norway and the UK are leading this deployment in Europe, while clean energy giants like Germany are still “sleeping giants.” Langezall said he expects this to continue for two or three years.

Fastned Partners With Nissan

Fastned has 38 fast charging stations in the Netherlands and is adding a new station every week. They should have 50 by the end of the year.

Now they are partnering with Nissan, to offer two years of free charging for everyone who buys a new Leaf.

“It’s quite logical to offer unlimited fast charging with electric cars. Most people buy mobile phones including a subscription. The same is true for electric driving, people just want to be able to charge quickly and easily without fuss. That’s what we offer with this partnership,” said Langezall.

The EV tipping point is almost here

A few months ago Langezall said it might be difficult for the Netherlands to reach their goal of 200,000 EVs by 2020, but they will have more than a million by 2025 and go to 8 million after that.

Imagine this rate of deployment on a global scale.

The EV tipping point is almost here.