Promoting next generation vehicles in Japan: the smart communities and their experimentations

Overview & Synopsis

The development of smart grids opens up interesting perspectives in order to make better use of local renewable energy production, reduce CO 2 emissions, giving therefore more emphasis on electrical vehicles. After having briefly described mobility characteristics in Japan and introduced the Japanese context that led to the wide range of new policies implementation aiming at building a low carbon society and at promoting next generation vehicles, the paper concentrates on an extensive programme launched by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2010 to promote the development of 'smart communities'. Taking the case of Toyota city Smart Melit experimentation as a concrete illustration, it discusses the main actions undertaken before examining some preliminary results in terms of users' behaviour and the consequences that present and expected future changes might have on the mobility ecosystem and on car maker business model.