If you have visited Japan recently then you will know how popular electric bikes are over there. They are so popular in fact, that Sanyo has decided to install recharging locations for government civil servants to park and charge in the area of Tokushima Prefecture.

Sanyo chose this location as it is near a Sanyo battery manufacturing plant. Three of them will be constructed allowing bikers to pull in, plug in, and go about their normal daily activities before returning to a fully-charged bike. The stations will not cost anything to use and are fully automated requiring no on-location staff.

The parking stations have a roof covered with three solar panels of 210 watts each that help capture the energy required to charge the bikes. As a backup there is also an electricity supply in case there isn’t enough solar energy to recharge all the bikes connected to the station.

Local civil servants can expect to start using the stations in March.

Read more at CrunchGear

Matthew’s Opinion
If there was better provision for cycling on our roads then I would consider using a bike. An electric bike would be even better allowing you to travel faster and with more weight. I think Holland leads the way with a culture of using bikes instead of cars; all of their roads have cycling lanes and many locals use them, especially for travelling around areas like Amsterdam.

Offering free recharging stations is a guaranteed way to get people to continue to use these electric bikes instead of turning to cars. The stations look to be quite green as well using solar energy first and then falling back on electricity when required.

If this experiment is a success then I’m sure it will spread to other areas of Japan. Whether it remains free is another question. These stations surely cost quite a bit to setup, so Sanyo may want to charge a daily rate for their use or offer a subscription service for regular users.