--- title: In Japan, Vending Machines to Charge Electric Cars description: Sure, Japanese vending machines got a bad wrap awhile back for selling schoolgirls' underwear, but that was then. If you've been to Tokyo recently, you... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7220519/in-japan-vending-machines-to-charge-electric-cars-too/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2011-03-10T03:27:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-18T15:18:02.868Z article:section: Science og:title: In Japan, Vending Machines to Charge Electric Cars og:description: Sure, Japanese vending machines got a bad wrap awhile back for selling schoolgirls' underwear, but that was then. If you've been to Tokyo recently, you... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7220519/in-japan-vending-machines-to-charge-electric-cars-too/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: In Japan, Vending Machines to Charge Electric Cars twitter:description: Sure, Japanese vending machines got a bad wrap awhile back for selling schoolgirls' underwear, but that was then. If you've been to Tokyo recently, you... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Science](/section/science/) # In Japan, Vending Machines to Charge Electric Cars > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=f7f8bf0f-b2fd-4ac5-bab3-8f638bc6918b&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Mar 10, 2011 3:27 AM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Mar 10, 2011 3:27 AM UTC  nttt\[protected-iframe id="32dd4815e77703ebd9ecba71c10b0ca4-5290478-22486724" info="http://cartodb.s3.amazonaws.com/static\_vizz/sb14.html#4/33.72/-80.90" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"\]ntttNot only was Sunday’s Super Bowl the most watched show in U.S. history, but it lit up Twitter pretty spectacularly as well. The chart above –provided exclusively to TIME by Twitter — shows which team got the most buzz throughout the night.Not only can you see the chart light up for each team, but you can also click the map to see exactly what people were tweeting. Watch closely, and you’ll also see a neon purple glow, representing the halftime show, light up the entire country for a moment. Throughout the game, about 5.6 million Americans sent 25.3 million tweets, according to Nielsen’s SocialGuide. Sure, Japanese vending machines got a bad wrap awhile back for selling schoolgirls’ underwear, but that was then. If you’ve been to Tokyo recently, you know and love the machines’ for their convenience and ingenuity. For example, unlike their un-evolved counterparts in most of the world, Japanese vending machines have a couple of rows dedicated to hot drinks in winter — tea, coffee, etc. A small, compact can of hot lemon drink in December serves as both a pocketwarmer and a shot of sugar to keep you going until the next soba stand. Genius! Now [AFP](http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hOOjgncnx8XiLlAf1R6%5FU8YTYoZg?docId=CNG.623adf8ac3f4baa58fd59572ef39a5c7.a01) reports there’s an even better reason to cheer the ubiquitous sentinel of the Japanese street corner: Soon, they’ll be able to charge your electric car too. moreOn Monday, a consortium of Japanese companies announced they would be partnering up to install 10,000 electric chargers at vending machine sites by the end of the year. Eventually, says vending machine manufacturer Forking Co., the machines themselves might incorporate the chargers. Forking currently owns over one million vending machines across Japan. The proposal could help overcome “range anxiety” in Japan — the consumer concern that electric cars can’t go far enough on a charge. (Last year, GM, which manufacturers the plug-in hybrid [Volt](http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1841374,00.html), announced it was trying to trademark the term.) Electric cars rely on expensive batteries and are often faulted for their short driving range. To help assuage this concern, electric car makers Toyota and Nissan announced a plan last year to help standardize recharging stations in Japan, with the eventual goal of creating an international standard. In January, Mazda announced it would join in the electric race, and have its own battery-powered vehicle on the Japanese market by 2012\. In the U.S., Ford has also announced its [lineup of electric vehicles](http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/01/07/transportation-ford-introduces-a-line-of-electric-cars%E2%80%94with-a-twist/). In his State of the Union, Obama called on the U.S. to be the first nation to put one million electric cars on the road by 2015\. But so far, sales remain low. According to [Engadget](http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/06/electric-car-sales-watch-281-volts-and-67-leafs-sold-in-us-duri/), only 281 Chevy Volts and 67 Nissan Leafs were sold in the U.S. in February. With numbers like that, the road looks wide open for Japan to get in the lead. See TIME’s guide to [what electric car to buy](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2003892%5F2003887,00.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7220519/in-japan-vending-machines-to-charge-electric-cars-too/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7220519/in-japan-vending-machines-to-charge-electric-cars-too/"},"headline":"In Japan, Vending Machines to Charge Electric Cars","datePublished":"2011-03-10T03:27:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-18T15:18:02.868Z","description":"Sure, Japanese vending machines got a bad wrap awhile back for selling schoolgirls' underwear, but that was then. 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