It may be slow, but growth in the alternative fuel vehicles has been steady. Electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and even natural gas powered vehicles are all becoming more common and getting a larger market share. With all of this, Big Oil companies still don’t appear to be worried – after all, the US government is estimating that by 2013 there may be 10 million electric vehicles on the road. That’s almost 20 years away, and it’s still a small market share.

Not so for Cosmo Oil of Japan. They’ve decided to take advantage of the various government incentives available, such as the federal government based initiative called “Response for Support of Next Generation Gas Stations” which was created to help Japan move away from oil dependency to renewable power sources. Cosmo Oil is offering a new service called EV Life Support Service. For a monthly fee, users will receive an electric vehicle lease, a vehicle inspection, replacement of consumable goods, installation of a normal charger, and access to Cosmo Oil’s rapid charger service network.

The electricity used in the rapid charging network is green electricity, 100% generated from solar networks Cosmo Oil is installing in it’s service stations.