One of Japan's biggest obstacles to catching up is its subpar infrastructure. The country has just 30,000 charging connectors, or about one per 4,000 EVs, according to data from Enechange Ltd., a Tokyo-based infrastructure provider. That's less than a sixth of the density in the US or Europe, which has led to the some of the worst charger anxiety in the world, according to data compiled by BloombergNEF.