Honda from today has begun sales of the Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: battery swapping station in Japan, with the first unit delivered to Gachaco Inc., a battery sharing service joint venture. Gachaco today began operation of the first mass-production model of the Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: in Japan. To swap batteries, the user taps the panel on the upper part of the Exchanger with their IC card (integrated circuit card or smart card) for user authentication, ensuring a high level of security.
Based on the user’s mobility product information (such as the number of batteries, and other conditions such as a series or parallel connection of batteries) associated with the preregistered user ID, the Exchanger determines and lets the user know which fully-charged batteries are appropriate for the user via LED display, which enables smooth swapping.
Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: is a battery swapping station that simultaneously charges multiple units of Honda Mobile Power Pack e: (MPP e:) and enables smooth battery swapping for users of electric motorcycles and other mobile products equipped with MPP e:. The users will have access to fully-charged MPP e: whenever needed at battery swapping stations in the city, which enables efficient use of electrified mobility products without waiting for the batteries to get charged.
Developed as a battery infrastructure which can achieve widespread use inside and outside of Japan, Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: features an exterior design that blends in well with the cityscape and adopts the Honda Power Pack Cloud system that centrally manages all information necessary for a battery sharing service operation in the cloud. Moreover, Honda pursued the convenience and user-friendliness for both battery sharing service businesses and the users of electrified mobility products.
In India, through its local subsidiary, Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt. Ltd. (HEID), Honda has already started a battery sharing service for electric tricycle taxis (“rickshaws”), using Honda Power Pack Exchanger e:. By offering the products and operating system for customers who are interested in battery sharing, Honda will continue supporting electrification of their mobility products and contributing to the realization of a low-carbon society.
Honda is striving to realize carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities Honda is involved in by 2050. Electrification of mobility products, which is indispensable to achieve this goal, has three challenges that need to be addressed: short range, long charging time and high battery cost. By addressing such challenges with swappable batteries and their sharing service, Honda is striving to contribute to the acceleration of electrification and expansion of the use of renewable energy.
