Honda and Mitsubishi explore vehicle to grid market

The South Korean and Japanese automotive giants are in discussions to create a new business, preparing for the increasing role of electric vehicles (EVs) within vehicle to grid (V2G) systems.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to initiate the discussions on the potential new businesses.

These discussions aim to harness the strengths of both companies in response to the expected growth in the EV market.

The collaboration seeks to explore opportunities for enhancing the value provided to customers through their EV and EV battery ventures.

One of the potential businesses being discussed is that of smart charging and V2G, which would help EV users optimise their electricity costs by offering access to smart charging, V2G services and renewable power, which uses advanced control technologies for the energy management system.

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The other is that of a battery lifetime management business, which intends to optimise the life span of batteries intended for use in Honda mini-EV models, slated for sale in Japan in 2024.

It plans to achieve this through a battery-monitoring system, ensuring that each battery serves its purpose efficiently, transitioning from powering EVs to stationary energy storage.

Stated Toshihiro Mibe, global CEO of Honda: “Preparing for the era of full-fledged popularisation of EVs, Honda will not only sell EVs, but take a proactive approach to energy management, where EV batteries will be utilised as an energy source, and we are also focusing on resource circulation, including the reuse and repurposing of EV batteries, which contain various rare resources.”

Katsuya Nakanishi, president & CEO of Mitsubishi Corporation, added: “We understand that the convergence of different sectors such as mobility, energy, services and data is an irreversible trend.

“Examples can be seen all over the world, as companies seek to go carbon neutral (…) MC is aiming to develop its own new business models that balance electrification and decarbonisation, to create new cross-industry services, and otherwise reinventing ourselves in keeping with the times.”