- Honda, Mitsubishi Corp. battery rental business cooperation
- Currently this is an experiment only available in Japan
- The company will also manage second and third battery life—right down to recycling
- Vinfast tried this model and reconsidered
Battery leasing has long been seen as a way to help making electric vehicles more affordableand it looks like Honda is embarking on a venture that could allow that idea to be replicated.
Joint venture company named Altna, announced Thursday, has been established as a 50:50 joint venture between Honda Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Corporation. Combining Honda’s smart electric vehicle technology and connectivity with Mitsubishi’s power generation expertise, it aims to optimize the cost of electric vehicle use, increase the lifetime value of batteries and meet There is a growing demand for battery storage on the grid.
Mitsubishi Corporation is a diversified conglomerate, including oil and gas businesses, and owns 20% of Mitsubishi Motors, but Nissan actually owns more than Mitsubishi Motors.
Honda will kick off this plan with the Honda N-VAN e, a boxy small commercial vehicle launched in Japan on Thursday with a starting price of about $15,500 — near the city area. Nissan Sakura mini electric car which Green Car Report drove last fall.
Honda N-VAN e commercial electric vehicle
Vehicle battery leasing will be calculated based on the assumption that when they “reach the end of their life” for vehicle use, the batteries will be used and managed as battery storage on the grid.
“Altna will set leasing prices based on the assumption that the battery will be used for long periods of time, from on-board to stationary applications, which will contribute to reducing the financial burden on users,” Honda said. tram”. issued with notice.
The new company will also manage the recycling of end-of-life batteries after they have been used for grid storage purposes, to recover materials used to make new batteries. “Altna will continuously monitor EV battery usage conditions and then restore end-of-life EV batteries based on data obtained through long-term monitoring,” the automaker explained.
Finally, the new company will focus on smart charging. Initially, that will take the form of charging plans that simply charge the vehicle to avoid peak grid times, possibly optimizing for renewable energy. But they will then “proceed to consider providing V2G services with the goal of opening up the electricity market in the future.”
Could battery leasing make electric cars cheaper in the US?
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe told Green Car Reports and others last year that it would take a battery breakthrough to deliver a Affordable small car can be sold in the US. But perhaps all it takes is a new look at how costs are calculated.
Honda-Mitsubishi Altna battery rental plan
Battery leasing, also known as the “battery as a service” business model, has in recent years been seen as a way to simultaneously lower the price of electric vehicles while coordinating reuse. Hyundai is looking to create an “ecosystem” around EV batteriesit was announced in 2021 and is among the many companies that have tried battery leasing in other markets including Nio of China. Many years ago, Renault Zoe in Europe is one of the first electric vehicles to offer such a plan.
So far the company and model are limited to Japan, and it’s unclear whether it will lead to a U.S. effort. American Honda Motor declined to comment to Green Car Reports from a U.S. perspective on how this might affect our market. To date, no automaker has tried leasing batteries in the US in personal vehicles. The closest is Vinfastwhich initially Pricing VF 8 and VF 9 around battery rental. But they have reconsidered plans that could have made these models more affordable before the VF 8 arrived.
