・V2X Suisse consortium to explore how EVs can help balance energy demand and supply 

・50 Honda e electric vehicles will join car-sharing service for pioneering trial in Switzerland

・Honda Power Manager bi-directional charging technology will be used to feed energy back from EVs into the grid 

As part of the next step into the energy management business, Honda is partnering with the V2X Suisse consortium to demonstrate the vital role of electric vehicles (EVs) and bi-directional charging technology in the future of energy management. 

Honda will supply 50 Honda e electric vehicles to Switzerland’s car sharing operator, Mobility. The Honda e units will be used as part of a car sharing fleet in a pioneering trial which uses the Honda e’s bi-directional charging function to feed energy back to the grid when the vehicles are not in use for sharing. To allow bi-directional charging, Honda is also providing 35 Honda Power Manager units. These will deliver vehicle-to-grid (V2G) energy recovery capability for Mobility, at various urban and suburban sites across Switzerland. 

The V2X Suisse trial includes the world’s first mass-deployment of the COMBO-CCS (Combined Charging System) configuration with bi-directional functionality: currently Honda e is the only electric vehicle in the European market to allow both charging and discharging, as standard, for the European charging system CCS, making the Honda e the perfect vehicle to join the fleet. 

Honda Power Manager is a bi-directional system that connects EVs to a power grid, enabling the collection and distribution of electricity between the two. This allows for intelligent balancing of the supply and demand of energy, including the better use of renewable sources and supports the stabilisation of the grid.

In this project, a total of 50 Honda e units will be allocated to 40 stations across Switzerland. A single Honda e can feed up to 20 kilowatts of power back into the grid when plugged into a bi-directional charging station. This not only regulates power to stabilise the grid during periods of high demand and minimise bottlenecks in the distribution of energy, but also reduces the need for expensive grid expansions as demand for EV charging increases. 

Using a cloud-to-cloud IT platform developed by fellow consortium member sun2wheel, the Honda Power Manager units can manage the available power for each EV in 15 minute cycles to assess and regulate the flow of electricity. The scheme will enable Honda to verify the relationship between vehicle usage frequency and V2G operation, actual V2G operation time and frequency, and how this impacts on customer convenience. 

Honda aims to create a sustainable society with zero environmental impact by connecting electrified mobility products and energy services, whilst contributing to the ‘freedom of mobility’ and ‘expanding the use of renewable energy. Not only the smart electric car, but innovations such as the bi-directional Honda Power Manager charging system will become increasingly important in a future carbon neutral society where both EVs and the use of renewable energy will become commonplace. 

Through a real-world demonstration, Honda can conduct data collection and analysis of car sharing and V2G battery energy services, which will lead to the development of Honda’s future energy services.

The actual demonstration of this project will start from September 2022, and will run until the end of 2023, includes consortium members Mobility, EVTEC, sun2wheel, tiko, Novatlantis and ETH Zurich, and is supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.