Together with energy company Eneos, Japan’s big four will standardize battery swapping and expend infrastructures.
As of Today, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha will create a new company in Japan together with energy company Eneos: Gachaco will provide a sharing service for standardized Swappable batteries for electric two-wheelers.
The four largest motorcycle manufacturers in Japan are working together on electric vehicle swappable batteries and related technology since 2019. Periodic updates have shown the progress they’ve made over the past years and by September 2020, they were ready for testing their first swappable batteries.
As part of the launch of their new company, Gachaco, the companies intend to begin their first sharing service using Honda Mobile Power Pack e: in Tokyo and other major Japanese cities by the end of 2022.
The standard will be Honda’s Mobile Power Pack “e:” and the first city where the swap stations will be installed will be Tokyo and other major Japanese cities to come by end of this year. The exchange points for swappable battery stations will initially be located in railway stations and service areas.
Honda, Kawasaki Motors, Yamaha and Suzuki, have agreed on a common specification for the use of electric motorcycle batteries that can be swapped easily between bikes. With the aim of spreading the use and popularity of electric motorcycles and scooters.
In addition to the use in electric motorcycles, Gachaco will promote the use of standardized swappable batteries for other applications. This includes storage batteries for commercial facilities and private residences. Furthermore, the expended batteries generated by Gachaco will be collected via the battery as a service (BaaS) platform currently in review at ENEOS for secondary and tertiary use, as well as final recycling to support the cyclical usage of batteries.
The managing director of the new company will be Kazunari Watanabe. ENEOS will have a 51% stake in the new company, Honda 34% and Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha 5% each.
Source: Honda