Japan’s big four motorcycle companies - Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha - have come together to form an entity that will standardise swappable batteries for electric powered vehicles.
Along with Japanese petroleum company Eneos, the Japanese bike majors are forming a new company called Gachaco, which will not only standardise swappable batteries for electric two-wheelers but will also develop appropriate infrastructure to support the service.
Similar to Gogoro in Taiwan
In March 2021, the four firms had agreed on a single EV standard that their swappable batteries should meet. In November 2021, Honda took the lead and unveiled its new Mobile Power Pack.
The Gachaco battery swapping system will use the Mobile Power Pack from Honda and launch battery exchange stations for electric motorcycles and mopeds in Tokyo. Other major Japanese cities will also get the battery exchange stations before the year ends at convenient, centralised places, including railway stations and Eneos service stations. Expended batteries that have reached the end of service life for EVs will be collected and reviewed by Eneos for re-use before being recycled. Gachaco is likely to follow the EV battery swapping model established by Gogoro in Taiwan.
No detail has been given about Gachaco’s plans for international expansion.
Honda to begin a battery sharing service in India
But Honda has said it has been conducting demonstration testing of battery sharing for electric tricycle taxies in India. Honda will begin a battery sharing service in India, using the MPP e: in the first half of 2022.
The lack of common specification for a swappable electric motorcycle battery is seen as one of the hurdles to the widespread adoption of small EVs. If battery swapping is standardised, much like charging plugs for our electronic devices, things can get considerably easy for both EVs companies and customers. And good that big companies have taken a lead in that direction.
