Altna, a new joint venture announced on 13 June by Japanese automakers Honda and Mitsubishi plans to lease EV batteries for new cars and redeploy them later for grid storage.
It expects this second life will allow it to lower battery leasing prices, as grid operators will share the cost of the batteries with motorists.
The first car to come with such a battery will be Honda’s N-VAN e:, they said. Altna and Honda will target corporate customers who use EVs for transportation and business purposes. EV batteries that hold 60% to 70% of their original charge will still be useful for grid storage, according to the companies.
Altna also plans to put its batteries in a new Honda EV based on the N-ONE minicar. The company will remotely monitor battery health, paying attention to the deterioration in their charging capacity, the report said. It envisages a function that automatically recharges the batteries when electricity costs are low.
Toshihiro Mibe, a Honda director, said: “Honda is working toward the establishment of a vertically integrated EV value chain that includes all aspects of EV business, from the procurement of raw materials to the production of finished EVs, as well as the repurposing and recycling of EV batteries.”
Katsuya Nakanishi, president and CEO of Mitsubishi, said: “With its business model to integrate mobility, energy, services and data, our new joint venture will take on challenges to introduce a new scheme that separates the ownership of the vehicle and battery of a single EV unit.”
Photo: Honda’s N-VAN e:. Honda
