Honda scooter battery swap finds range

First published at ITS World Congress - October 23, 2019

Hironori Harada of Honda

An electric scooter featuring interchangeable battery packs is the star exhibit at Honda’s booth – significant because not only does battery sharing provide a solution to extended charging times on electric vehicles, an associated app-based location scheme helps combat range anxiety.

As part of a trial currently underway in Indonesia and the Philippines, 100 PCX electric scooters – each fitted with two of Honda’s swappable battery packs – are being used on the island of Romblon where 10 battery exchange locations (each with six spare batteries) have been set up.

Located beneath the seat, the 10kg battery packs are kept clean and dry, while a quick-release mechanism allows them to be swapped in a matter of seconds.

Two charged battery packs provide a range of more than 40km; battery status data, along with the scooter’s position, is collected and sent to a dedicated server using telematics.

When the batteries need exchanging, the rider logs onto the app which shows the availability of charged batteries in each of the nearby exchange locations.

Furthermore, as part of the trial, wind turbines have been installed to generate the electricity that recharges the batteries.

Booth 385