#HTE

A Portable, Convenient, Swappable Renewable Energy Source: Honda’s Mobile Power Packs

With their Mobile Power Pack, Honda’s got a brilliant plan to make renewable, zero-emissions energy super-convenient. To see if their plan will work, the company is beginning trials this year in heavily-populated, heavily-polluted Indonesia, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Indonesia is the world’s third largest market for motorcycles, most of which run on gasoline. So this December Honda will be trialing electric motorcycles there, powered by their Mobile Power Packs, which resemble electric jerrycans.

The idea is that rather than having to plug in and wait while their bikes top off, end users can simply stop at a Honda charging facility, pull a nearly-empty battery out of their bike and swap it for a freshly-charged one.

These Mobile Battery Packs would be charged from four different renewable energy sources: Solar, wind, water power or biomass.

Should the trials show promise, it’s not difficult to imagine these battery packs replacing gasoline generators as emergency domestic power backup sources, in addition to powering small vehicles. Everyone from motorcyclists to disaster preppers to campers could benefit from these.