Honda's Power Exporter turns EVs into portable generators
The Honda Power Exporter 9000 is a box that you can plug into your electric vehicle to then power household appliances during a power outage, and can power a whole house for up to a week if you plug it into a fuel cell equipped car. It is said to be simple to use, and easier to maintain than a generator, and sports at least six plugs so you can plug in whatever appliances you need. Honda tested it’s Power Exporter in a hospital, where it powered a series of “sensitive equipment” with no problem. You simply plug the Power Exporter into any EV or FCV with a CHAdeMO charging port, and then you are ready plug your appliances into the other side. You can watch YouTube footage of the compact, plastic box (which looks rather like an old-fashioned printer) here.

Here in Southern California, we don’t have a lot of power outages, but as temperatures continue to increase as a result of global warming, the load on the grid to cover the ever-increasing load of air conditioning units is making outages a more frequent occurrence. During an outage earlier today, I reflected on Honda’s announcement of its Power Exporter 9000 vehicle-to-home charging system at CEATEC Japan 2015, and where it could fit to help home and business owners keep the lights on (and the money flowing) with vehicle-to-home (V2H) solutions.

With EVs approaching critical mass for wide-spread adoption, we are seeing some of the future possibilities sprouting in the form of new products from some of the big names in the industry. This unit allows owners of CHAdeMO-equipped EVs to tap their EV battery to power all their normal household items. Specific applications include providing V2H power during an outage, enabling emergency personnel to keep the lights on in life-saving situations, and off grid applications like camping.

From Honda’s CEATEC Japan 2015 Overview:

“The Power Exporter 9000 is an external power feeding device that enables AC power output from a fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) with maximum output of 9 kW.”

Honda is specifically marketing this solution paired with its hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle — the Honda FCV — though it could conceivably be used with CHAdeMO-equipped battery electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf (with fast charging option), Kia Soul EV, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and even Tesla Model S if you have the CHAdeMO adaptor.

CEATEC 2015 Honda Power 9000 Booth Video from YouTube user brianman1955:

For more information, check out Honda’s official CEATEC 2015 site.

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