The New Japanese Power Exchange Alliance Gachaco

As early as 2019, the four well-known Japanese motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha jointly announced that they would jointly launch a new electric vehicle battery swap alliance and conduct cooperative research and development in battery swap technology. After a lapse of three years, their battery swap business has finally ushered in further development. Gachaco, a battery swap alliance jointly invested by these four automakers, will be officially launched on April 1. This also means that the power exchange plan of the "four major Japanese families" has officially ushered in commercialization.

It is understood that the new company Gachaco is invested and established by Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha in conjunction with Japanese oil and metal group ENEOS Holdings, of which ENEOS holds 51% of the shares, Honda holds 34% of the shares, and the other three companies each hold 5% of the shares. The new company will mainly operate battery swap services like Taiwan's Ionex and Gogoro, and currently plans to use the Mobile Power Pack e developed by Honda: swapping batteries.

According to the data, Gachaco is mainly aimed at the mass market. It plans to set up power exchange stations in Tokyo and other urban areas in Japan this fall. In order to further penetrate into daily use, the site selection of power exchange stations will target stations, gas stations, etc. and convenient transportation.

For the reuse of old batteries, Gachaco has also made related plans. Said that in addition to the batteries used in electric vehicles, Gachaco also intends to expand the scope of their operations, and will use the eliminated batteries with insufficient battery life in private homes and some advertising equipment to maximize the use of batteries.

We are not surprised by the official entry of the four major Japanese families. After all, it is recognized that the power exchange market has huge potential, and the successful operation of Gogoro in Taiwan, China also provides a realistic basis for this view. Although this service will only focus on Japan in the short term, it is certain that if the use of Gachaco in Japan can be effectively promoted, it will definitely be expanded to overseas markets in the future.

In addition, according to past information, among the electric vehicles released by the four major automakers, only Honda's BENLY e: and GYRO e: have adopted the Mobile Power Pack e:. Yamaha's new electric scooter Neo's battery this year is removable, but it's not clear whether the vehicle can use the Alliance's swappable battery. I wonder if the other three automakers except Honda will successively release electric products suitable for Honda's swappable batteries?