Toyota and Honda have joined forces to
create a mobile power-generation system aimed at disaster relief situations. It
consists of a large fuel cell bus that can carry a lot of hydrogen, portable
power output devices and of course, batteries. The vehicle, dubbed ‘Moving e’
is thought to be able to deliver electricity anytime and anywhere, which can
definitely come in handy if the power grid is, say, damaged during a typhoon.
The Moving e system consists of Toyota’s
charging station fuel cell bus, Honda’s Power Exporter 9000 portable external
power output device, two types of Honda portable batteries (LiB-AID E500 and
Honda Mobile Power Pack) and the power pack’s charge and supply
charger/discharger.
The two carmakers believe that Moving e
can do even more than just provide assistance in times of a disaster. The bus
can also be used routinely for supplying power to various events. Of course,
all this tech still needs to be tested.
As for the bus itself, it was developed
based on the previous version of the Toyota FC Bus. Furthermore, it comes with
twice as many high-pressure hydrogen tanks, able to generate as much as 454 kWh
with a maximum output of 18 kW. The bus was also designed to serve not only as
a means of transportation capable of providing power, but as a place for people
to rest in times of a disaster.
Toyota and Honda will proceed to verify
the effectiveness of the Moving e mobile power generation/output system through
various uses by municipalities and businesses which are willing to cooperate
with the testing.
