PoC Launched to Test Smart-charging Service Using EV Connected Technologies
February 15, 2024
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation
MC Retail Energy Co., Ltd.
Kaluza Ltd.
Mitsubishi Corporation
MC Retail Energy Co., Ltd.
Kaluza Ltd.
Mitsubishi Corporation
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Mitsubishi Motors), MC Retail Energy Co., Ltd. (MC Retail Energy), Kaluza Ltd. (Kaluza*), and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) are pleased to announce the launch of a proof of concept (PoC) in electric-vehicle (EV) smart charging. This PoC will seek to verify the commercial viability of what would be Japan's first smart-charging service leveraging EV connected technologies. The data collected during the PoC period shall be applied towards the future development of such a service, the objectives of which are to lower society-wide energy costs and create a more appealing charging environment for EV users.
*Kaluza is a subsidiary of the UK-based innovative energy service provider OVO Group, in which MC acquired a 20% interest in 2019.
■ PoC Summary
This PoC will provide Mitsubishi Motors’ all-new Outlander (PHEV model) users1 with a service that allows them to use a smartphone app to set the times they want their vehicles charged. The app-based service will connect the users' home charging stations to Kaluza's EV charging-control platform, which automatically optimises charging by ensuring it takes place both prior to the customers' selected charge-by times and only during hours when energy-market and other prices are lowest. During the PoC period, customers will subscribe to a charging plan that has been specially developed by MC Retail Energy exclusively for this service. It will enable them to lower their charging costs in accordance with data collected by the control system. Furthermore, because this service will make it possible to directly control EV charging from Kaluza's platform via Mitsubishi Motors' connected systems, it does not require any communications-capable (i.e. "smart") charging devices or other additional equipment.
■ Our Companies' History of Related Initiatives
・Mitsubishi Motors and Kaluza began collaborating on the development of smart-charging services in February 2023, since then they have made progress on a charging-control system that takes advantage of EV connected technologies.2
・MC Retail Energy is a trailblazer in power-generation plans for EVs, having played a leading role in the EV dynamic-pricing demonstration project launched by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and partnering with companies in the automotive, energy and communications sectors to build up know-how in EV charging. The plans thus far undertaken by MC Retail Energy include one aimed at achieving zero-cost overnight charging, and another to encourage users to charge during the day instead of at night. 3
・Together with OVO Energy, Kaluza has been providing EV customers with a similar smart-charging service in the UK since March, 2023. Thus far, the service has helped those customers achieve a total electricity cost savings of more than 4.6 million pounds, and it has also reduced carbon emissions by an estimated 146 tons.
・In 2022, MC, Kaluza and Chubu Electric Power Miraiz Co., Inc. performed an EV smart charging PoC as a means of identifying decarbonisation solutions in mobility. The objective of the PoC was to verify the usefulness and technological feasibility of EV smart charging in Japan.4 As an investor in Mitsubishi Motors, MC Retail Energy, and OVO/Kaluza in the United Kingdom, MC has provided support for these companies’ activities above.
1… Eligible customers are, residents in the electricity supply area of TEPCO Power Grid, Inc. or Chubu Electric Power Grid Co., Inc., registered for MITSUBISHI CONNECT, a connected service provided by Mitsubishi Motors, and a normal EV charger must be installed at their homes.
2… Press release issued by Mitsubishi Motors on February 22, 2023 (Japanese only):
3… Press release issued by MC Retail Energy on June 30, 2022 (Japanese only):
4… Press release issued by MC on March 15, 2022:
"Mitsubishi Corporation, Kaluza, and Miraiz to Launch Initiative for Decarbonizing Mobility in Japan"
■ About Our Companies
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation
| Head Office | 1-21, Shibaura 3chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
| Representative | Takao Kato, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO |
| Business | Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese automaker with a world-renowned track record in SUV production, rallies, four-wheel-drive control systems and EV technologies. With production plants in Japan and throughout the world, Mitsubishi Motors boasts a global workforce of approximately 30,000 employees. The company has been a forerunner in work to promote sales and growth in the EV market, becoming the world's first automaker to mass produce an EV (the iMiEV) in 2009, and offer an SUV-type, plugin-hybrid EV (the Outlander PHEV) in 2013. Mitsubishi Motors remains dedicated to offering customers its uniquely modeled vehicles and helping the world to decarbonise. |
| Comment | Kazuaki Iwamoto, Mitsubishi Motors Corporate Officer, Division General Manager, Mobility Business Division Mitsubishi Motors has positioned the mobility business as the fourth revenue pillar to complement its existing businesses in vehicle sales, finance (leasing) and after-market sales, and is working on new businesses utilising vehicle data through connected functions under our "With Partners" policy. We have been working on energy management projects since the world's first mass-produced EVs and PHEVs were launched, and have been carrying out the functional verifications needed for our electrified vehicles. Through this PoC, we'll hopefully make good progress in developing a smart service that optimises EV charging, thereby helping to lower our customers' electricity costs and CO2 emissions. By doing so, we will also be making a meaningful contribution to society's push to decarbonise. |
| URL | https://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/en/ |
MC Retail Energy Co., Ltd.
| Head Office | 3-4-1 Shin Kokusai Building (6F), Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| Representative | Kohei Tanaka, President & CEO |
| Business | MC Retail Energy is an electricity retailing company set up as a joint venture between MC, Chubu Electric Power Miraiz Co., Inc. and Lawson, Inc. Under its corporate mission to "provide new value in assurance," MC Retail Energy engages in a wide range of EV related businesses, including retail power sales and renewables. The company has expanded its renewable-energy corporate power-purchase agreements, virtual power plant businesses and other services, played a leading role in an EV-use, dynamic-pricing PoC, was the first company to release plans exclusively for EV users, and has otherwise taken progressive steps towards developing Japan's energy market. MC Retail Energy will continue to gather the latest information from international markets, work in tandem with leading partners here in Japan, and provide new value and services to meet the needs of all its customers. |
| Comment | Kohei Tanaka, MC Retail Energy CEO For three years, our company led METI's demonstration project to leverage dynamic pricing in EV charging. We plan on applying the know-how gained from that experience to this PoC, along with our unparalleled development capabilities in EV related products and services. Our goal is to provide customers with a new charging experience that will take advantage of unprecedented technologies to lower electricity costs. We will deliver new value to those customers by effectively leveraging surplus natural daytime power, which has been made available thanks to the increased use of solar panels. MC Retail Energy has a pioneering track record in the energy sector, which it has built up through initiatives like this PoC with Mitsubishi Motors, Kaluza and MC, as well as its participation in Japan's first supply-and-demand adjustment market for new energies. We will rely on that track record as we continue to offer EV services and other next-generation energy solutions. |
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Kaluza
| Head Office | Floor 2, 69 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JS, United Kingdom |
| Representative | CEO Scott Neuman |
| Business | Kaluza is a group company of OVO, which has investment from Mitsubishi Corporation. Kaluza is a provider of innovative software solutions in energy. From revolutionising billing to smart electric vehicle charging, Kaluza’s technology is empowering some of the biggest energy suppliers to better serve millions of customers. Its real-time cloud platform transforms supplier operations, reducing cost to serve and boosting customer engagement. Powered by Kaluza, suppliers can invest in innovating for tomorrow’s customers and drive decarbonisation with smart, low carbon technologies that not only reduce energy bills, but lay the foundations for a more flexible energy system. Kaluza is a B Corp certified* business with 7 offices around the world and more than 450 employees. *An international certification system operated by B Lab, a non-profit organization in the United States, for companies with high social and environmental performance. |
| Comment | Scott Neuman, Kaluza CEO We’re thrilled to be working with innovative partners like Mitsubishi Motors, MC Retail Energy and MC to pioneer a EV smart-charging service in Japan. As EV adoption increases, smart charging will play a critical role in managing grid load and simplifying the customer experience. We look forward to building on our work with our partners in Japan to unlock unique EV propositions for existing and future customers and accelerate the country’s net-zero targets. |
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Mitsubishi Corporation
| Head Office | 2-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| Representative | Katsuya Nakanishi, President & CEO |
| Business | MC engages in a wide range of businesses spanning multiple industries and overseen by its Industry DX Group, Next-Generation Energy Business Group and ten industry-specific business groups: Natural Gas, Industrial Materials, Petroleum & Chemicals, Mineral Resources, Industrial Infrastructure, Automotive & Mobility, Food Industry, Consumer Industry, Power Solution, and Urban Development. |
| Comment | Masanori Kohama, MC Division COO, Utility Retail Division, Power Solution Group In the electric power business, MC is working to establish an electric power value chain that integrates power generation and sales, starting with renewables, in order to realise a carbon-neutral society. Considering how those clean energy options are becoming more a part of our energy mix, we believe it is effective to optimise EV/PHEV charging times by utilising Kaluza's system in Japan as one approach to a more stable supply-demand balance in energy. In this PoC, Mitsubishi Motors, MC Retail Energy, Kaluza and MC will create a mechanism that combines the technologies and services of Mitsubishi Motors and MC Retail Energy by using Kaluza's technology to create a customer experience that is convenient, environmentally friendly, and economical for EV/PHEV owners. Here at MC, we will work hard to lead and promote this PoC and contribute to the realisation of a carbon-neutral society. |
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Materiality
Based on the Three Corporate Principles, which serve as MC’s core philosophy, MC has continued to grow together with society by contributing to the sustainable development of society through its business activities while pursuing value creation. MC’s revised “Materiality” was announced in Midterm Corporate Strategy 2024 as a set of crucial societal issues that MC will prioritize through its business activities, towards the strategy’s goal of continuous creation of MC Shared Value (MCSV). Guided by this Materiality, MC will continue to strengthen its efforts towards sustainable corporate growth. Out of the six material issues relating to “Realizing a Carbon Neutral Society and Striving to Enrich Society Both Materially and Spiritually”, this project’s activities particularly support “Contributing to Decarbonized Societies” and “Utilizing Innovation to Address Societal Needs”.
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