Mitsubishi Showcases Eco-Friendly House at Geneva Motor Show

Mitsubishi Motors couldn’t keep a lid on it when it came to their spotlight at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. They had new models and concepts , like the 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport and the new crossover with an interesting name, the Mitsubishi Engelberg Tourer . Mitsubishi also has a few technology exhibits, one of which includes new connectivity in their vehicles, but the one that’s really getting our attention is the Dendo Drive House.

The Future is Here

Yes, we did talk a little about the Dendo Drive House (DDH) when the promo first went live. Mitsubishi came out with another promo for the Geneva Motor Show and we can now see all the benefits and glory of the DDH. Think about it. Everyone is trying to find new ways to go green and be eco-friendly. Even automakers are looking into alternative fuel vehicles while keeping costs down and extending the range of the vehicle. Many automakers and technology companies want to allow consumers to connect their smartphone, house, and car together.

The DDH is taking that in a more literal sense with a clean and green ecosystem. Serving first and foremost as a house, the DDH can generate, store, and share solar-power-converted electric energy. It can do this because it is equipped with solar panels that can then store the collected energy into one of two batteries – a large home battery or a car battery. No, not _ the _ car battery, but the kind of battery one would find in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. With Mitsubishi Motors behind the DDH, one can guess where this is going.

An obvious choice would be the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, a plug-in hybrid that can also store energy from the main source or excess energy. Sound familiar? It should. Mitsubishi Motors, in tandem with Hitachi Europe Ltd. and ENGIE, they managed to find a solution for renewable energy, ENGIE had designed their headquarters office building in La Défense, France as a Building Energy Management System (BEMS), also outfitted with solar panels that converted solar energy and stored the electrical energy in its power grid. By using a vehicle-to-everything V2X charger from Hitachi, also known as a bi-directional charger, the excess energy collected by ENGIE was stored in the Outlander PHEV, turning it into a portable energy storage unit.

The Dendo Drive House works the same way. Electricity is generated from solar energy, stored in the home battery, and can also charge a plug-in hybrid with the excess energy via a bi-directional charger. It’s simple, automatic, and efficient. Homeowners can keep their vehicles charged practically for free and save money. Mitsubishi presented a couple of scenarios where the DDH will really shine.

– Reducing the cost of the electricity bill is the most obvious

– After charging all day, the home battery can continue to share energy with the rest of the house at night

– During a blackout situation, because the DDH comes with a home _ battery _ , the house still has power. If in need of more power, that’s where the PHEV can be used as a backup with the bi-directional charger

– Reducing fuel costs

Pretty neat, eh? It may sound crazy, but the DDH doesn’t even need a PHEV to work. Homeowners can choose to charge the home battery from the grid at night when costs are down. The system is so easy to use, that a tablet-like unit can be installed into the home so that homeowners may monitor energy usage as well as the charge of the home battery and car battery. Although the system is automatic, there is a choice of manual control as well. This comes more into play with smart devices like the Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

Mitsubishi Motors claims the house will be available for purchase in late 2019, with package deals through dealerships when also purchasing the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Just don’t expect it to be budget friendly. The bi-directional charger costs a little over $11,000 and requires professional installation. The good news is, Mitsubishi Electric found that energy-management buildings can energy cut costs by 5-percent. Perhaps the Dendo Drive House will eventually pay for itself.

What are your thoughts on the Dendo Drive House? Join the discussion on Miami Lakes Mitsubishi .

Photo Source/Copyright: theverge.com

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